Can These Student-Designed Guest Houses on Navajo Nation Land Encourage Tourism?

We'd say they have a shot. Architecture students with the University of Utah's DesignBuildBLUFF, in collaboration with the University Colorado Denver's design-build program—Colorado Building Workshop—and the Navajo Nation's Mexican Water chapter have designed this pair of rather lovely structures on Navajo Nation land. The enigmatic twosome of Cor-Ten steel-clad cabins—created to be rentable spaces for visitors to this part of Navajo Nation—complement well a sparsely planted, windswept terrain. The hope is that the structures will attract tourists to the area and the cozy, rustic interiors—think timber partitions and simple, rough-hewn wood furniture—look quite comfortable. According to Designboom, the cabins are oriented toward the east, in keeping with Navajo tradition, to maximize sunrise views.

∙ colorado building workshop places two corten cabins against the desert landscape [Designboom]