The concept of veiling became a recurrent notion throughout the field trip to Rajasthan, from the latticed mashrabiya of the Hawa Mahal (Palace of the Winds) to the regular use of the sari as a protective cover to one’s body. Similarly, at Makrana, in the endless pursuit of capital the reality of life for the workers of the quarry is often veiled. From the working conditions to which they are exposed, to the hundreds of undocumented, uncompensated deaths and the unequal distribution of funds within the economical chain.
In this context the façade is designed to acts as a physical and metaphorical veil. By accumulating marble dust within its translucent skin, concealing the illicit work taking place within the hill; it brings an extra layer of religious and spiritual privacy, forming a protective layer around the ‘spiritual vessel’ ie. the carved interior spaces of the hill. This results in an interesting discussion of contrasts, where the façade accumulates pixilated dust particles; while the hill turns into a subtractive (carved) form of geology.
As the marble dust ascends due to the upwards draft caused by the local winds dominating the site, the dust particles cluster and aggregate onto the steel mesh walkways as well as accumulating in the folded layers of the protective façade. The marble dust saturated wind agglomerates onto the walkways, changing their physical appearance. This elaborates on the notion of the contrasting relationship between the aging of the external elements of the project, in contrast with the internal (sacred) protected elements; veiled within the hill allowing for their preservation.
