A Garden in the Desert
Fly Ranch, NevadaI use only local resources - soil, water, sun - to create a paradise garden and greenhouse in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, using rammed earth, local rainfall, and passive heating/cooling earthworks. The landscape here is extreme: salty soils and wind limit plant growth, yet the land is stunning beyond doubt. The goal is to create a site that invites people to feel both the genius locii of the desert AND the highly designed/engineered nature of the garden. Indeed, in order to create the garden, I have to store rainwater in a cistern and channel it into a garden that is raised above the salty soil of the land. I represented the site through a series of vignettes.
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![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/292165f85ad40b6aea500b07b06f90c13aa3a99db0f53c4dee9ef6d9b2fe46f5/greenhouse_section.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0483a598979e935e56e69e5ce6a3a4a53f7b2492b4647b4e63582edc5ff236eb/hybrid-drawing-1.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/70d2d3817bfce0a7d414de723da04a69ba6c4e5f8ece430c402501e90e31ca66/perpsective-2.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d6fb9d32fdef468ee86dd0056ced4e8f135ad265d7a19196710a00ad1c14f6f0/perspective1.jpg)
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![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6c7151f421f9c70575aa51b32c71b965eb3307d45ccb1a35fbe78ed3b115751e/perspective7.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cfab801825fda8440728d81d6b0212fe32a431ae9e165d5360660dd41aebd0c9/perspetive6.jpg)