Desert Observatory

The Desert Observatory in Saguaro National Park offers visitors an immersive desert experience. Upon entering, visitors are drawn to a framed opening that faces the western mountains, with a ground-level platform in a low dip to encourage close observation of native plants and animals. As visitors move to the second platform, a northern view helps them orient themselves within the desert landscape. The highest platform offers a framed view of downtown Tucson, allowing visitors to place themselves within the larger Tucson area. The model was constructed in Rhino 8 and utilized Grasshopper to encode the exoskeleton “skin” onto the exterior of the structure.