Master of desert modernism Rick Joy celebrates 25th anniversary with retrospective tome

The American desert holds a certain mystique for architects. Where else can you get the emboldening sense of having conquered nature without any need for aesthetic compromise? As a result, the arid expanses of the West are a playground for modernists of all persuasions, from the expressive to the minimal.
Rick Joy started his practice in Tucson, Arizona, in 1993, bringing a crafted, material approach to residential design. Projects like the Desert Nomad House of 2006 were part of a renaissance in desert building, delivering self-sufficiency, simplicity and a light touch on the delicate desert environment without compromising the purity of the scheme. The house was one of the standout projects in Joy’s first monograph, ‘DesertWorks', published in 2002. Now, on the occasion of the studio’s 25th anniversary, a new book has been published, ‘Studio Joy Works’, which charts recent work, much of which is now far removed from his Tucson stamping ground.
The tome delves into the practice's work in the American desert and beyond. Pictured here, the Amangiri Hotel.
Featured projects include the Sun Valley House in Idaho, a private retreat arranged as two wings flanking a central courtyard, with rustic stone walls chiselled and chamfered to geometric perfection. Stone is also used in the Woodstock Vermont Farm, this time paired with traditional cedar shingles to create a meticulously precise update of the state’s vernacular farm architecture. There’s plenty of design diversity on display, from the expansive family ranch in New Mexico with its sheet metal roof and shuttered concrete finishes, to the bunker-like minimalism of a vacation retreat in the Turks and Caicos Islands and the chalky minimalism of a loft in New York.
Joy’s studio has also started to engage in civic works, translating the same asceticism it applies to its private projects into public space. The book features the Princeton Transit Hall and Market, a bold piece of sculptural art that serves the famous college town without kowtowing to the town’s many architectural statements. Joy speaks of ‘cherishing the site’s spirit,’ and the works on display imply a strong sense of place, filtered through an even more rigorous approach to form and detail.
For more desert architecture see more modern buildings in arid environments
The Amangiri Hotel by Rick Joy is located in Utah
Also included in the publication is the Desert Nomad house.
Joy's Princeton Transit Hall and Market was completed earlier this year.
The project is located in the famous university town.
Joy's residential work spans a variety of locations, such as New York, with this loft interior.
A minimalist home in Turks & Caicos showcases the architect's masterful approach.
The project makes for the perfect vacation retreat.
INFORMATION
'Studio Joy Works: The architecture of Rick Joy', Princeton Architectural Press, $55. For more information visit the website of Studio Rick Joy
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Jonathan Bell has written for Wallpaper* magazine since 1999, covering everything from architecture and transport design to books, tech and graphic design. He is now the magazine’s Transport and Technology Editor. Jonathan has written and edited 15 books, including Concept Car Design, 21st Century House, and The New Modern House. He is also the host of Wallpaper’s first podcast.
-
Let there be light: a closer look at Prada’s stripped-back S/S 2026 show set
‘This is the first time the Fondazione is completely bare, with the light coming in,’ said Raf Simons backstage at Prada’s ‘light, fresh, colourful’ and ‘human’ S/S 2026 men’s show in Milan
-
A Swedish scooter blends Teenage Engineering’s aesthetic with accessible electric mobility
The EPA1 Scooter is the first product from mobility start-up Vässla, an assured and flexible design shaped in conjunction with TE to assist everyday urban mobility
-
Discover Canadian modernist Daniel Evan White’s pitch-perfect homes
Canadian architect Daniel Evan White (1933-2012) had a gift for using the landscape to create extraordinary homes; revisit his story in an article from the Wallpaper* archives (first published in 2011)
-
Tour this fire-resilient minimalist weekend retreat in California
A minimalist weekend retreat was designed as a counterpoint to a San Francisco pied-à-terre; Edmonds + Lee Architects’ Amnesia House in Napa Valley is a place for making memories
-
A New Zealand house on a rugged beach exemplifies architect Tom Kundig's approach in rich, yet understated luxury
This coastal home, featured in 'Tom Kundig: Complete Houses', a new book launch in the autumn by Monacelli Press, is a perfect example of its author's approach to understated luxury. We spoke to Tom Kundig, the architect behind it
-
Tour architect Paul Schweikher’s house, a Chicago midcentury masterpiece
Now hidden in the Chicago suburbs, architect Paul Schweikher's former home and studio is an understated midcentury masterpiece; we explore it, revisiting a story from the Wallpaper* archives, first published in April 2009
-
The world of Bart Prince, where architecture is born from the inside out
For the Albuquerque architect Bart Prince, function trumps form, and all building starts from the inside out; we revisit a profile from the Wallpaper* archive, first published in April 2009
-
Is embracing nature the key to a more fire-resilient Los Angeles? These landscape architects think so
For some, an executive order issued by California governor Gavin Newsom does little to address the complexities of living within an urban-wildland interface
-
Hop on this Fire Island Pines tour, marking Pride Month and the start of the summer
A Fire Island Pines tour through the work of architecture studio BOND is hosted by The American Institute of Architects New York in celebration of Pride Month; join the fun
-
A Laurel Canyon house shows off its midcentury architecture bones
We step inside a refreshed modernist Laurel Canyon house, the family home of Annie Ritz and Daniel Rabin of And And And Studio
-
A refreshed Rockefeller Wing reopens with a bang at The Met in New York
The Met's Michael C Rockefeller Wing gets a refresh by Kulapat Yantrasast's WHY Architecture, bringing light, air and impact to the galleries devoted to arts from Africa, Oceania and the Ancient Americas