---
title: "Mountain to Sea — Shortlist — GENDO 48: Soldagen | Gendo"
url: https://gendo.ai/gendo-48/soldagen/selection/mountain-to-sea
description: "In conversation with Sagar L Munirathinam — Shortlist, GENDO 48: Soldagen. The final images weren't just a presentation of the design — they were part of the design process itself."
lang: en
---

Soldagen gallery: https://gendo.ai/gendo-48/soldagen/selection

GENDO 48: Soldagen — Shortlist

# Mountain to Sea

Sagar L Munirathinam

Image: Mountain to Sea — GENDO 48: Soldagen board (https://gendo.ai/_assets/marketing/soldagen-entries/d78863cc-7dec-46f6-b4eb-58c1af07da6f.jpg)

Open the live design canvas to inspect every prompt, variation and decision.

Open canvas (https://gendo.ai/app/project/67afcd7d-4bce-406f-8951-564ba5fedde8)

In conversation

> “The final images weren't just a presentation of the design — they were part of the design process itself.”
>
> Sagar L Munirathinam

01

## Tell us about yourself, and what brings you to competitions like this.

I'm Sagar, a 3D artist and designer who is obsessed with the way spaces can make you feel something. I've always been drawn to visualisation — not just as a way of showing architecture, but as a way of imagining what it could feel like to actually be there. I'm constantly looking for that moment where a render stops feeling like an image and starts feeling like a place.

02

## What did you design, and what were you trying to communicate?

I designed a bathhouse as a journey from mountain to sea. Embedded into the mountain, the architecture moves from the cold and darkness of the fjord through warmth, steam and quiet spaces, gradually climbing towards the returning light. Rather than creating a building that simply sits in the landscape, I wanted it to feel as though the mountain itself had been opened up and inhabited.

The project is about contrast — cold and warmth, darkness and light, compression and release, sea and mountain. Most importantly, it is about making the return of the sun an experience: something felt on the skin, encountered through space, and discovered at the end of the journey.

03

## How did you approach the timeframe, and where did Gendo fit into the process?

I started by trying to understand Soldagen as a place rather than designing a building first. From there, I developed the project around a sequence of experiences rather than a fixed form — cold water, warmth, darkness, steam, compression, release and finally light.

Because the timeframe was short, I kept the design process fluid. I moved quickly between modelling, testing compositions and visualising the atmosphere, using each image to question and refine the architecture. For me, the final images weren't just a presentation of the design — they were part of the design process itself.

04

## How has your relationship with Gendo developed?

I've been using Gendo for a while, and over time it has become less of a rendering tool and more of a design companion in my workflow. I use it to explore ideas, test atmospheres, materials, lighting conditions and visual directions before committing to a final approach.

What has changed most is how I think while designing. I'm more comfortable experimenting and being less precious about the first idea. For me, the value is not simply in generating a final image, but in using visualisation as a way of thinking.

05

## What does the recognition mean to you, and what would you do differently next time?

Being shortlisted meant a lot because it felt like a recognition not just of the final images, but of the idea and the way I approached the project.

If I were to do it again, I would give myself more time to push the design and explore more variations before settling on the final direction. But that's also what I enjoy about these challenges — you finish one project already thinking about what you could explore differently next time.

06

## Anything else you would like to share about GENDO 48?

GENDO 48 was a great reminder of how much can happen in a short amount of time. The format pushed me to make decisions quickly, trust my instincts and focus on what really mattered to the idea. It was intense, but also genuinely fun.

Next

On the Edge of Trace
https://gendo.ai/gendo-48/soldagen/selection/on-the-edge-of-trace