CARVED IN STONE [02

The town of Pantalica in Sicily is a perfect example of Troglodytic dwellings. The homes are carved from the mountainside, where the environment provides ample and viable shelter from climatic conditions such as storms and sun. Initially, these furrowed dwellings were burial grounds for a nearby settlement.054 The fact that these furrows were re-used for another purpose than the intended showcases the viability and versatility of environmental provisions and how humans in the past have taken ingenious advantage of these provisions.

Further exposition of nature providing shelter against the weather in the form of integration, not disruption is the La Ciudad Encantada, or Enchanted City, in Spain.055 It is possible that these eroded forms were used for shelter in the past. For modern application however, these formations can inspire productive integration of similar formations into new architecture in order to reduce the amount of man-made structure.

030 | La Ciudad Encantada, Spain