Lanzarote, one of the Canary Islands, is located off the coast of West Africa. The history of intense volcanic activity on the island has created beautiful Landscapes of both dormant and active volcanoes and also fields of Cooled magma. Some of the earliest eruptions are thought to have taken place 15 million years ago, whilst some other eruptions have taken place during the geological evolution of the island. Caldera de Los Cuervos was the first volcano to emerge from the eruption of Timanfaya in 1730-1736. During this volcanic event, lava was emitted asymmetrically, forming a “caldera” with a single crater. One of the slopes of the volcano has since then ruptured and thus given us access to its crater. The physicality of the island is divided between the shifting elements such as winds, tides and celestial bodies, and the presence of immobile volcanic rocks, cliffs and craters.
The Caldera de Los Cuervos was the Site for our 1st year, 2nd term Project. We were asked to understand the unique potential of the site and to harness it into creating an architectural intervention that highlighted the wonders of the Caldera.
Due to the unique and incredible landscape surrounding the Caldera and the remoteness of it, This intervention seeks to create an inspirational space that highlights the wonders of the surrounding area to help artist with their work.
This Intervention consists of a gallery space for the exhibition of the artist work and 4 separate retreat units spread out within the Caldera each specialised for a different medium of art; Sculpture, Printing, Installations and 2D media.
Even though the Caldera has been dormant for a long time, the earths crust within it is still very thin which allows magma from within the earth to come close to the surface. This creates the possibility to harness this power to use within the design.
Within this Intervention, The buildings are placed on rails which move in and out of the banks of the volcano depending on the time of day. This continuously changes the view point of the occupant of the building, creating new perspectives for the occupants to be inspired by. The Gallery however, can be resized depending on the amount and the type of work that is being produced by the residents. This is all powered by water that is heated into steam within the earths crust by the heat being so close to the surface. The Idea of steam generating movement, as this was a huge innovation during the industrial period in the UK. Therefore, this intervention seeks to replicate this by having an industrial quality to the buildings.
