16 DIGS.NET | 5.1.2020
P R O F I L E | E Y E S O N T H E F U T U R E
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PHOTOGRAPHS
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COURTESY
OF
SAM
FROST,
@SAMFROSTSTUDIO
A desert dream powered by a "solar tree"
is no mirage—it's innovation cloaked in a
skin of salvaged steel.
F
olly is a bit of a misnomer for a rational
project gabled and off-grid in the Joshua
Tree landscape. But the tent-like cabin is an
architectural solution these times deserve, with a
compact footprint, human scale and adaptive reuse.
Available to rent, this choice option for a creative
escape (or a total shutdown from the outside world) was
envisioned as "a small space with a big experience,
modern and inventive while grounded within its
environment" by architectural designer Malek Alqadi,
the founder of the Los Angeles- and New York-based
practice Cohesion Studio. Clad in walls of weathering
steel, Folly is both in and of nature. Inside, a raw
plywood interior introduces a living space including a
kitchen and two bedrooms. The "stargazing bedroom
with no ceiling, showers with exposed and expansive
views, and an energy-producing solar tree is the
exploitation of nature through a respectful approach,"
notes Cohesion Studio. With solar panels tilted on the
top of metal posts, the cabin's uniquely structured
energy source serves a scientific purpose while
freeing Folly from architectural encumbrance. Joining
the buildings is an open-air patio that beckons with an
outdoor bath—a contextually appropriate galvanized
metal tank sunk into the deck.
Cohesion Studio appraises the steel facade of Folly
as reading like "a pair of abandoned sheds, forgotten by
time," an aesthetic well-suited to a barren and weather-
beaten world. Yet as a solution to environmental and
social problems that interacts with its surroundings—
and a provocation to connect—Folly could not be
more modern. thecohesionstudio.com
Cohesion Studio
FROM INSIDE A
SIMPLE, FOCUSED
INTERIOR ONE
GLIMPSES THE
OPEN-AIR DECK
COMPRISED OF
TWO BUILDINGS,
FOLLY REPRESENTS
THOROUGHLY
HOLISTIC DESIGN; A
METAL TANK SERVES
AS A SUNKEN
OUTDOOR BATH.
Clad in
walls of
weathering
steel, Folly
is both
in and of
nature.
