rlsm91

The stepwells, (the erliest date to 600 AD), essentially appear as infrastructural monuments for water collection, huge artifacts somewhere between landscape and architecture sunken in the earth. They are usually composed of two constant elements, a well and an access route: the well collects monsoon rain percolating through layers of fine silt (to filter particulates), eventually reaching a layer of impermeable clay. The second elements, the staircases, are descended to reach water and allow the use of the infrastructure. There are no two identical stepwells, as each one of them, – about 3000 were built -, reveals specific features in the shape and in the decorative motives; in some cases the stepwells host galleries and chambers around the well.

Ilkka Halso

Haludovo, Croatian Krk island

The Cement Factory loft, Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill's live/work complex in Barcelona. Photos by Richard Powers, originally posted on HomeDSGN. Via urban tings.  

Igualada Cemetary | Enric Miralles | Rasmus Hjortshøj