Tapered, rammed-earth walls support the roof of this small shelter that architecture student Conor Denison has built on the desert campus of Frank Lloyd Wright's School of Architecture at Taliesin.

Denison designed and built the shelter during his final year at the architecture school, founded by the late American architect in 1937, and previously named Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture.

Called Branch, the small shelter responds to a project brief to create a pavilion for sleeping in the desert that surrounds the school, which is based at Wright's Taliesin West house in Scottsdale.

The 100-square-foot (9.3-square-metre) structure is made entirely of rammed earth ? layers of damp earth compressed in moulds to form load-bearing wall. Denison chose the material for its thermal ability, as well as its strength and adaptability, which "is incredibly important in the desert climate".
"This project is about providing shelter in its most basic and pure sense," Dension said. "Rammed earth is used as the sole building material, creating one continuous mass."
"The idea to make an entirely earthen form was important to the concept and drove several elements of the design," he continued.

Branch is punctured with different sized square openings across its exteriors. The "voids" in the earthen walls allow for airflow and light to enter the otherwise dark shelter, which has no mechanical, electrical and plumbing faciliti...