A family who enjoys the outdoors, from hiking in Sloan Canyon to experiencing the work of Michael Heizer at Double Negative, desired a home that reflected and embraced their love of the desert environment. Their initial discussions with us centered on their experiences in Sloan Canyon, Red Rock and Fletcher Canyon: the feelings of compression and expansion, the changing of light, found oasis, remnants of rainwater, and a connection to the angular, twisted rock formations encountered in desert landscapes. The design began with the idea of a journey. Of entering a compression of space before one “finds” the front door. A composition of angular forms that mimic the broken and eroded walls of a slot canyon, transforming sunlight into an ever-changing experience of shadow play through movement and time. A space that, depending on the season, is reminiscent or reverent of water: a dry creek bed winds through and under the home until it rains, when the angled roofs direct into the courtyard to be collected, and it becomes alive with the sound and smell of water. It was important that from each primary space they had a visual and physical engagement with nature. Between the forms and as extensions of the angular formations, gardens are created outside the bedrooms, dining, game, gym and casita. The site encounters 60-80MPH wind guests each spring and fall as the desert floor heats and cools. The forms of the home protect and screen these winds within the breakfast garden to allow an outdoor environment that can be experienced year-round. Light was important, both as a celebration and as a screening of the harshest angles and temperatures. Working with a physicist from the University, we were able to angle walls to screen and direct from sunrise to sunset, aligning walls to correspond with the longest and shortest days. We were able to celebrate light by angling the primary bedroom wall to the summer solstice to allow sunrise to only enter the bedroom on this day. A slit in the living room wall aligns with an opening in the office walls to allow sunlight to enter and mark their anniversary. Additional “cracks” within the forms will mark birthdays. The angular forms of the interior ceilings create a drama of shadow and light across their surfaces, a visible performance of time for the observer.