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An ambitious vision of a city built from lava
At the Venice Biennale, a project by Icelandic firm s.ap arkitektar envisions the year 2150, when buildings and cities made from lava could be a reality.
Founded by Arnhildur Pálmadóttir and operated with her son Arnar Skarphéðinsson, s.ap arkitektar has been undertaking research and conducting tests to explore how something that is seen primarily as a threat can be transformed into a renewable resource capable of producing sustainable buildings. Basalt, the most common volcanic rock, has been used to build structures including the 13th-century Qasr al-Azraq (“Blue Fortress”) in Jordan, the 15th-century Château d’Anjony in France, the Gateway of India (1924) in Mumbai, and the Herzog & de Meuron-designed Dominus Winery (1997) in Napa Valley, California. More recently, basalt was used in the Nashan Geological Museum (2021) in Yangzhou, China, the Radisson Resort & Spa (2023) in Lonavala, India, and an impressive private home called Casa Basaltica (2023) in Querétaro, Mexico.
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