School of Architecture Faculty Professional Work

Jesus Robles, an Assistant Professor of Practice and co-founder of the architecture studio DUST, was selected to showcase Tucson-inspired work at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, one of the world’s leading platforms for design innovation. His installation, created for the U.S. Pavilion’s exhibition “Porch: An Architecture of Generosity,” highlights the ecological richness of southern Arizona and reimagines a small wildlife pavilion as a metaphor for broader regional challenges related to conservation, culture, and water resilience. Robles’ contribution not only elevates the work of the Tucson Audubon Society on an international stage but also reflects the design values he brings to CAPLA: a commitment to place-based thinking and the belief that even small-scale architecture can illuminate larger environmental issues.

Michael Kothke, principal at HK ASSOCIATES and professor at CAPLA, was invited to speak at Reimagining Desert Modernism: The Architecture Shaping Arizona Today, a forum hosted by ARCHITECT Magazine and Marvin Windows at Taliesin West.

The College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture has awarded the 2025 Grassroots Seed Grants to three faculty-led projects that advance innovative teaching, research, and creative activity.

Tucson’s cherished independent nonprofit art-house theater, The Loft Cinema, is expanding—and leading the project is Bob Vint, assistant professor of practice at the School of Architecture.

Bob Vint, assistant professor of practice in the School of Architecture, collaborated with the Rancho Feliz Charitable Foundation to design La Hacienda Feliz, a traditional courtyard-style dormitory in Agua Prieta, blending his lifelong connection to Mexican culture with a commitment to addressing systemic poverty through architecture, while also providing CAPLA students an immersive experience in border communities and the challenges they face.

The second annual Remembering Spaces of Internment (ReSI) International Symposium convened an interdisciplinary network to study internment sites globally. Co-founder Beth Weinstein discussed ReSI's goals, emphasizing the need to analyze and remember the systemic nature of internment

University of Arizona professor of medicine Dr. Esther Sternberg, director of the Institute on Place, Well-being and Performance and research director at the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, shares her research examining how work environments effect people's health and productivity.

The College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture, in collaboration with the Institute for the Study of International Expositions (ISIE), is hosting the 3rd annual ISIE Scholars Symposium: “New Voices in Expo Research” focusing on new research of younger scholars.

The Association for Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) has awarded Drachman Institute Director and Associate Professor Courtney Crosson with a Practice + Leadership Honorable Mention for the Relocalize Our Food project.

Faculty members Courtney Crosson and Ladd Keith, along with community partners, develop a Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP) to help the City of Tucson establish a path to reduce carbon emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. 

Completed by DUST Architects in winter 2020, the Marfa Suite located in Marfa, Texas, and designed by CAPLA Assistant Professor of Practice Jesús Edmundo Robles Jr and partner Cade Hayes of DUST Architects was featured in The New York Times story “How Do You Add On to the Perfect Small House? You Don’t.”

DUST Architects, led by Assistant Professor of Practice in Architecture Jesús Edmundo Robles Jr and founding principal Cade Hayes, has been awarded the top design prize by the University of New Mexico School of Architecture + Planning and the Thornburg Foundation for Southern Arizona's Casa Caldera.