A House in the Desert
Winning entry for a competition for an art gallery, artist studio and residence, in a desert town.
Material research and tests explored the use of local clay for a compressive rammed earth exterior wrapping the private life behind. The outer face is proposed to be both natural and washed in an artifice of metallic paint to enliven the facade and to protect against mid summer solar gain.
Exaggerated tented structures allow ventilation but not sunlight into the hanging gardens and courts of the raised artist residence. Their fabric is drawn back at night to reveal the skeletal frame expelling the gathered heat from the earlier day.
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