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Architects: Ibarra Rosano Design Architects
- Year: 2009
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Photographs:Bill Timmerman
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Manufacturers: Fisher & Paykel, Cattelan Italia, Montis
Text description provided by the architects. Three simple volumes hover above the desert, responding to the challenges of a sloping site and to an ethic of building with minimal disruption to the natural environment.
The available buildable area was bifurcated by a minor drainage-way, which inspired the architects to leave the cars behind and link the parking area to the main house by a bridge that allows rainwater and wildlife to flow beneath it.
Cantilevered concrete slabs enabled the house to run perpendicular to the topography for optimal solar exposure, for cross-ventilation, and to frame views. Meanwhile, the underside provides shady refuge for desert animals.
The tubular forms crop the desert landscape into more intelligible vignettes much like a photographer’s square, celebrating the natural setting and view of the city lights the owner did not even realize they had.
