Cave di Cusa is an ancient limestone quarry in southern Sicily used to build the great temples of Selinunte. However, in 409 BC the quarry was abandoned due to an invasion within the region. To this day the site lies incomplete, with half-cut columns embedded within the quarry and crumbling fragments strewn across the landscape.

‘Carving Cusa’ uncovers and restarts the incomplete quarries of Cusa through the development of a sculpture school. A ‘nose to tail’ approach is applied to the project; the objective of the scheme is to utilise all the limestone extracted from the site, from its pure block form to dust and rubble, typically considered to be a byproduct of the excavation and construction process. Carving studios are nested within quarried voids, amphitheatres are forged from open bench quarry scars, and byproducts are reused to create new landscapes, blending old and new.

The building highlights and celebrates the processes involved in stone craft, from material extraction to sculpting. Glimpses through the building reveal active quarries; high-velocity water curtains capture dust generated from carving processes, which form glistening limestone cascades that drape down atrium walls.