Deserts are one of the most hostile places on earth which makes building and living here a real challenge. At the same time, the desert landscape is unique and has inspired architects to overcome all the challenges and to come up with some truly wonderful and interesting designs. These are some of the cool houses which you can find out here.
This is a house designed and built by studio Kendle Design Collaborative. The strategy here was to celebrate the beautiful and unique desert landscape and this resulted in a modern structure which blends into the surroundings and has a nice view. Moreover, the local vegetation sprinkled all around the house makes this place look like a lovely and fresh oasis.
Here’s another beautiful desert house which takes advantage of the remarkable desert landscape, this time while also adopting an interesting style. It was designed and built by studio Olson Kundig and it looks as if it emerges from the landscape and that allows it to blend in with it and to look surprisingly at home here. The modern-industrial vibes of this house made it easy to incorporate huge windows which let this beautiful panorama become a part of the interior design.
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Not a lot of people would willingly decide to go live in the middle of the scorching hot Nevada desert which makes this house quite special. Its owners decided to settle here as an homage to one of the late beloved family members whose last words were “Zabriskie Point”. They thus chose Death Valley as their home and they built this beautiful modern house out here. It’s modest in size and simple in design but it’s also everything they could ever wish for.
Creativity and ingenuity are a big part of what makes projects like this one successful. We’re looking at a contemporary vacation house that’s been built on a sloping desert site. It’s surrounded by rocky patches of land and not a lot of vegetation except for cacti but that’s actually what makes this such an interesting location. The project was done by studio nüform and the house is structured on a single floor but nevertheless it’s raised off the ground wuite a bit due to the sloping terrain.
Situated in Paradise Valley, Arizona, this beautiful artist’s studio was built by Chen + Suchart Studio. It’s an addition made to an existing residence but it has its own individual style and it stands out from the main house through its unique aesthetic. Not only does it include a lot of reflective glazed surfaces which make it look lightweight and breezy but it also appears to be floating. That’s due to the fact that the studio stands on a set of concrete pillars.
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Although the landscape surrounding this house is quite harsh and unfriendly, that didn’t stop the owners from wanting to take it all in and welcoming the views into their home rather than wanting to isolate themselves inside. That’s how this contemporary desert home came to be. It was designed by Wendell Burnette Architects and it has a very interesting floor plan. There’s a very fluid and organic mix of indoor and outdoor spaces and they’re all connected underneath the oversized roof canopy.
Black is not the first color that comes to mind when thinking of desert houses which is what makes this particular structure quite peculiar. It’s one of those cute houses that stand out by being simple and challenging the obvious. Its minimalist design was created by studio Oller & Pejic Architecture who wanted the topography of the site to be reflected into the interior design and in particular the layout and the way in which the inhabitants move between the rooms. Everything is organized in a linear fashion and at the center of it all is a lovely courtyard.
The idea of a prefabricated house makes a lot of sense in a context like the desert where the harsh climate makes even the simplest of tasks challenging. This is a way to make the construction process quicker and easier and to turn a disadvantage into an opportunity. A specific example would be this rather impressive house designed by architect Marmol Radziner. It’s built on a raised platform which makes it look as if it’s hovering in mid air, quite the sight considering how big the house is.
In an effort to integrate the unique desert landscape into their design as much as possible, studio The Ranch Mine came up with a really interesting layout for this house in Arizona. Looking at it from the outside, this resembles a big rectangular volume with large openings and sliding glass doors and windows that ensure a smooth transition between indoor and outdoor areas. From the inside however you can see that the entire house is organized around a central courtyard and has a sort of O shape. This means every room has an opportunity to be open to the lovely landscape.
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