HP
Cardboard concept model: clusters of small cubes with punched openings stepping up to a large tilted cube around a sunken square court

A-02 · Academic · CEPT University

PixelatedKailash

Museum and interpretation centre

Studio
The Vertical Cut · AR2061
Location
Kailasa Temple complex, Ellora
Year
Monsoon 2024
Role
Individual studio project
Scale
Museum and interpretation centre

Brief

A museum and interpretation centre at the Kailash complex that reimagines the Kailash Temple as a modern museum while keeping the Shivling in its original location.

The cube is the fundamental unit: spaces move from low, narrow paths that evoke humility to expansive, towering forms signifying spiritual and spatial transcendence. Roof slits and apertures frame the sky, and light and shadow animate the journey.

The same studio also covered Unshaping the Shape — transforming a geometric form into a spatial concept — sectional studies of buildings in Ahmedabad, and a section study of the Bait Ur Rouf Mosque that reimagined its sections while keeping its proportion, natural light and ventilation.

Theories tested
Reciprocal · Indifference · Conflict
Conceptual models
12
Basic unit
The cube
Drawings
Plans at +1500 and +7500 mm; sections AA′–HH′

Process — research to detailing

  1. Research

    Twelve conceptual models testing three theories of contextualism — reciprocal, indifference and conflict — each searching for a way to hold the experience and memory of the temple.

    Conceptual models

  2. Concept

    The temple's monumental geometry is deconstructed into modular “pixelated” forms, with the cube as the unit of simplicity and modularity.

    Design approach — initial layout to final expression

  3. Iterations

    Initial layout: low cubes along a narrow path, for humility and introspection. Progressive evolution: cube heights and spaces gradually increase, representing enlightenment and openness.

  4. Development

    Final expression: broad, towering cubes signifying grandeur and collective unity, with a luminous central atrium and the Sanctum Sanctorum as the focal point.

    Final concept models

  5. Detailing

    Plans at +1500 mm (1:400) and +7500 mm (1:200), and sections AA′ to HH′, mostly at 1:200, drawn against the rock-cut mass.

Drawings

Plan at +7500 mm · 1:200
Section HH′ · 1:200
Section AA′ · 1:200
Section BB′ · 1:200

Details — open any sheet to zoom

Next project · A-03

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