Student Dwelling:
Case study 2

Fred Prozzillo says the shelter he built at Taliesin West was one of the most rewarding projects of his career. He had been obliged to rethink his original design, a 'closed box' inspired by having had to share the tent that was his first shelter with a desert pack rat, which took up residence under his bed-frame.

Fred Prozzillo's shelter at Taliesin West

'As the tradition at Taliesin West is to learn from the desert, I was asked whether I really wanted to shut it off and put a wall between it and me,' he confesses of the sign-off process.

Fred Prozzillo's shelter at Taliesin West

Prozzillo thought hard and went back to the drawing board: 'My second concept fully embraced the desert, blending the interior space with the outside.' A roof floating out beyond the walls was a distinct feature.

Fred Prozzillo's shelter at Taliesin West

During construction, Prozzillo enjoyed a season of enchantment in Bill Shoettker's Tree House shelter, (2010) which he chose for the pleasure of its window walls built around trees and commanding view down the wash.

The interior is basic but Functional

'On full-moon evenings you could look out at the cacti and desert plants bathed in moonlight. It was like living under the sea, with the plants resembling coral and other plants on the sea bed.'

Case study 3

Daniel Chapman is living in Brittlebrush, created by Simón de Aguero in 2010. Built of rammed earth, it has no doors, windows or full enclosures on any side.

Simón de Aguero's Brittlebush, 2010. Photo: Simón De Aguero

As the fragility of the environment requires students build new shelters on existing footprints, Chapman is building his own design, Incognito - 'The spelling is meant to emphasis the experience of being really integrated with the environment it sits in' -- on the site of a disused shelter -- he explains.

Exposed to the desert, the structure has no windows or doors. Photo: Simón De Aguero

The two-level concrete slab follows the topography of the wash, and Chapman is building an upper deck for optimal sunset viewing and the feeling of being perched among the trees, while the sleeping quarters overlook the mountains.