#ModelMakers: Audrey Cherek

Welcome back to#ModelMakers! Today, we’re highlighting Alejandra Mateus De La Torre — a 6th Year graduate student at the University of South Florida. Read on to learn more about Alejandra and get inspired!

Name: Alejandra Mateus De La Torre

School: University of South Florida – School of Architecture and Community Design

Degree Program: Master of Architecture (M.Arch)

Year in School: 6th Year — Graduate Student
(Our program is currently structured as a 2-year undergraduate + 4-year graduate sequence, though it will soon transition to a 4-year undergraduate + 2-year graduate model.)

Describe Your Design Style:

My design style begins with a belief: architecture is not just to be seen, but a framework for relationships.

For a long time, I thought design was primarily about how a building looks. Over the years, I’ve come to deeply appreciate the ways plans and sections reveal how people gather, circulate, and encounter one another in the built environment.

In short, maybe I don’t have a visual design style. To me, design is about the experiences it can hold and a palimpsest of stories. I am especially interested in thresholds, and my work aspires to contribute meaningfully to the social fabric of a place, creating spaces that feel rooted, generous, and capable of fostering belonging.

Share a Project You’re Proud of: One project I am especially proud of is Courtyards: Interstitial Commons. This project challenged me to rethink what “family” means and how multi-family housing can support many definitions of belonging. I explored how architecture might strengthen community across generations, lifestyles, and levels of permanence, from digital nomads and emerging artists to seniors and single parents.

The proposal is organized around four shared courtyards: productive gardens, a community pool, a children’s playground, and flexible open commons. Surrounding them is a layered system of semi-public balconies that act as interstitial commons, mediating between the private and the collective. These spaces function as lived edges, places to pause, converse, observe, and encourage inhabitants to participate in community while circulating from the public courtyards on their way to their private units.

Sited in Madrid, the project responds directly to its urban context by introducing galleries and artist workshops near an existing arts district. Along the edge facing a local school, it integrates daycare, learning spaces, and gardens that encourage intergenerational exchange between seniors and children.

Ultimately, this project reflects my belief that community is not accidental, and it can be carefully cultivated through thresholds and shared everyday rituals.

What Inspires You? I am inspired by work that strengthens communities, but even more by the people who make those communities possible.

Architects who care deeply about thoughtful and generous design inspire me. Leaders who are willing to mentor and invest in the next generation shape how I see the profession. I am also constantly inspired by students who step outside their comfort zones and take on leadership roles to uplift others along the way.

Like an African Poem says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

What’s Your Student Superpower? I believe my student superpower is helping others grow.

There is something incredibly fulfilling about seeing someone develop confidence in their ideas, their voice, and their leadership. Watching a peer step into a role they once doubted they could hold, or seeing a student push their work further than they thought possible, motivates me deeply.

Growth feels most meaningful when it is collective. If I can contribute to an environment where others feel supported enough to take risks, lead, and grow, then I feel I am doing my part not only as a student leader but as a future architect.