Grotto
The grotto is an artificial structure or excavation in a garden made to resemble a cave. For the courtyard installation we propose to build a foam grotto. Since the structural unit of a grotto is the boulder, the challenge of the project was to develop a set of modular boulders that combine in a way that defies a conventional sense of order. The solution uses a combination of algorithms that transfer modularity from a Danzer Tiling technique (developed at Arup AGU) to a final set of four boulders. The result is a wildly ordered three-dimensional pattern that never repeats the same way twice. Water rains into two fountains inside this foam construction offering something wet to discover within, a requirement of any grotto. Due to EPS foam's lightness, cheapness and facility in cutting, initial cost estimates were under budget using industry standard compensation for material and labor.

principals:
Benjamin Aranda, Chris Lasch (Aranda/Lasch)
Daniel Bosia (Arup, Advanced Geometry Unit)

design team:
Benjamin Aranda
Chris Lasch
Daniel Bosia
Ajay Manthripragada

production team:
Meaghan Pierce-Delaney
Sydney Mainster
Jade Yang
Toru Hasegawa
David Pysh
Jennifer Sabin
Elena Ossa
Nick Desbiens
Jessica Lasch
Molly McKnight
Sarah Herda
Julie Wang
Ricky Vargas
Kai Tseng
Brian Belluomini