Designer Jessica Martin has designed a rammed-earth structure in the Arizona desert that is meant as a refuge for humans as well as for plants and animal life.
For her thesis project at the School of Architecture (TSOA) in the US, Martin created a rammed-earth shelter called Cinders in the Chapparal region of Arizona using three varieties of the local soil.
"Cinders is a homage to the immersive nature of living openly among the landscape, inviting human participants as temporary shepherds of the land ? honoring and inviting interspecies cohabitation," Martin told Dezeen.
Jessica Martin designed a rammed-earth shelter in the Arizona desert
Constructed in a remote part of the desert, the shelter is not accessible by road. It is roughly pyramidal in form with an open top and a window cut into one of the sides. At only 156 square feet (48 square metres), the structure is big enough to hold a small cot and table with some extra room to move around, as well as a small fire pit to heat the structure.
The building has been shortlisted for the small building category in this year's Dezeen Awards.
The structure was made by layering soil
Cinder has an open roof that lets in light and air, while the sloped sides of the structure provide protection from the elements.
"The building was developed through a series of researches and explorations into desert ecology and species inhabitation," said Martin.
The design uses the colours and materials of the desert
To create ...