Desert Outposts

I have been sketching and modeling Desert Outposts for years. This case study shows the development of spare, sculptural structures that stage conviviality in a landscape of extremes.

I love the stark desert canvas as a background and find myself dreaming of these odd angular structures as music venues, meditation perches, and glampsites. Just enough infrastructure to host a retreat, or a pop-up performance, or for a group of friends to sprawl out on and catch up with each other while enjoying a purposeful and unconventional relationship with their surroundings.

The idea started to take shape in 2020. In an architecture class I studied unusual stair shapes and designed a series of terraced, open voids formed by flat hardscape planes and sharp angles. I focused on flexible use, asymmetry and clearly ignored the code requirements around railings. The work explored how stepped thresholds and clear, faceted edges control movement and sight lines in a barren desert.

Admittedly the desert sun and heat are harsh and there is a reason shade palapas are more popular than exposed staircases, but for a few golden hours each day around sunrise and sunset a space like this can be just perfect. The stepped terraces reconfigure sightlines and the outpost station provide a loose framework for whatever needs to happen.

Desert Outpost

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Test Site

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Kernal

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Desert Outpost 〰️ Test Site 〰️ Kernal 〰️

The Low Perch

Rendering of construction ready design. Sketchup → Enscape → Veras → Photoshop / Nano Banana

I worked with Roberto Dewet of Rode Haus as the project lead and construction manager and in 2025 we broke ground and built this structure in Baja Mexico.

The Low Perch is a starting place, a vantage point a crucible of the minimum necessary support infrastructure to support living out of a van while recreating and working remotely for a few months in a desert landscape.

Whitney FreedmanJune 2, 2026