Selected Works | Brandon Avalos by brandonavalos

I Living / Dying Codependent Relationships

Thinking

Living/Dying

Codependent Relationships

type academic team

Brandon Avalos

Tice Hannemann

fall 2025

Instructor: Florencia Pita

AT: Krish Dittmer

Living / Dying is an ecological living commune that evolves from hands-on physical modeling. We started by cutting wooden dowels into circular forms, creating a wavy through-line that informed the building’s final shape. This form became a framework for integrating a series of natural systems, from photovoltaic solar panels that harvest energy to plant-based air filtration and a mycelium lab growing structural bricks. Here, the relationship is symbiotic: the building thrives with the users’ care, and in return, it sustains its inhabitants. If the caretaking stops, the building ceases to shelter, creating a narrative of mutual dependence and a truly integrated living environment.

A productive interior landscape that grows food on site, using low water, high yield farming to support shared living and long term self sufficiency.

A closed loop water system that captures sink and shower runoff, filters it, and reroutes it for irrigation and non potable reuse, reducing demand while reinforcing the commune’s self reliance.

Grey Water Recycling

Hydroponic Farm

Photovoltaic panels harvest on site energy while plant based air purification supports healthier interior air, pairing clean power with a breathable, living atmosphere.

A living fabrication space that cultivates mycelium into structural bricks, turning growth into a material system and embedding the building’s construction cycle into daily life

Mycelium Lab

PV Panels + Air Purifier

Chunk Model

Achille

G1 Public Administration + Mixed Use

type

professional / internship

team

Brandon Avalos

Vivien Centelles

summer 2024

Architect:

Miralles Tagliabue EMBT Architects

A landmark public mixed-use building in the heart of Tirana, Albania, developed in collaboration with EMBT Architects. The design draws from the two-headed eagle on the Albanian flag, reflecting a balance between cultural identity and contemporary urban functionality. I developed the initial form that established the foundation for the team’s work. From there, I collaborated closely with the parametric design team to refine the facade and then define material color palette, inspired by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s progressive color movement across Tirana’s urban fabric. At every phase maintaining daily communication with Benedetta Tagliabue, contributing to key design decisions and ensuring consistency across all stages of the project.

Miralles Tagliabue EMBT

Achille Miralles Tagliabue

Physical Wood Site Model

Digital Study Model

Zhan D’Ark

G1 Public Administration + Mixed Use

type professional / internship team

Brandon Avalos

Vivien Centelles

summer 2024

Architect:

Miralles Tagliabue EMBT Architects

A public mixed-use tower proposal for a design competition in Tirana, Albania, developed in collaboration with EMBT Architects. The design is defined by pivoting volumes and cantilevered gestures that create a sense of lightness while organizing the building’s urban presence. I led the facade and volume development, working closely with the 3D team to shape the tower’s formal identity. The facade became a key signature of the proposal: a colorful, light-refracting “snake skin” system that shifts with changing light and viewing angles. It introduced movement and transformation into the envelope and received strong praise from the jury, including Edi Rama. Alongside the facade, I refined the tower’s massing through iterative studies and physical models to align structural ambition with the competition’s objectives.

Miralles Tagliabue

Facade Study Model

Wooden Site Model w/ Acrylic

Wishful Thinking Material Remixing

type academic team

Brandon Avalos

Eduardo Cortazar

Sheng-Hsiang Lin

Jacob Lehrer

fall 2025

Instructor:

Maxi Spina

A research and fabrication studio focused on close precedent analysis through materiality, tactile tectonics, and envelope performance. Our group studied Kengo Kuma & Associates’ UCCA Clay Museum, producing a first model calibrated for published level accuracy through direct communication with the Kengo Kuma team. The second phase shifted from documentation to transformation, reworking the building to drastically reduce embodied carbon. We proposed a new envelope that expands on the precedent’s treated bamboo cantilever zones by weaving a dense network of bamboo strips across the entire facade, forming a continuous, web-like skin. In parallel, we replaced key steel components in the walls and lower floors with Dowel Laminated Timber, allowing the structural system to transition toward a primarily timber-based assembly. The concept reimagines the museum in a context where bamboo is the dominant local craft, using bamboo as a connective cultural material in the same way the original project ties to Yixing’s pottery legacy. By prioritizing bamboo and timber over steel and aluminum, our research indicated a 67% emissions avoidance, influenced by the higher carbon intensity of steel and aluminum production in China’s coal-reliant grid. One major intervention replaced oversized steel beams supporting a concrete floor with glulam beams supporting a DLT floor, reducing an estimated 128,000 kgCO2e from steel alone.

T20mm Red Ceramic Panel

Ceramic Panel Installation adjustment Parts

50x50 angle steel transverse auxiliary keel

Rectangular steel tube vertical auxiliary keel

T130mm cement fiberboardsandwich foam cermaic insulation

100mm composite exterior wall panel

Main Steel Structure beam and columns

200m gravel foundation

Plain soil rammed reinforced concrete structural slab

25mm light gray mermeable concrete surface layer

25mm Joint Layer Steel I-Beams

T20mm Red Ceramic Panel

50x50 angle steel transverse auxiliary keel

Panel Installation and Adjustment Bracket

T3mm Aluminum Water Batch Board

Aluminum Cornice Gutters

Drain Outlet

80x40 Square Steel Pipe Water Strip,

Surface Flurocarbon Spray Fixed to heavy

roof panels, Double Layer Waterproof

membrane t100mm

Extruded Polystrene Board

MainBody Tubular Steel Column

D50mm PVC Drainage Pipe

Interior Finished Gypsum Face in White Paint

150x150 Square Steel Tube Transverse Main

Keel External Full Length Welded C-Shaped

Steel Folded Plate Connector

Aluminum Bascia Board, T-Shaped Drip

T130mm Cement FIberboard Sandwich

Foam Ceramic Insulation (100mm)

Composite Panel

Bamboo Woven Envelope w/ Tubes

Cross-Laminated Timber Flooring

Glue-Laminated Timber Truss

Glue-Laminated Timber Beam

CLT Floor Panel

Glue Laminated Timber Steel Connectors

Cross-Laminated Timber Space Truss

Bamboo Tube Envelope

150 of Cellulose Insulation New System GWP (Chunk)

Bamboo Weaving

Bamboo Tube

50x50 Angle Sheet Transverse Auxiliary Keel

Surface Flurocarbon Sprayed

Panel Installationand Adjustment Bracket

Timber Roof Panel Truss for Attachment Wooden

OSB Surface

With Waterproofing Treatment

3mm Aluminum Water Batch Board

Aluminum Cornice Gutters

Drain Outlet

600x 450mm (h) Square Glue Lam Column

Interior Finished Wooden OSB face in White Paint

Oak Creek Cabin

Vortex Coffee Shop

type academic team

Brandon Avalos

Daniel Canales

spring 2024

Instructor:

Quiara Caguiat

A third year studio project at Arizona State University with Professor Quiara Cagiuat, focused on designing an archival space within a flood zone in Oak Creek, Sedona. Inspired by Renzo Piano’s climate conscious approach to technology and materiality, the building is designed to stay visually quiet so the landscape remains the main focus. Key moves include a grand glazed window, a sloped roof that channels wind into rooftop traps, a responsive facade that moderates sun exposure, and an anti flood honeycomb system that allows the structure to float during high water. The form references Sedona’s sedimentary plateaus, with a layered program that stacks an archival café and lounge below a gallery and coworking spaces above.