Cliff House
Basalt Cabin
Corkins
Lodge
Brazos, New Mexico
2006/2012
Located at the base of the Brazos Cliffs overlooking the Brazos River
in Northern New Mexico, the high mountain forested site foregrounds quartzite
cliffs. Located along the cliff edge the cabin’s suspended vantage
point hovers with mature Douglas fir and Ponderosa pine trees with the
river rushing far below. In its materiality, the cabin diagrams a visceral
vocabulary of the primitive wilderness as it marks the threshold of the
sculpted cliff band to the valley below.
The cabin joins the wilderness in the realm of the senses. The texture
of the rugged ground plane, high altitude light, the rush of the Brazos
River, and the vanilla scent of Fir and Ponderosa Pine weave through the
site. Large planes of glass calibrate distant views up the river valley
while more intimately scaled apertures aim toward the grand Brazos Cliffs.
The suspended living areas of the cabin anchored deeply into the cliff
side engage immediately adjacent crystalline lava formations. The structure
evokes intimate security from the vertiginous pitch.
Trees from the site, milled locally, yield a rough sawn timber shell,
which imprints internally. The cabins concrete is also formed with the
rough sawn timbers mirroring the tactile surface of the wood. Entry, kitchen,
dining, living and the external terrace response to the cliff edge as
they transition from the public to private realm. Entering from the east
into public living spaces the cabin transitions to bedroom spaces to the
west with the cantilevered master suite at the end.
