The 2026 Season Kicks Off in Bluff!

On May 16th, the new season of DesignBuildUTAH@Bluff officially began — and we started it in a way you might not expect: with radio calisthenics (rajio taisō)! Do you still remember the moves? It's funny how, even after years away, your arms somehow remember the routine on their own. Stretching together in the crisp morning air of Bluff, surrounded by all that open landscape, turned out to be the perfect way to bring our hearts and bodies into sync before the big project ahead.

Day one continued with a tour of the Bluff campus, where the students rolled up their sleeves for some maintenance on one of our past projects, Cedar Hall. Bluff's intense sun is hard on building materials over time, and by repairing that wear with their own hands, the students learned a lesson you can't get from a textbook: a building isn't "done" the moment it's built. Caring for it — and figuring out how it lives alongside its environment — is part of the work, too.

We also had a wonderful surprise to plant: three apple trees, donated — as they generously are every single year — by the Montezuma Orchard Restoration Project. By putting them in the ground themselves, the students got to imagine how a future homeowner might use their home and grow a life — and a garden — around it over the years. It was a small act with a big lesson about living with a place, not just on it.

To the Montezuma Orchard Restoration Project, who bring us apple trees year after year: thank you, truly. Your trees keep growing alongside our homes.

That same day, we visited our completed 2025 project, the K'é éí hólǫ́ House (Kinform House). After half a year of real, lived-in use by homeowner Christine, the insights and experiences from that home were passed down from the previous students to the new crew. This is how DBU's hard-earned wisdom keeps getting handed forward to the next generation.

The next morning, May 17th, we finally visited this year's homeowner's site! The students carried out a thorough site survey and sat down for an interview with the homeowner — the real, grounding starting point for everything they'll design.

And after a full day like that, nothing beats sitting down to a lively dinner together. The season has only just begun — stay tuned!