The Marfa 10 × 10 house, by San Antonio firm Candid Rogers Studio, is a minimalist dwelling located, appropriately enough, on the outskirts of Marfa, the West Texas city whose most famous resident was the minimalist sculptor Donald Judd. The structure – two stacked, crate-like forms clad in Corten steel – evokes the humble, rust-covered utility buildings one sees everywhere in the Texan high desert.

The interiors may be a modest 30 square metres, but the space instantly doubles when the owners open the downstairs flap door, which extends the interior kitchen–dining area into an exterior courtyard. Because the house sits more than 1,450 metres above sea level, it offers expansive sightlines onto the Chihuahuan Desert, the Chinati and Davis Mountains, and the broad Texan sky. It is a cozy outpost in a vast, awe-inspiring landscape.

Project Marfa 10 x10 Location Mafa, Texas, U.S. Firm Candid Rogers Studio, U.S. Team Candid Rogers with Gonzalo Fraga, Ayuko Hishikawa and Darrell Lehmann Photos Chris Cooper