DUST

Website : www.dustdb.com
Blog : www.blog.dustdb.com Architecture, Construction, Fabrication.

04/14/2026

Sombra de Santa Fe, a New Mexico residence by DUST Architects, has been named a Best Use of Material winner at the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2026 and featured in the printed edition of Wallpaper*.

The project is recognized for its use of locally sourced volcanic soil, forming dark scoria walls that anchor the house to its landscape while delivering thermal performance and material restraint. Set within the Galisteo Basin Preserve, the home engages climate, terrain, and regulation through passive strategies and outdoor spaces tuned to light, wind, and season.

Photography by Joe Fletcher, Joe Fletcher. Text by Jonathan Bell.

03/31/2026

The eastern terrace of Marfa Suite is a deep recess formed by compressed earth block. The shaded opening cools the air, softens the light, and prepares the shift from outside to inside. A small, calm threshold that grounds the house in its climate and landscape.

Photography by

03/10/2026

At Tucson Mountain Retreat, a deep rammed earth opening reads like a narrow cut in a canyon wall. Its tall proportions and heavy shadow echo the stone passages of Devil’s Hall in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, West Texas.

Photography by Bill Timmerman.

02/26/2026

The stepped rammed earth massing and deep openings at Tucson Mountain Retreat echo the stone ruins of the Salinas Pueblo Missions, where thick walls and simple volumes were shaped by climate, material, and long term durability.

Photography by Jeff Goldberg, ESTO

02/17/2026

Marfa Suite draws from the simple, durable buildings found in early West Texas settlements. Adobe and stone structures relied on thick walls, small openings, and straightforward forms to manage heat, wind, and dust.

In the suite, those ideas become a compact volume with restrained geometry and materials that respond to the desert’s climate. The architecture stays low and quiet, shaped by the same practical considerations that defined its historic precedents.

Photography by

02/11/2026

At Tucson Mountain Retreat, the terrace is tucked beneath a deep overhang and framed by rammed earth walls, creating a shaded, recessed space that opens to the desert. Its covered, sheltering quality recalls the rock overhangs at Mesa Verde, where protected terraces offer shade, refuge, and long views across the landscape.

Photography by Jeff Goldberg, ESTO

02/03/2026

At Casa Caldera, the narrow openings are set deep within the scoria walls, creating shaded recesses that control heat and light. Their proportion and spacing echoes Pueblo Bonito at Chaco Canyon. The approach shapes how the desert is seen from inside, giving each room a framed view and maintaining thermal comfort in the high grasslands.

Photography by Jeff Goldberg, ESTO

01/23/2026

The Wildlife Pavilion at acts as a threshold between people and habitat, directing attention to the arboreal theater beyond. The pavilion invites birdwatchers to observe the annual migration of the Violet-crowned hummingbird in one of the only locations they are seen in the United States.

Photography by Jeff Goldberg, ESTO

01/19/2026

The rooms at Tucson Mountain Retreat are connected by a series of sheltered outdoor spaces. Movement through the house means movement through the desert, deepening the relationship between the inhabitants and the land.

Photography by Jeff Goldberg, ESTO

01/12/2026

At Casa Caldera, the central zaguan serves as the main threshold of the house. It draws from the traditional passage used in historic houses in Mexico and the Southwestern United States, where a shaded corridor links public and private space. It connects the interior with the land and brings air, light, and shade through the center of the home. Moving through it becomes an everyday exchange with the desert.

Photography by Jeff Goldberg, ESTO

01/05/2026

In the Arizona Uplands of the Sonoran Desert, Tucson Mountain Retreat sits between an arroyo and two rock outcroppings, preserving the desert floor and native saguaros. Designed to respond to sun, wind, and terrain, the house inhabits the desert rather than resists it.

Approached on foot through dense vegetation, the retreat reveals itself gradually. Air, scent, and shadow become part of daily life, and the desert itself becomes the primary living space.

Photography by Jeff Goldberg, ESTO

Address

101 West Simpson Street
Tucson, AZ
85701

Website

http://www.dustdb.com/

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