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Splendid rammed earth house in Arizona

The gorgeous Desert Wing House in Scottsdale, Arizona, was designed by Brent Kendle and built from rammed earth bricks.

The harmonious and intriguing volume comprises 2 parts, a low maintenance lifestyle area inhabited by the owners and a more extensive zone for receiving family and friends.

The home features walls of rammed earth brick and concrete to protect it against the harsh Sonoran desert sun. They are arranged in a highly attractive and contemporary shape,with floor to ceiling windows towards the sunset, valleys and distant city lights and a roof with deep copper overhangs, literally suggesting the shape of wings, but meant to capture rainwater and disperse it to the vegetation.

The indigenous materials work spectacularly together, a refined mixture of beige, red and brown. The aerodynamic volume is complemented with a monumental pool with a terrace and outdoor living room.

The inner spaces bear almost no other decoration than the splendid texture of the rammed earth and exposed concrete walls, a restrained and refined color palette and the spaciousness of barely framed windows with the roof seemingly floating over strip clerestories, giving the impression that the edges are nor seamed together.

Jeanne Paula

I write for decoist.

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