The following are 47 desert lodges designed by the Florida-based Oppenheim Architects. Each of the lodges designed are carved directly into the sandstone cliff face and the building elements are made from rammed earth and cement mixed with local red sand.
Oppenheim’s winning proposal reinterprets the way society deals with surrounding nature by taking full advantage of the mystical valley where desert sand meets desert stone. The finished images suggest a desert paradise, where nature and design harmonize.
The interiors and exteriors are deliberately blurred establishing maximum impact with minimum effort. Oppenheim used his expertise in sustainable design to create passive means of cross ventilation, taking full advantage of the natural cooling effect of the rocks, and proper positioning allowing the project to minimize energy consumption and maximize comfortable healthy living.
Great care has been given to utilising local materials as well as various water conservation measures for both human and site irrigation to establish a relatively closed system of harvesting rain water in subterranean cisterns and re-harvesting grey/black water though a living machine of botanical and biological nature.
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