
CAPLA students reimagine accessible architecture through Universal Design
Bachelor of Architecture students were recognized in the 2024 AGM Universal Design Student Awards for innovative projects that centered empathy, accessibility, and the human experience. Winning designs by Taranm Akbary and Sadey Bowles reimagined inclusive spaces in Bisbee, showcasing how Universal Design can elevate both creativity and community impact.

Lecture Recap | "DUST: Origins" by DUST Architects
DUST architects explored how the American Southwest’s desert landscape inspires their work, shaping memory, creativity, and a deep sense of belonging. Its beauty and isolation offer space for reflection and connection to broader human experiences.

Damon Leverett and Jeff Guba Win 2022 Darryl D. Dobras Awards for Excellence
Senior Lecturer in Architecture Damon Leverett and Senior Data and Financial Analyst Jeff Guba have been awarded CAPLA’s highest annual honor for employees: the Darryl D. Dobras Award for Excellence, awarded by Dean Nancy Pollock-Ellwand.

CAPLA Launches Interdisciplinary Bachelor of Arts in Design Arts and Practices with Emphasis Areas in Object and Space
CAPLA's School of Architecture has partnered with the School of Art and School of Information to offer a new, transdisciplinary undergraduate degree: the Bachelor of Arts in Design Arts and Practices. CAPLA coordinates two of the degree's four emphasis areas: Object Design and Spatial Design.

Award-Winning Student Map Aims to Help Southern California City Plant a Sustainable Future
Recent Master of Landscape Architecture student Irene Pineda has won first place in the graduate/professional student category of the UArizona 2022 Data Visualization Challenge for her map Plant Trees in Pomona for a Sustainable Future. Her map identifies where trees should be planted to provide more shading in the rapidly industrializing Southern California city.

UArizona Architecture Students Win 2022 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon Design Challenge Grand Prize
Professor Jonathan Bean and the Solar Decathlon Design Challenge Multifamily Building team of fourth-year B.Arch students Andrew Norris, Jonah Cummins-Mikkalson, Alex Kolodziej and Nhan Vo not only took first place in their division, but also was selected as the 2022 Design Challenge Grand Winner for Commercial Divisions—a first for CAPLA and UArizona.

Sustainable Influence: Shamara Smith '22 BS SBE
BS in Sustainable Built Environments student Shamara Smith came to UArizona from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In this video profile, she discusses how she became interested in sustainability, her passions for leaving the world better than she found it, why community engagement is important and the value of networking in building a new career.

Student and Faculty Research Leads to ‘Most Endangered Historic Places’ Designation for Buffalo Soldier Camp
Thanks to research by CAPLA's Heritage Conservation Project Director Helen Erickson and graduate students Sarah McDowell and Teresa DeKoker, the Buffalo Soldier military establishment Camp Naco in Southeastern Arizona has been listed by the U.S. National Trust for Historic Preservation's as one of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places for 2022.

U.S. Embassy and Consulate in Lisbon, Portugal: Christopher Kirk '72 B.Arch, Fred Bassetti and Company
The new U.S. embassy and consulate built in 1983 in Lisbon, Portugal was a high-security office building for the ambassador, political, military and economic departments, as well as other, more secretive functions. The site was a pastoral 12-acre location of a historic 17th-century former monastery and estate on the outskirts of the city.

Tucson NBC Affiliate Highlights Affordable Rowhouses Designed and Built by CAPLA Architecture Students
Rowhouses created as part of CAPLA design-build studios led by architecture professors Mary Hardin and Eric D. Weber, and designed and built by architecture students, were featured on KVOA News 4, an NBC affiliate in Tucson, on April 29, 2022.

Passive Building: CAPLA’s Jonathan Bean on How Infrastructure Funding Can Help Buildings Meet Climate Change Goals
In the Biden administration’s new infrastructure law, funding is available to states and communities that UArizona Assistant Professor of Architecture and Sustainable Built Environments Jonathan Bean says can be used to help fight climate change. Learn how and listen to the full interview.