[HooverDam]

Here are a few from probably my favorite local (Phoenix) firm, Eddie Jones and Jones Studio Inc:

1. The House of 5 Dreams:

This 30,000 SF residence/private museum was created to serve the needs of a pair of prolific art and artifact collectors. Knowing much of their collection had been excavated, the decision was made to place exhibition space below the horizon, contained within 4-foot thick rammed earth walls. Above the gallery, a floating residential pavilion is spatially composed with translucent light.

2. Johnson-Jones Residence:

Ahwatukee, Crow word for “House of Dreams”, is a suburban Phoenix, Arizona neighborhood attempting to dominate the southern base of a magnificent mountain preserve. The idea for protecting this area dates back to 1924, and to this day, South Mountain Park remains the largest municipal park in the world. The home, although relatively new, enjoys rammed earth walls made instantly old by embedding millions of years of geological history throughout its 2-foot thick, monolithic construct.

3. Walner Residence:

An adjacent golf course, city views, and boulder pile pushed, pulled, and sculpted an architecture poised for light. Jones Studio never set out to plan a parallelogram - the site opportunities determined the shape of the house from the very beginning! The owner's titanium golf clubs inspired the choice of titanium zinc wall cladding.

4. Rocky Slope Residence:

Embedded in the southern edge of the Phoenix South Mountain Preserve, the Rocky Slope Residence draws from the raw quality of the Sonoran Desert as a source of inspiration. It was essential that the house mediate between the cul-de-sac of metropolitan Phoenix subdivision at its front door and the organic preserve beyond its back door. It was also paramount that the house respected the natural sloping topography of the site. Much like any suburban context, the neighbors to each side provide ample design challenges when trying to maintain a balance between the resident’s natural desire to be both public and private.

5. Scorpion House:

Hillside contours, boulder fields, distant views, and stands of old saguaro, shape the cast-in-place concrete ledge that defines the east edge of the house. Interlocking with the curvilinear retaining walls, a protective shell of oxidized titanium plates integrate the "scorpion" forms with desert shadow.

Hope you enjoyed