ADC3
Alternative Desert Cities 3
Richards Urban Growth

Alternative Desert Cities 3

Axon drawings illustrating the potential timeline of growth for a lifted city in downtown Phoenix by student Brennan RichardsAxon drawings illustrating the potential timeline of growth for a lifted city in downtown Phoenix by student Brennan RichardsAxon drawings illustrating the potential timeline of growth for a lifted city in downtown Phoenix by student Brennan RichardsAxon drawings illustrating the potential timeline of growth for a lifted city in downtown Phoenix by student Brennan Richards

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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.
Expanding the mission of the local Biscayne National Park Institute, MICROGROVE is a living research community designed for scientists, ecologists, researchers, and eco-tourists, dedicated to the study, restoration, and increased social awareness of coastal ecosystems.
The Craft School is a participatory design and construction initiative that places students at the center of creating their own learning environment. It recognizes that education is not only about what happens inside the classroom, but also how the classroom comes to be.
University Island is a swirling shapeshifter, in both the landscape and the architecture, that offers it’s undefined field of opportunities to the students and anticipates that each will discover and produce their own individual relationship with the island and their education.
The Urban Test Object (UTO) serves as a large-scale intervention that accelerates our relationship with the future city. Rather than solving issues like density, infrastructure, or access, the UTO heightens awareness of the rapid urban transformations shaping our future.
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.
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.
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.

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