Desert Architecture
Architecture designed for desert environments, addressing heat, aridity, and landscape integration.
Desert architecture responds to extreme climate conditions through material choices, spatial planning, and passive cooling strategies. Projects in this field balance cultural context, environmental sustainability, and the unique aesthetic possibilities of arid landscapes.
The community explores rammed earth construction, courtyard typologies, biomimetic design approaches, and cultural centers that anchor communities in remote locations. Work ranges from individual experimental structures to master-planned settlements that reimagine sustainable living in the Sahara and other desert regions.
Popular projects
View all 62 projectsLatest journals
View all 83 journalsRe-Coding Post War Syria: Mud Brick, Timber Frames and a Rooftop That Waits to Be Built
Two small buildings in Syria pair broken brick walls with vine-hung pergolas, betting that a community rebuilds itself by finishing what it starts.
TETRO Arquitetura Splits a Bahia Hillside House into Four Blocks Beneath a Light-Filtering Wood Roof
In Itacaré, on Bahia's southern coast, four blocks step down a seaward slope while a biriba wood screen turns tropical sun into moving shade.
S-AR Stacks Three Apartments Inside an Open Concrete Grid Under a Palapa in Puerto Escondido
In Puerto Escondido, S-AR builds a 12 by 15 metre concrete frame where terraces replace rooms and a thatched palapa crowns three open apartments.
Cambra Buró Sets a Kuwaiti Coastal Villa on a Sculpted Travertine Plinth and Lets the Upper House Float
In Abu Al Hasaniya, Kuwait, a 3,000 sqm seaside villa pairs a heavy stone base with clay, cork and walnut to work with the Gulf climate.