ADC2
Alternative Desert Cities 2
Lobato Model Top View

Alternative Desert Cities 2

Plan view of an urban model that distinguishes larger communal programs from housing by student Alejandra LobatoPlan view of an urban model that distinguishes larger communal programs from housing by student Alejandra LobatoPlan view of an urban model that distinguishes larger communal programs from housing by student Alejandra LobatoPlan view of an urban model that distinguishes larger communal programs from housing by student Alejandra Lobato

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The Butterfly Theater is a living pavilion—part sculpture, part habitat, part playground. It takes inspiration from the elegance of flamingos and the presence of butterflies in Miami Beach, transforming the park’s open center into a place of movement, color, and quiet spectacle.
Framework: Inverted Square Pyramid (FW:ISP) reimagines the traditional pyramid by flipping it upside down, shifting its focus from the cosmos to the people. The structure’s apexes become seating points within a flexible, interactive framework that encourages public engagement and play.
In Tempe there are two pedestrian axes: Mill Avenue and Palm Walk. Mill Avenue is successful and Palm Walk is not. Is there a way to make the palm trees useful to the students? The PEP structure is powered by buried hydraulic pressure systems giving vertical movement to the layer/palm interface.
The YELE music studio competition, underway before the earthquake, must respond now, but plan for the future of the community. Music is relief in a time of tragedy. The goal is to meet the most basic survival needs now while leaving spaces for future growth through self sustaining phases.
The challenge of creating a pair of studio apartments that can fill a lifted 16'x16' void necessitates the creation of a quick, mobile, and opportunistic building system that can react to the found conditions of the site. Access to the site is limited and the ground must be free.
Seeing Park Avenue as an underutilized zone that connects four vibrant neighborhoods from 42nd Street to 144th Street, Infrastructural Infill is a study testing the potential to locate a combination of mixed-use housing and transportation in the residual spaces caused by urban infrastructure.
The CART live/work housing prototype adds a vertical profile to downtown while converting an underutilized public path into an urban gesture by introducing of a specialized food cart zone in New Haven. The CART residents would rent and appropriate the moving space as a means of expanding their zone.
Scaffolding is often seen as a temporary urban necessity—functional, but rarely celebrated. This project reimagines scaffolding as an architectural intervention and public art piece throughout Española Way, transforming it into a vibrant, interactive element in Miami Beach’s urban fabric.

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