all southwest deserts are not the same.

Well Rick Joy's Desert Works is obviously a good starting point.

stucco. lots and lots of stucco.

massive walls. lots and lots of inertia.

Can't tell if you're making fun of me, but good to know. I'd be happy with any reference material on hot/arid regional conditions to at least get started.

Thanks for the book rec liberty bell, I appreciate it.

A quick search on amazon brings up the following (in addition to the rick joy book), can anyone comment on these -

Desert Architecture

Desert Retreats: Sedona Style

[url=http://www.amazon.com/Under-Sun-Desert-Style-Architecture/dp/0821225871/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1249524678&sr=8-3]
Under the Sun: Desert Style and Architecture[/url]

sun shading. louvers on every window.

vado's right...palm springs is clearly not the same as el paso

are you talking aesthetics, construction, building planning? there are a lot of considerations to building in a desert. the "desert southwest" is actually made up of several deserts, although that isn't important right now. i would say the biggest consideration to which desert you are building in has to do with altitude; building in the high desert outside albuquerque is completely different than in the mojave desert. rick joy is a good start; i'd also look at hassan fathy (who is egyptian but did some work in new mexico) paolo soleri, will bruder, eddie jones, and frank lloyd wright. wendell burnette gets the desert pretty well also, as does richard and bauer. dan hoffman has done some interesting design research in the desert. site orientation and the angle of the sun are, obviously, the most important considerations of all.

my favorite buildings in the desert southwest are ruins: canyon de chelly, montezuma's castle, mesa verde etc.

"books or websites? unlike these other assholes brother I got nothin.

what about sustainability, self-sufficiency etc like in Mike Reynolds earthships? maybe not for the aesthetics but the technology behind it could help.

Excellent post, bossman.

And Medit: "inertia" is a lovely term/concept for desert construction.

also, your desert plateau area ie albucrackee area, the strip malls will have flat roofed adobesque styles with non functioning vigas. whereas your sonoran desert strip malls are moslty eifs with red tile roofs.

Desert Architects of Arizona to study

Rick Joy

Wendell Burnette

Marwan Al-Sayed

Debartolo Architects

Jones Studio

Ibarra Rosano

Line and Space

Rob Paulus

i always appreciated the work of Judith Chafee. She's dead now. But she was out of Tucson. She came and gave a lecture when she was alive. It consisted of her showing slides of her work and playing a tape of local bird noises.

oh yeah marwan. he's good. also mary colter, she was good.

I would add to maisonorion's list:

Architekton and

Richard & Bauer.

Pretty comprehensive list. I assume you spent some time in the Tucson/ Phoenix area?

do you really think architekton is a good example though? i've always felt their work was extremely formal and more or less ignored place.

I agree somewhat. Just thought I'd put it on the list in case the brer had a differing opinion.

look to the Hohokam pit houses or Gila cliff dwellings

low or high desert?

thick earth walls , breathable with earth plaster, for inertia indeed

no east or west fenestration with exposure to summer sun angles

a tight air barrier with proper exterior ventilation

day-lighting and high performance glazing