D U S T is an alliance of architects, craftspeople, artists, designers, and builders with practices rooted in the master-builder tradition: a collective of people grounded firmly in the tactile, in pursuit of the intangible.
The studio explores ideas and ethics rooted in a reverent intimacy with craft and place. Ideas unfold in the creative space of intersections and find form through a respect for material and an unwavering attention to craft by skilled hands.
The seeds of this practice were planted in the late 1990s on the vast plains of the Llano Estacado in West Texas; the studio was born in Tucson, Arizona in 2007 as a collaboration between Cade Hayes and Jesús Robles.
Their architecture stands as both a concrete marker on the landscape, and as a frame focused on the essential, where ephemeral moments can find their place in the timeless realm of memory.
D U S T provides full Architecture, Planning, and Construction services.
Cade Manning Hayes Founding Principal
AIA
Registered Architect: Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Utah cade@dustdb.com 520.270.4205
Originally from Carlsbad, New Mexico, it was the experiences of the Chihuahuan Desert that nourished his dreams and memories of place. He moved to Lubbock, Texas in 1997 to study architecture at Texas Tech University’s Master of Architecture program. Upon receiving his degree in 2002, he relocated to Tucson, Arizona, and worked as part of the design team of Studio Rick Joy for five years.
Cade has been one of the founding/managing principals of D U S T since its establishment in 2007. Each of the works shows a heightened sensitivity to place and the environment, expanding the discourse on lifestyle in harmony with the environment.
In addition to practice, Cade has served on national design juries, has been a visiting instructor at Texas Tech University, and has taught Land Ethics design studios and Material Fabrication courses at the University of Arizona.
Notable Project Experience
Tucson Mountain Retreat – Tucson, Arizona
Casa Caldera – San Rafael Valley, Arizona
Wildlife Pavilion – Patagonia, Arizona
Amangiri Resort and Spa – Canyon Point, Utah (under Studio Rick Joy)
Desert Nomad House – Tucson, Arizona (under Studio Rick Joy)
Adobe Canyon House – Sonoita, Arizona (under Studio Rick Joy)
Tree House Residence – Napa Valley California (under Studio Rick Joy)
Ventana Canyon House – Tucson, Arizona (under Studio Rick Joy)
Bahia Balandra Master Plan – Baja California, Mexico (under Studio Rick Joy)
St. Edward’s Chapel and Master Plan – Austin, Texas (under Studio Rick Joy)
Jesús Edmundo Robles, Jr. Founding Principal
Associate AIA
Assistant Professor of Practice, University of Arizona College of Architecture
Contracting Licenses: AZ ROC 266829, 277848 jesus@dustdb.com 520.358.1818
Originally from the Southwestern United States, Jesús spent much of his youth traveling the landscapes between Southern California and Texas. Jesús studied architecture in Lubbock, Texas, at Texas Tech University’s Master of Architecture program, earning his degree in 2003.
Since then, he has cut a unique path to expand and hone his craft, gaining over 18 years of architectural design, project management, construction, and construction management experience.
Jesús has been one of the founding/managing principals of D U S T since its establishment in 2007. Each of the works shows an investigation into sustainable material development, articulation of craft throughout the design and build processes, and contributes to the discourse of phenomenology and place in architecture.
In addition to practice, Jesus has contributed to Platform, a publication of the University of Texas at Austin, and is an instructor at the University of Arizona teaching design studios and Material Fabrication.
Notable Project Experience
· Tucson Mountain Retreat – Tucson, Arizona
· Casa Caldera – San Rafael Valley, Arizona
· Wildlife Pavilion – Patagonia, Arizona
· Lava House – Tucson, Arizona (under Paul Weiner | Design-Build Collaborative, Inc.)
· Desert Nomad House – Tucson, Arizona (under Studio Rick Joy)
· Adobe Canyon House – Sonoita, Arizona (under Studio Rick Joy)
· SIX – San Diego, California (under Sebastian Mariscal Studio)
· Western Maryland Regional Hospital – Cumberland, Maryland (under Hord|Coplan|Macht)
· DFW International Terminal D (under Corgan Associates)
Originally from Dallas, Texas, Natalia earned a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Texas at Austin.
Natalia’s professional experience covers a range of project types. She has brought residential, cultural, luxury hospitality, master planning, and urban mixed-use projects to life, many of which have been widely recognized. She has overseen the full development of projects through their construction and has directed the collaboration and coordination of large project teams for multi-faceted projects.
Her prior work experience includes over 10 years at Studio Rick Joy, where she played a pivotal role in designing and managing the studio’s work and team. She has also worked for offices in Santiago, Chile, and Dallas, Texas.
She is passionate about designing spaces that are both conceptual and sensitive in spirit while honoring the connection to the surrounding environment and cultural roots. Natalia regularly participates in student design reviews at the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and the University of Texas at Austin.
Notable Project Experience
Princeton University Transit Hall, Market, Restaurant and Café – Princeton, New Jersey (under Studio Rick Joy)
Tennyson 205 – Mexico City, Mexico (under Studio Rick Joy)
Bayhouse – Northeast USA (under Studio Rick Joy)
Sun Valley House – Sun Valley, Idaho (under Studio Rick Joy)
Masterplan for the One&Only Resort at Mandarina – Nayarit, Mexico (under Studio Rick Joy)
Nicanor Parra Library – Santiago, Chile (under Mathias Klotz Architect)
Jerrick Lee Tsosie Designer
Associate AIA jerrick@dustdb.com
Originally from Rock Point, Arizona, Jerrick grew up on the Navajo reservation. Living in a rural area of Arizona, he found himself becoming interested in the outdoors and spent most of his time being curious about the land around him.
Jerrick moved to Tucson, Arizona to study architecture in 2015 at the University of Arizona College of Architecture, and graduated in 2020 with a Bachelor in Architecture.
Over the course of two summers in 2017 and 2018, he took part in Dalhousie Costal Studio’s design build projects in Nova Scotia, Canada, working as a builder for a gridshell pavilion for Cape Breton Highlands National Park. This experience expanded his learning, working in a different climate and with different materials than typical in Arizona. He very much has a drive to be hands on and work with real materials in his architectural practice. Jerrick has also previously worked with Space Bureau for almost two years in Tucson, designing retail and residential projects.
Jacob Downard Designer
Born and raised in Flagstaff Az, Jacob grew up spending most of his time exploring his surroundings and experiencing nature in an aptitude of mediums. From building countless forts in the Coconino national forest at a young age, to long distance adventure cycling and backcountry skiing. He is a strong believer that humans thrive with connections to nature, and is always seeking the next landscape, familiar or unfamiliar.
After early experience in various creative realms from fabrication to photography, Jacob found himself in the Bachelor of Architecture program at the University of Arizona to broaden his creative pursuits after he received the advice “if you can design a building, you can design almost anything.” Jacob quickly fell in love with the practice of architecture… despite the late nights.
Finishing up his 5th year of school, he is excited to open the next chapter of his life cultivating his life in Tucson. Working with DUST has been a dream come true, to be involved in work that is rooted in place, practice of craft and moments of calm in our modern day.
Agustin Larrain Designer agustin@dustdb.com
Originally from Santiago, Chile, Agustin earned a Bachelor of Architecture from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.
Growing up by the Andes mountains, he turned his attention to the landscape, its cultures, and the precarious building techniques that exist throughout South America. He is interested in how low-tech architecture, local processes, and vernacular techniques can provide a high experiential impact.
He has worked on various residential and cultural projects, expanding internationally through design and art. His collaborations include working for artist-curator Jan Frank in New York city, as well as Studio Rick Joy in Tucson and in his native city Santiago, Chile with Matias Zegers.
Origins
We have learned to move through our world as keen observers and listeners – continually looking for those moments that move us to our core. Those guiding the way have been our mentors, elders, nature, and the poets and artists of our time.
We listen first, and then respond –to the elements, to the marks and lessons left by those who have lived here before, to the spirit and culture of place, and to our fellow dreamers: the clients.
We understand architecture and its construction as a reflection of human survival, culture, and evolution. We look to our environment for clues and refer to the means and methods of cultures past, present, and evolving into the future. As architects and designers, even more so as builders, we revere and understand the importance of our craft and the craftsperson. This is rooted in the idea that it’s the people who put their hands, minds, and hearts to a project that give it its true form and beauty.
Our process allows for a communion with the world we inhabit, a discovery of situations and meanings that root the work in an intimate connection with the environment, both natural and built. Part of our creative process stems from what we think of as infinite roots: capturing a moment in light and shadow, the feeling of mud stuck to your hand, the smell of the desert after a rain. Many of these experiences we turn into memory, and then from memory back into life.
We invest in what we consider to be an active partner in this work: time. Our work is patient, unfolding in moments of pause, the space between action. We trust time to continue this work, long after our hands have left a project – as the client begins their own process of discovery through the lens of our work.
Through our work, we challenge norms, question values, seek the virtuous, and look to engage our senses with the world around us, stretching our eyes past the horizon.
We measure the integrity of our work by the quiet pleasures and experiences enjoyed by all those who encounter it. As we work, we connect to the project as individuals; our hope is that an architecture born from intimate connection will provide for a profound relationship between the building and the individual who encounters it.
We strive to touch this earth lightly, sowing the seeds of reverence as we go. We believe architecture lies in the realm of memory and the experienced. Through the intimacy of spaces and moments lived, we strive to blur the lines between the built and natural environments, dream state and reality, time and space.