Stunning imagination of a home cut into a boulder

Shanghai-based architectural designer Amey Kandalgaonkar has revealed images of House Inside a Rock, a concept for a modernist concrete house built inside a giant rock.

The concept was inspired by the architecture of Saudi Arabian world heritage site the Mada’in Saleh necropolis.

Built in the first century, the necropolis features tombs carved with elaborate facades into sandstone.

Mada'in Saleh. Image credit: Flickr

Designed to look like it’s growing out of a rock, House Inside a Rock utilises raw concrete slabs that jut out from the rock’s crevices, with living spaces clearly visible from the outside. At the top of the rocky home is a series of terraces with an infinity pool.

Simples planes and cubes were utilised throughout the design as a way to achieve visual balance with the complexity of the rock.

According to Kandalgaonkar, the idea was to ensure minimal visual impact ground level. Only when the structure is viewed from above is the extent of the design revealed.