The rooms are grouped around a central
staircase whose dark red coloration is
highly visible from outside. The house is
autonomous in energy terms, with photo-
voltaic cells supplying the required electricity.
The passive harvesting of solar energy by
the glass front, as well as the massive loam
storage wall within and the highly effective
thermal insulation provided by the outer
walls, formed of balls of hay, result in ade-
quate climate control for this house, set in
a desert climate with extreme temperature
differences.166 Built examples
Casita Nuaanarpoq at Taos,
New Mexico, USA
Architects: Edge Architects; Ken Anderson,
Pamela Freund, Taos, NM, USA
Completion: 2004
Floor area: 140 m^2