Hopi First Mesa

LARP 7010-2022026

Students

Brenton Cai Xiaoyou Guo Baoying Liu Gabe Weber

Faculty

Department
Landscape Architecture

The Hopi are a sovereign Indigenous nation located in Coconino and Navajo counties of northeastern Arizona. The Hopi reservation encompasses more than 1.5 million acres, and 12 villages on three mesas and lowlands below, encircled by the larger Navajo reservation. Hopitutskwa—the historic homeland territory of the Hopi—is much larger than the reservation. Orayvi Village (Oriabe) is the oldest continuously inhabited community in the United States, 1100 to the present. The Hopi are thought to have migrated toward the northern mesas of Arizona from northern Mexico beginning in about 500 BC. They share some common lineages and agricultural, material, and religious practices with Pueblo Peoples in the southwest.

This proposal responds by creating a landscape that supports cultural practice and economic resilience. Flexible spaces for making, exhibiting, and selling are integrated into the design, reframing the site as a living marketplace where community, culture, and livelihood intersect.
Yalei Zhu
The Hopi community has long sought to transform the site into a public place. Many Hopi residents rely on jewelry-making and traditional crafts for income, yet lack a safe and dignified market space. As a result, artisans often sell their work along the highway, facing physical risk and limited visibility.
Yalei Zhu
Located on the former Day School site at First Mesa on the Hopi Reservation, this project reimagines a once-institutional space as a shared community ground. The Hopi community has long sought to transform the site into a public place.
Yalei Zhu

This design studio supports diverse design and development projects of the Hopi First Mesa Consolidated Villages, the oldest and best known of which is Walpi village. Originally established by the Hopi in the thirteenth century at the base of the mesa, Walpi was moved to its current location as a defensive measure after the Pueblo Revolt against the Spanish in 1680. We strive for designs that creatively carry community visions and are attuned to the culture of landscape and spirit, and the desert biome.

Consecutive mini-dams with trees grown to secure year-long presence of freshwater and enable the new industry of aquaculture. The airborne wind energy generator and agrovoltaic fields will provide ample energy and enable export as a new economic solution. Pavilions with design inspired by Hopi traditional art will be positioned next to energy installations. Terraced farm will be installed on currently underutilized sandy mounds, which supports traditional Hopi dry-farming.
Jichu Zhang
Five distinct ecosystems within the selected area were identified after overlaying previous analysis. The design took inspirations from traditional Hopi practices in each unique ecological zones and provided different innovative solutions for economic developments, energy generation, and environmental preservation.
Jichu Zhang
A 72-acre patch of land with high diversity of ecological and cultural features were selected within Keams Canyon as the focal point of design for this project. The most distinct natural event in the arid mesas of the Hopi reservation is flash flood.Besides flooding, distinct environmental attributes exists at the north and south side of the canyon. Aeolian sediments cluster at the southern side, while northern rocky cliffs are directly heated by the sun.
Jichu Zhang
Keams Canyon Spring: Woven by water and native plants
Xiaoyou Guo
A weaving plants resource garden for workshops and gathering
Xiaoyou Guo
Master plan of Tawapa spring: The spring that calls people back
Xiaoyou Guo
Terrace Orchard Volunteer Day
Gabe Weber
Regional Physical Model
Gabe Weber
Terraced Orchard Year 5 - 10
Gabe Weber
Resulting Design of Instances Along the Mesa to Mesa Trail
Brenton Cai
Natural Processes of Hopi Land in First Mesa, AZ
Brenton Cai
Initial Research of Hopi Material & Running Culture
Brenton Cai