casita OBSCURA is a detached, 750 sf stand-alone component of a three-phase transformation of a 2400 sf mid-century home. The transformation started as a renovation that took the original home back to its bones to reveal affinities between old and new, and inside and outside, through light, material, and attention to detail.
Conceived as a bold yet discrete amenity, casita OBSCURA enhances the connection of the original home to its Sonoran Desert setting. It is both a backdrop and a retreat, foregrounding the surrounding landscape and vegetation and underlining the distant horizon.
Taking its name from the Latin “camera obscura” (meaning dark chamber), casita OBSCURA is a lens on the desert. In contrast to the cinematic experience of the main house, with its floor to ceiling glass, open floor plan, and panoramic views, casita OBSCURA is divided into three distinct spaces: a room for sleeping, a room for bathing, and a room for living. Each of these rooms has a specific aperture to the world: the room for sleeping is focused on the intimacy of the desert foothills and the Catalina Mountains, the room for bathing is defined by a triangular portal to the sky, while the room for living frames a view to the city of Tucson and the distant Santa Rita mountains.
Clad in dark gray, low-cost, cement-board panels that blend into the shadow play of the desert vegetation, and with a roof that slopes away from the main home, the form of casita OBSCURA is disguised, reading as a simple, planar façade. Defined by the rhythms of the cement board modules, this west elevation is marked by a solitary, penetrating opening. Angled from most vantage points, upon approach, the darkness of this opening reveals the entrance and inviting view into and through the casita.
After we completed significant renovations to the original home, the clients were interested in continuing to evolve the design to accommodate their growing family, and to integrate amenities of 21st century living: a casual media room, a home office, and play/flex space for their two boys. The design of an attached addition expanded the house footprint to serve these needs, with the addition seamlessly harmonizing with the tectonic language of Douglas Fir posts and beams, black concrete floors, and brick perimeter walls. The original home and the addition are equal parts Case Study house and Sonoran earthen construction.
The clients were also interested in evolving the design to include a stand-alone retreat from the main house as a dedicated and private space that could accommodate guest visitors and extended family. Beyond space and privacy needs, a primary goal was for this retreat to craft an intimate connection with the surrounding desert distinct from the aesthetic and experience of the original home.
As a solution to this challenge, casita OBSCURA offers a paradox: a bold, autonomous design that hides in plain sight. Positioned downslope, at the foot of the existing home’s east facing terrace, casita OBSCURA is physically scaled and sited to minimize its impact on the panoramic views from the main living spaces of the home.
Inside, casita OBSCURA offers a contrast, with white walls framing desert vignettes. The interior is scaled for comfort and connection and features a kitchenette with a small cooktop, oven, dishwasher, and refrigerator. casita OBSCURA is integrated into its desert context, with minimal topographic and vegetative disturbance. Rainwater is passively harvested from the roof to serve adjacent native vegetation.
casita OBSCURA is a daytime sanctuary, and a long-term stay, it's a place for extended family to come together, and a place to tuck away.
