Speculative Scales

Ricardo Alvarado Weitzman School of Design

Selected Works 2023-2024

RICARDO ALVARADO

EDUCATION

M.ARCH CANDIDATE | UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

alvric@upenn.edu | 714-270-7602

University of Pennsylvania, May 2026

Stuart Weitzman School of Design, Master of Architecture

Washington University in St. Louis, May 2023

Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, Bachelors of Science in Architecture

WORK EXPERIENCE

Morrissey Associates Inc.

Santa Ana, CA July 2024

• Created detail drawings and ﬁnish schedules for accessible restroom walls and ceilings, including wall schedule lists and keynotes.

• Conducted research on county bicycle networks using ArcGIS to produce comprehensive diagrams and site context drawings.

• Developed and presented 2 mile bike trail and inﬁll park design proposal, supported by Auto CAD plan drawings.

Jacklitsch/Gardner Architects.

New York, NY Jan 2024

• Created 9 conceptual renderings for project, utilizing a blend of Photoshop and Mid journey algorithms to align with the client’s artistic vision.

• Participated in a client meeting to present and discuss design concepts.

• Attended a site visit to Governors Island, collaborating with stakeholders to assess site-speciﬁc design considerations and gather project requirements.

Fabrication Lab.

Philadelphia, PA Sep 2023 - Present

• Operate, clean, and maintain laser cutting machinery to ensure consistent performance and safety.

• Assist students in optimizing project files for efficient and precise fabrication, improving workflow and material usage.

• Provide expert guidance on model-making techniques using laser cutting technology, answering fabrication-related questions.

• Oversee scheduling to ensure timely project completion and smooth operation.

Design Studio TA

AWARDS

St. Louis, MO Jan 2023 - May 2023

• Assisted undergraduate students in developing design projects, providing feedback on concept development, spatial planning, and design iterations.

• Prepared and organized instructional materials, including tutorials and workshop sessions, to facilitate students’ understanding of design software and techniques.

• Collaborated with the professor to manage studio logistics, grading, and review schedules.

Albert F. Schenck-Henry Gillette Woodman Scholarship - 2024

Awarded ﬁrst place for the team design competition.

Team: Ricardo Alvarado, Jessy Xu, and Spring Yu T-Square Club Fellowship 2024

Awarded for demonstrating excellence in design as a ﬁrst year student Nominated for Weitzman Pressing Matters 2024

Questbridge National Scholarship 2019-2023

SKILLS

Design & Drafting: AutoCAD, Rhino 3D, Grasshopper, Revit

3D Modeling & Rendering: Enscape, V-Ray, KeyShot, Midjourney

Graphic Design & Visualization: Adobe Creative Suite

Geographic Information Systems: ArcGIS, QGIS

Fabrication & Prototyping: Laser Cutting, CNC Milling, 3D Printing

Simulation & Analysis: Ladybug Tools (Honeybee, ClimateStudio), EnergyPlus, THERM

Insertion

Extensions

framed perspectives

Shifting Hybrids | instructed by Hina Jamelle Fall 2024 | 601 Studio

sculpted dynamism

Installation

ICA Extension | instructed by Laia Mogas-Soldevila Fall 2023 | 501 Studio

Intervention

branching connections

HOK Futures Design Challenge Spring 2024

veiled motion

Towers | instructed by Laia Mogas-Soldevila Fall 2023 | 501 Studio

Integration

sylvan threshold

Bothy Opera | 2024 Schenck-Woodman Competition Spring 2024

aqueous assemblages

Between Categories | instructed by Andrew Lucia Spring 2024 | 502 Studio

LARGE

50,000 SQ FT NEW,

100,000 SQ FT EXISTING

601 : SHIFTING HYBRIDS

Studio Critic: Hina Jamelle

TA: Brennan Flory

Duration: Semester

Location: New York City

Program: Residential Independent Work

Adaptive Reuse for Collective Viewing framed perspectives // Insertion

This adaptive reuse of the Flatiron Building reimagines it as an immersive public commons, transforming one of New York City’s most photographed landmarks from a static icon into a site of meaningful engagement. Historically captured as a picturesque backdrop, the Flatiron’s presence has often been reduced to the superficial, leaving untapped its potential for fostering deeper interaction. This project redefines the building as a dynamic space where photography is not merely taken but experienced, creating an environment that provokes reflection and collective awareness.

The design introduces a continuous passageway linking the subway to the street level, guiding visitors through a ﬂow of visual narratives. At the ground-ﬂoor gallery, projections of urban life—contributed by professionals and the public—are displayed on large surfaces, inviting interpretation and dialogue. Smaller, intimate pockets for viewing provide spaces to pause and engage in conversations about the city’s stories, challenges, and opportunities. This integration of personal and collective experiences transforms the Flatiron into a living social canvas.

By dissolving the boundary between its iconic exterior and interior experience, the project repositions the Flatiron as an active participant in New York’s urban narrative. This reimagined space becomes a hub for visual storytelling, fostering connections and cultivating urban awareness.

ADAPTIVE REUSE STRATEGY

Juxtaposition That Preserves The Flatiron’s Essence While Maximizing City Views Through Angled Frames

EXTERIOR FACADE NIGHT RENDERING

The Facade At Night, Framed To Highlight Multi-Story Aggregation And Transparency

DESIGN RESEARCH LOOKING AT SELECTED PART AND WHOLE FORMATION The “Part to Whole” Relationship, Abstract Diagrams As “Generative Machine”

CORNER FACADE DETAIL RENDERING

The Facade’s Frames And Apertures Shape Both City Views And Residential Spaces

3D TECHNIQUES USED TO DEVELOP UNITS Frame + Inner Frame + Volume + Aperture

SECTION CHUNK

Connecting

Underground Transit To Public Commons

LONGITUDINAL BUILDING SECTION ALONG BROADWAY

The Unit Formation Aggregates with Clustered Single Units in the Front, Spreading out to Larger Units Ascending the Facade

EXTERIOR CORNER RENDERING (LEFT), BUILDING PROGRAM DIAGRAMS (TOP)

The Facade’s Tectonics Allow For Density And Porosity, Redeﬁne The Facade’s Relationship With Its Environment

SUBWAY LEVEL - PUBLIC COMMONS FLOOR PLAN

Public Passageway Flows Into Spaces That Celebrate And Develop Street Photography And Film Culture

GROUND - PUBLIC COMMONS ENTRANCE FLOOR PLAN

An Open Public Plaza Seamlessly Connects To The Building, Encouraging Public Exchange

17TH FLOOR - RESIDENTIAL FLOOR PLAN

The Layout Aggregates Units While Allowing For Flexible Communal Spaces

RESIDENTIAL FLOOR PLAN DETAIL SHOWING CORNER UNITS Strategic Framing Gives Residents Views Of The City While Enhancing The Building’s Transparency

EXTERIOR FACADE CLOSE UP

The Interrelation Of Units Is Expressed Through The Tectonic Seams Of The Bronze Glazing

APERTURE AND FRAME RENDERING DETAIL

The Frame Structure Creates A Balance Between Openness And Privacy Along Facade

MEDIUM

25,000 SQ FT NEW,

20,000 SQ FT EXISTING

501 : ICA EXTENSION

Studio Critic: Laia Mogas-Soldevila

TA: Grace Infante

Duration: 2 Months

Location: Philadelphia

Program: Museum

Independent Work

folding dynamism

// Extension

Parkour Museum ICA Extension

This design for an ICA Museum extension draws inspiration from movement and the urban context of the site, integrating parkour as a central concept to sculpt the building. Parkour movements, such as wall leaps, shape the architecture, creating dynamic spaces that celebrate the interaction between art, the body, and the urban environment. The building fosters a dialogue between traditional institutional art forms—such as performative and visual arts—and urban art forms, including parkour, breakdancing, and interpretive dance.

As visitors move through the museum, they experience the ﬂuidity of movement embodied in its design. Floors and facades fold and shift, activating spaces for performance and display while inviting confrontation between the viewer and the kinetic energy of urban movement. By blending art, movement, and spatial dynamics, this extension transforms the museum into a vibrant, interactive space that redeﬁnes how art and the urban landscape are experienced together.

CORNER ELEVATION DRAWING Folding Lines Derived from Parkour Leap Angles

EXTERIOR EVENING RENDERING The Unique Folds In The Facade Provide A Dynamic Environment For Parkour

SECOND FLOOR PLAN SHOWING THEATER, AND PARKOUR SPACE

Folded, Interwoven Spaces That Integrate Performance, Education, And Gallery Functions

These spatial folds generate dynamic pathways, encouraging ﬂuid movement through varied programmatic zones. Vertical transitions emphasize ascension and descent, guiding individuals through multi-level spaces that blur the boundaries between observer and participant. In this way, the tower’s folds provide not only visual interest but also a literal and metaphorical space for the body to ascend, navigate, and claim agency in the built environment. The architecture fosters a liberation of movement within the urban fabric,

INTERIOR RENDERING DETAIL OF FOLDING FLOORS AND WALLS

The Circulation Guides Visitors Through Galleries Varying in Openness And Constriction

LONGITUDINAL BUILDING SECTION ALONG 34TH ST

Vertical Intertwine of Circulation and Performance Spaces Blur Boundary Between Art And Movement

FINAL MODEL AT 1/16TH SCALE , PLA AND MDF BOARD

Light Peeks Through, Gently Penetrating The Folds Of The Facade

INTERIOR PERSPECTIVE RENDERING OF TOWER ROOF TOP ATRIUM The Tower’s Top Transforms Into A Multi-Level Space For Exercise And Expression

INTERIOR GALLERY SPACE PERSPECTIVE RENDERING

Dialogue Space For Underrepresented Urban Art Forms

CHOISY SECTION CHUNK

Spaces Fold Into Each Other, Creating Dynamic Performance And Interaction Areas

FINAL MODEL AT 1/16TH SCALE, PLA AND MDF BOARD, ACRYLIC Dynamic Folds Sit Atop The ICA, Offering New Spatial Relationships And Views

By folding the architecture into dynamic, ﬂuid spaces, the museum becomes more than just a passive container for art—it becomes an active participant in the user experience. The folding geometry facilitates movement and interaction, allowing performance and art to spill off the walls and into the space, creating an immersive environment where visitors are not merely observers but participants. The architecture’s ability to constrict and open invites visitors to move through it, engaging with both the art and the space in a dynamic dialogue.

03 branching connections

// Extension

Cobbs Creek Ecological Center

Our design framework extends the city grid into the park, thoughtfully positioning pavilions, follies, and spatial moments throughout the site. This approach establishes a seamless integration between indoor and outdoor spaces within the architecture, while simultaneously highlighting the contrast between the intervention and the natural curves of the site’s topography.

SMALL

12,000 SQ FT NEW, 4,000 SQ FT EXISTING

HOK FUTURES COMPETITION

Duration: 2 Weeks

Location: Philadelphia Program: Ecology Center

Partner Work

The incorporation of locally sourced timber for the facade allows the new education center to harmonize with the park’s environment, fostering a dialogue with the existing community center. This approach is not only humble to the site’s historical context but also introduces sustainable technologies, contributing to the neighborhood’s evolving narrative.

SITE SECTION CLOSEUP OF ECO-CENTER Contextual And Subtle, The Extension Becomes A Part Of The Forest

PERSPECTIVE RENDERING (COMPLETED 3D MODEL, RENDERING DONE BY PARTNER) A Space Where Education Expands Beyond Walls Into The Surrounding Environment

PAVILION ELEVATIONS (LEFT), GROUND FLOOR PLAN (RIGHT)

The Bent Form Connects The Design To Its Site Conditions, Forming A Central Public Space

Dance - Inspired Kinetic Sculpture

Our team designed a tower that embodied lightness, dynamic movement, and a moiré effect, while incorporating a glowing inner core. Drawing inspiration from contemporary interpretive dance, we analyzed and projected overlapping dance movements to infuse the structure with an inherent sense of dynamism. The design features an illuminated red core encased by “ﬂoating faces,” created through the interplay of two layers of fabric. These overlapping layers naturally generate a moiré effect, enhancing the perception of movement and capturing the ﬂuidity of dance.

To amplify the visual impact, the ﬂoating faces are subtly animated using ﬁshing wire and a simple motor, allowing them to twist periodically and engage viewers. This synthesis of kinetic design and visual intrigue celebrates the art of dance while adhering to the project’s technical requirements, creating an innovative architectural expression of lightness, motion, and performance.

501 : TOWERS

Studio Critic: Laia Mogas-Soldevila

TA: Grace Infante

Duration: 1 Month

Location: Weitzman

Program: Sculpture

Group Work (4 Members)

MOVEMENT CONCEPT DIAGRAM (ABSTRACTIONS BY GROUP MEMBER) Abstraction of Dance Moves Carve The Triangular Faces

FINAL PHYSICAL MODEL, 3’ X 3’ X 7’

The Tower’s Form Evokes Movement, Yet Stands Poised In Delicate Balance

FORM FINDING DIAGRAM (COMPLETED DRAWINGS) Dynamic Form Derived From Movement And Folded Triangulations

The tower’s form emerged from projecting triangular faces onto a bounding restriction box, folding them, and connecting the resulting lines. This process, driven by the need to integrate motion into the structure, generated a polyhedron core where all movements converge into a dynamic geometry.

MODEL DETAILS, DOUBLE SKIN BLACK PERFORATED FABRIC Fabric Overlaps Creating A Dynamic Interplay And Glowing Core

JOINT CATALOG (COMPLETED DRAWINGS, PARAMETRIC JOINT SCRIPT BY GROUP MEMBER)

A Catalog Of Connections: The Tower’s Structural DNA

JOINT AND MEMBER DETAIL DRAWING A Celebration Of Lightness And The Craft Of Connection

MODEL DETAIL SHOWING PAINTED PLYWOOD BASE, PLA ROOT JOINT, BASS WOOD MEMBERS

The Tower’s Graceful Touch: Strength Distilled Into One Point

ELEVATION DRAWINGS (COMPLETED 3D MODEL, DRAWING COMPLETED BY GROUP MEMBER)

Elevations Revealing Constant Transformation And A Dance Of Forms

SMALL

150 SQ FT, APPROX

SCHENCK WOODMAN COMPETITION

Duration: 1 Week

Location: Philadelphia Program: Bothy

Group Work (3 Members)

sylvan threshold

Intervention

A Living Bothy in Wood

For the Urban Bothy Design Competition, our team embarked on a two-hour walk through Strawberry Mansion, Philadelphia, inspired by the Situationists’ dérive technique to deeply engage with the site. We mapped our route through sensory experiences, allowing the urban fabric and natural environment to inform our design. Drawing from Archigram’s Walking City concept, our speculative bothy blurs boundaries between the neighborhood and the park. Fusing the organic and the mechanical, it embodies coexistence between nature and urban life.

Using wood to evoke the forest and machine elements to symbolize man, the bothy actively tends to the park’s environment while making nature more accessible to the community. Grounded in literature and speculative thinking, our design envisions a structure that inﬁltrates the neighborhood, inviting nature into urban spaces and fostering harmony between the city and the environment. This bothy redeﬁnes connectivity, acting as a bridge between disparate realms.

GENERATIVE COLLAGE (LEFT), BOTHY SPECULATIVE SECTION (RIGHT) De-Familiarized Architecture Bridging Technology, Ecology, And Community

SITE SECTION DETAIL SHOWING BOTHY SITUATED WITHIN FAIRMOUNT PARK

Symbiotic Bothy Design That Gives Back To The Forest It Inhabits

Its speculative framework supports a dual purpose: providing a living and working space for a scientist or researcher and integrating small programs that engage the local community. The design challenges traditional boundaries, re-imagining the relationship between human activity, technology, and the forest ecosystem to create a harmonious, multi-functional retreat.

SITE SECTION DETAIL SHOWING BOTHY TRAVERSING ACROSS FAIRMOUNT RESERVOIR

The Reservoir’s Gardener: A Mobile Bothy Enriching The Water Ecosystem

FINAL BOARD SUBMISSION (COMPLETED DRAWINGS, LOWER COLLAGE SECTION COMPLETED BY GROUP MEMBERS)

The Bothy As A Moving Threshold Bridging Park And Neighborhood

EXTRA LARGE

150,000 SQ FT BLDG

250,000 SQ FT LANDSCAPE

502: BETWEEN CATEGORIES

Studio Critic: Andrew Lucia

TA: Taely Freeman

Duration: Semester

Location: Philadelphia

Program: Public Bathhouse

Independent Work

aqueous assemblages

Urban Bathhouse in the Park

This project explores the dynamic relationship between accumulations and analogous forms within a structured grid, examining moments where these elements conform and deviate. The grid’s alignment is inﬂuenced by the site’s boundary, further articulated through the strategic placement of buildings and varied follies. These follies range in scale from bird baths to large cisterns, functioning to collect and store storm water, thereby mitigating ﬂooding. Additionally, these water features help counteract the heat island effect in the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood, providing recreational spaces and a series of thermal baths modeled after Roman bathhouses.

The design aims to reveal and celebrate water infrastructure as a pivotal architectural expression, paying homage to Philadelphia’s historic water fountains. By integrating these elements into a thoughtfully planned grid, the project addresses environmental challenges while enhancing community interaction with water. This approach provides practical beneﬁts and elevates the aesthetic and cultural signiﬁcance of water in urban design, fostering a deeper appreciation for sustainable and historical water management practices. The result is a unique urban landscape that harmonizes functionality, sustainability, and historical context, enriching the urban experience through innovative water-centric design.

AERIAL RENDERING OF BATH HOUSE GROUNDS DURING AUTUMN Nature And The City Converge, Creating A Responsive Urban Oasis

SITE PLAN AT 1:600 SCALE

Between the Picturesque and the Manmade

The project integrates a structured grid to both the site and bathhouse. On a macro scale, the grid organizes bathhouses and pools across the site. The grid adheres to the site’s boundaries, and the clsutering of follies breaks up the grid. At the micro scale, each bathhouse adheres to the grid, with variations in thermal zones introducing intentional deviations.

SITE LAYERING STRATEGY AT 1:600 SCALE

Engineered Waterscapes Blend Infrastructure and Park

GROUND FLOOR PLAN DETAIL

Thermal Experience Through Grid and Folly

INTERIOR BATHOUSE (LEFT), EXTERIOR POOL (RIGHT) RENDERINGS

Layered Thermal Thresholds

PHYSICAL SITE MODEL AT 1:600 SCALE, MUSEUM BOARD, PLA Bath House Embedded Within the Landscape

EXPLODED SITE AXON

Bath Typologies Connected Through Landscaping

The site is designed to hold water, adapting the program to shifting water levels; during heavy rainfall, outdoor pools and cisterns ﬁll up, creating more public spaces centered around recreational bathing. In drier seasons, drained basins and fountains give way for spaces for nature to ﬁll, offering a dynamic, seasonally responsive environment to the city.