ronald rael 3D-prints adobe oasis in coachella valley for desert X

bridging ancient construction & digital fabrication at desert x

Ronald Rael’s Adobe Oasis rises from California’s Coachella Valley as a cluster of ribbed, earthen passageways that bridge indigenous construction practices with digital fabrication. Created for Desert X, the installation reinterprets the mud-building traditions of Colorado’s San Luis Valley, a historic borderland between the U.S. and Mexico before 1848, through the precision of 3D printing. Layered in rhythmic ribbons of red adobe, the walls mimic the texture of the surrounding palm trunks, anchoring the work in both its landscape and architectural heritage aligned with the 2025 exhibition’s call for interventions that reimagine the desert as a site of memory, transformation, and resistance.

With this work, equal parts land art and architectural experiment, the US-based artist and architect further challenges industrial construction’s reliance on carbon-heavy materials like concrete and steel. By revitalizing ancestral knowledge and harnessing adobe’s natural insulating properties, non-toxicity, and fire resistance — qualities refined by various civilizations over centuries — Rael proposes a more sustainable built environment shaped from the land.

all images by Lance Gerber, courtesy Desert X

ronald rael’s adobe oasis envisions sustainable construction

‘I envisioned about 16 years ago, a future of earthen construction that involved 3D printing,’ Ronald Rael reflects, describing his ongoing exploration of how ancient, low-impact materials can be revised as an ecological imperative in the face of the climate crisis. For the artist, working with the robotic printer is a ‘delicate dance’ — one where he remains in constant dialogue with the mud, adjusting and responding as the structure takes shape. The process is sensory and tactile, and deeply connected to place, he says, with the scent, texture, and malleability of the material all becoming tools in bridging the past with the future.

‘We naturally have a visceral connection to earthen structures. We feel them and we understand them because we evolved to build them,’ he continues. As such, the work continues to position earth as both an ancient and radically contemporary material, using robotic programming to advance an evolution of a construction method that has shaped human settlements for over 10,000 years. From the mudbrick ziggurats of Mesopotamia to the rammed-earth mosques of Mali and the vaulted homes of Nubia, civilizations have continuously refined adobe architecture to suit their environments. In the 20th century, architects like Hassan Fathy solidified its potential, demonstrating its viability for low-cost, climate-responsive housing. Rael builds on these histories as an evolution with a focus on engagement and tactility, integrating 3D printing to refine the labor-intensive nature of earthen construction while maintaining its adaptability to site and climate.

Ronald Rael completes Adobe Oasis