johnson valley development
This 5-acre lot in Johnson Valley (north of Pioneer Town and Joshua Tree in the Mojave Desert) contains a small trailer perched on a down slope, which overlooks expansive valley views and broad night skies.
The site will be developed with these views in mind (shown in various lines on the site plan series). The project also takes shape around a permacultural approach to the landscape and site design, situated carefully within the naturally occurring systems of the site (related to water flows, wildlife corridors, wind patterns and native plants).
The project additionally offers multiple configurations of habitation in a collection of structures as a way to combat displacement of local residents in this up-and-coming resort area. How can the architecture of the project offer, on one hand, a unit(s) to be rented short-term (as an Air BnB), while also providing a long-term rental unit(s) which maintain an affordable housing option for locals at risk of being displaced? How do these two types differ, and how do they work in relationship to each other? How do these two types of housing - and the larger natural systems - live better together?
DESIGN PHASE 2021
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