ABSTRACT
While DesignBuildBLUFF had designed and built a number of private homes for individuals on Navajo Nation, the Mexican Water Cabins represent the first project that served the greater Navajo community as a whole. When DesignBuildBLUFF is asked to participate in realizing the vision, the chapter had a site plan that included the existing chapter house, a retirement home, a trailer park, and 40 cabin sites. The Mexican Water Cabins studio identified the joint position that the cabins should explore the procession of the user through the landscape in relation to the light and views identified during the site visit. While the collaboration between DesignBuildBLUFF and Colorado Building Workshop concluded with the Mexican Water Cabins, both universities remain committed to design build education. Individual and collaborative work at the earliest stages of research and site analysis created new approaches to design focused on the community in need.
