N a g e e z i H o u s e
Navajo Housing Authority, Nageezi, Navajo Nation, NM
C O M P L E T I O N
2006
S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y
LEED for Homes approved pilot project
“The Nageezi House design reflects both the local climate and culture. Our challenge is to create modern homes that strive to come close to the extraordinary symbiosis of climate and culture that is inherent in indigenous dwellings.”
The Nageezi House is a culturally and environmentally-responsive single family design/build prototype selected as a case study for Global Green USA’s Blueprint for Greening Affordable Housing. The home is located on a remote and windswept mesa near Chaco Canyon in Northwest New Mexico. Built for an elderly Navajo couple who were living in dilapidated housing, the 1,450 SF accessible 2-bedroom house was completed in 2005 and represents a collaboration between Arizona State University School of Design, ASU Design/Build students and professors, the ASU Stardust Center for Affordable Homes & The Family, Glenn + Glenn Architects Engineers, PLLC, and the Navajo Housing Authority.
The architecture of the experimental dwelling reflects two traditional Navajo building forms: the hogan or hooghan—a one-room round dwelling centered on a fireplace and chimney, and the chahash’oh or shade structure, the traditional summer house of the Navajo.
The energy-efficient, passive solar house was designed to respond to the harsh high-desert climate and its dramatic daily temperature swings. It features Navajo Flex Crete, a locally produced fly ash-reinforced aerated thick concrete block that provides mass and insulation, rainwater catchment via canted SIPS roofing panels, radiant floor heating, and passive cooling and ventilation systems. Navajo Flex Crete not only utilizes reclaimed fly ash, a by-product of local coal mining, it also supports economic development on the reservation.
The iconic chahash’oh of the Nageezi home becomes its central courtyard and defines a family gathering space. Locally-harvested, fallen juniper logs support the structure of this shelter which serves as a passive cooling system and shadows the transition from public the private space. A continuous trellis shades south-facing windows. The hogan's traditional clockwise circulation pattern was replicated, beginning with an east-facing entry.
