Tucson Mountain Retreat

The sonoran desert is mystical landscape replete with warm hues and expanses of arid-appropriate greenery. among the eroded sculptures of rocky outcroppings and complex reliefs of nearby arroyos, a rammed earth home designed by local firm dust lightly touches the landscape. the tucson-based architecture, construction and fabrication team comprised of jesus robles and cade hayes, has imbued their first project with the sacred weight of the landscape. the home values its approach through a winding desert path of lush desert plants until the architecture emerges from the harsh scenery dotted with cacti and palo verde, a native desert shrub. the entryway is series of concrete volumes that dissolve into the desert floor, yet playfully lead to the quiet aperture of the glazed front space. the rammed earth construction creates meandering lateral lines across the planes of the house, serving to refer to both a topographic horizon and the richly layered skin of the earth within and throughout that structure.