Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

A West Texas Couple Get a Rammed-Earth Addition That Syncs With the Landscape

A West Texas Couple Get a Rammed-Earth Addition That Syncs With the Landscape

Tucson-based Dust Architects returns to Texas to design a compact stand-alone for a home in the Chihuahuan Desert.

When Cade Hayes and Jesús Edmundo Robles Jr. met a couple in Marfa wanting to design an addition to their austere adobe house, the founding duo of Dust Architects saw it as a homecoming. "Cade and my connection to West Texas is personal," says Robles. "We both graduated from Texas Tech, and Cade was born and grew up a few hours north. This desert and landscape is familiar-it’s home."



Now operating their architectural practice from the Sonoran Desert in Tucson, Arizona, Hayes and Robles have become known for their sensitive, site-specific works that often incorporate rammed-earth bricks. For the Marfa addition, the homeowners-a textile-design consultant and a vintage western wear purveyor-were keen for a design that would engage the Marfa landscape.



"The brief was a request to counter the darkness of their existing home with a naturally lit, well-ventilated artist live/work space," says Hayes. "The suite needed to provide privacy, intimacy, coziness, and ample storage with a gracious bathroom." Rather than adding on to the modernist adobe home, which the clients bought in 2006, Dust set out to design a compact, stand-alone ancillary structure.



"We sited the new building with reference and some deference as an independent component," says Hayes. "The owners have been curating a magical Chihuahuan Desert garden with a myriad of local flora, so the new suite also helps define that garden space between the two buildings."



The new structure occupies a tidy footprint of 36 square feet, with 16-foot-high walls composed of compressed concrete and earth. "That material was an easy choice for us," explains Hayes. "Earthen materials offer the weight of the real, a warm color, and an overall sense of connection with the land." The material has a strong lineage in Marfa, where compressed earth blocks have been used for centuries as a building technology that helps regulate thermal heat gain.



The simple layout contains a lounge area, a single bedroom and bath, and ample covered patio areas including an outdoor shower with a garden. Besides offering the couple more functional space and privacy-the existing open-concept home contains only a single bedroom-the suite puts them in sync with the land. "The clients have a relaxed, West Texas measure of time and space," says Hayes, "and the structure supports their engagement with the dynamic, diurnal rhythms of land and light on their property."



For Hayes and Robles, the project also brought them back to their original desert roots. "Our time spent in West Texas and the Chihuahua landscape is hugely influential to Dust as part of our origin story," says Robles. "Our extended Texas ‘family’ has always welcomed and inspired us, and it’s hard to imagine moving through the craft of making a space in Marfa without tapping into those memories and experiences."


AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
Tulsi Gabbard Unveils Evidence Alleging Political Manipulation of Intelligence During Trump Administration
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Trump Announces Coca-Cola to Shift to Cane Sugar in U.S. Production
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
Moonshot AI Unveils Kimi K2: A New Open-Source AI Model
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
Western Europe Records Hottest June on Record
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
France Requests Airlines to Cut Flights at Paris Airports Amid Planned Air Traffic Controller Strike
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Germany Votes to Suspend Family Reunification for Asylum Seekers
Budapest Pride Parade Draws 200,000 Participants Amid Government Ban
Southern Europe Experiences Extreme Heat
Xiaomi's YU7 SUV Launch Garners Record Pre-Orders Amid Market Challenges
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's Lavish Wedding in Venice
Russia Launches Largest Air Assault on Ukraine Since Invasion
Massive Anti-Government Protests Erupt in Belgrade
Iran Executes Alleged Israeli Spies and Arrests Hundreds Amid Post-War Crackdown
Hungary's Prime Minister Criticizes NATO's Role in Ukraine
EU TO HUNGARY: LET THEM PRIDE OR PREP FOR SHADE. ORBÁN TO EU: STAY IN YOUR LANE AND FIX YOUR OWN MESS.
Hungarian Scientist to Conduct 30 Research Experiments on the International Space Station
×