School of Architecture Awards

CAPLA faculty excelled in City of Tucson's Casita Model Plan Competition, clinching spots in the top 10 designs, showcasing their innovative contributions to housing solutions in the community.

In a showcase of architectural excellence, CAPLA earned prestigious accolades at the 2023 AIA Arizona Design Awards. The distinguished recognition extends to not only the exceptional faculty but also talented students and accomplished alumni, reinforcing CAPLA's commitment to excellence in design and innovation within the architectural landscape.

Laura Carr, a Senior Lecturer in Architecture at the College of Architecture, Planning & Landscape Architecture, is part of a team that secured a $200,000 grant for the Native People's Design Coalition. This grant will support their efforts in collaborating with tribal communities to plan and design sustainable and resilient built environments.

Laura Hollengreen, associate dean for academic affairs at CAPLA, has been awarded the Ted and Shirley Taubeneck Superior Teaching Award for her Humanities Seminar Program course, Localizing the Sacred: Medieval Christian Architecture and Art. The annual award is based solely on student evaluations.

Two B.Arch student teams made the finals of this year's Solar Decathlon Design Challenge, while the Casa Verde team took third place in the Attached Housing Division. As much as we tout the students’ success, however, the more significant impact is on the students themselves.

Assistant Professor of Practice Teresa Rosano has won the prestigious Margaret M. Briehl and Dennis T. Ray Five Star Faculty Award for 2023, which recognizes excellence in teaching and mentoring and is the only university-wide award for faculty members that is determined by undergraduate students.

Thanks in part to a 2022 grant from Chicago-based Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, Associate Professor of Architecture Beth Weinstein is synthesizing more than a decade of her research on architecture and dance into a book that “establishes a field of practice, raises many critical questions” and also aims to “inspire people interested in interdisciplinary dialogues.”

The UArizona Theme Park Entertainment Group, comprised of CAPLA and College of Engineering students, received the highest commendation overall—with distinctions for technical skill, feasibility, innovation and communication—at the esteemed Toronto Met Thrill Design Invitational held last fall at Universal Orlando Resort.

University Distinguished Professor of Architecture Mary Hardin has been awarded an ACSA 2023 Design-Build Award for Stadium Rowhouses: Macro to Micro. One of just four national Design-Build Award recipients, Hardin leads hands-on design-build projects with undergraduate and graduate architecture students at UArizona.

In honor of his remarkable career and his dedicated support, the Arizona Alumni Association is proud to name William Brown the 2023 Alumnus of the Year for the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture. Read more about Brown's legacy in this profile.

For the third year in a row, UArizona architecture students participated in a universal design competition that put their creative and analytical skills to the test on a significantly sloped site. Thanks to AGM Container Controls and Ascension Wheelchair Lifts, the winning students received a total of $7,400 in prizes.

Ventana House, by CAPLA Professor of Practice in Architecture Michael Kothke and Kathy Hancox of HK Associates, was the top reader’s choice for architecture projects in October 2022 in Architizer.