High Desert Retreat

Starting with the question, "How to create a residence within this beautiful desolate site while also creating a respectful complement to the existing ecology", Aidlin Darling Design crafted a soulful environment on a bluff in the high desert. Overlooking the Coachella Valley, the resulting structure nestles tightly into a constellation of existing boulders. The residence is a composition of three fundamental elements: a floating roof plane, a collection of wooden volumes, and a pair of concrete anchor walls.

The stunning result is a testament to the ethos of the firm to design for all the senses. The home serves as a framing device in which the sensuality of the surroundings is highlighted. The boulders, Pinyon Trees, and distant mountain ranges become sculptures and paintings to be appreciated from within. The design is exceedingly crisp in its geometry, providing an intentional contrast to the organic forms of the desert. High Desert Retreat takes the reader through the journey from design conception to realisation.

Authors: Joshua Aidlin and David Darling began their partnership crafting furniture together in a San Francisco woodshop in 1998 before setting up Aidlin Darling Design. This history of craft and passion for shared making anchors the firm's collaborative process. At Aidlin Darling Design, design is considered as a sensory art, where the feel of a space is as important as its look. As a multidisciplinary firm, this ethos remains a guiding principle across projects of any scale, use, or purpose. Each project is client and site-specific, with open communication among clients, consultants, fabricators, and builders. Aidlin Darling Design has received many industry accolades, including the prestigious Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award.

Selling Points:

• Richly illustrated, this monograph portrays the creative process that resulted in a stunning residence set within a desolate desert landscape.
• With insight from the team at Aidlin Darling Design, it includes drawings, sketches, and plans to help understand the design process.
• High Desert Retreat beautifully illustrates the stunning residence, deliberately designed to be quiet and crisp in its setting, contrasting with the organic forms of the desert.
• This book will appeal to lovers of excellent ecology-friendly design and inspire other designers.