Ulises de Jesus Diaz is a community/urban activist, artist and architect who works to strengthen the voice of an expanding and diverse community in Los Angeles. Works include urban design, architecture, design projects, publications and artworks where he addresses how diverse cultures influence public open space, art and the urban fabric. His work has been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the Wexner Center for the Visual Arts in Columbus, Ohio, the Gamel Dok Architecture Museum in Copenhagen, and at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Following a Loeb Fellowship at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design, he gave a lecture entitled "Seeing America: Mexican Popular Culture in Los Angeles as a Paradigm for American Cities?" in Bielefeld, Germany at the ZIF - Center for Interdisciplinary Research.

ADOBE LA (Architects, Artists and Designers Opening the Border Edge of Los Angeles) was founded in 1992 as an activist collaboration of architects, artists and designers. Founded by Ulises Diaz and others, it takes the cultural landscape of Los Angeles as the point of departure for projects that address the values of Los Angeles's evolving multicultural population. The mission of ADOBE LA is: to create and produce public art and architecture, create a discourse that responds to the social and cultural needs of the communities in Los Angeles, to document that landscape through diverse media (film, photography, art), to critically analyze issues of representation, vernacular architecture and popular culture through exhibitions, writing, teaching, publications and community activism.