Our faculty conduct a wide array of transformative research related to design and the built environments.
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Our Research Stories
View our latest research stories and profiles:
The Key to Healthier Employees Could be a Quieter, or Louder, Office Space
A new study by researchers including Esther Sternberg, professor of architecture, landscape architecture and planning (joint appointment), suggests that too much—or too little—office noise has a negative effect on employee wellbeing. The sweet spot? About 50 decibels, comparable to moderate rain or birdsong.
Award-Winning Heritage Conservation Efforts by CAPLA Faculty and Students Lead to $4.6M in State Restoration Funding for Buffalo Soldier Camp
CAPLA Heritage Conservation Program Project Director Helen Erickson and graduate students Sarah McDowell and Teresa DeKoker have been instrumental in efforts to preserve Camp Naco, a borderlands Buffalo Soldier camp located near Bisbee, Arizona, resulting in awards for their story map and new funding to preserve the site.
Haptics of Place: Oscar Lopez, Senior Lecturer in Architecture
Senior Lecturer in Architecture Oscar Lopez, who joined CAPLA in 2016, teaches undergraduate and graduate architecture studios while practicing architecture and conducting research on what he calls the haptics of place, "essentially, combining both the real and the unreal qualities of architecture."
Learning as Rich Experience: Sandra Bernal Cordova, Lecturer and UArizona Hispanic Serving Institution Fellow
UArizona Hispanic Serving Institution Fellow Sandra Bernal Cordova, who joined CAPLA in 2018 as a lecturer, uses her built environment research, community service and cross-campus collaborations to inform the classes she teaches and co-teaches, which include Water Efficiency in Building, Equitable Cities and the Sustainable Built Environments Capstone.
Design Poetics: Michael Scott Silver, Assistant Professor of Architecture
Assistant Professor of Architecture Michael Scott Silver joined CAPLA this fall. His research and practice focus on the relationship between existing cultures of labor and the effects new automation technologies will have on the built environment.
Designing Suburban Futures: June Williamson, Visiting Professor of Architecture
Visiting Professor of Architecture June Williamson has joined CAPLA for the Fall 2022 semester from The City College of New York. Her research focuses on northern American suburban form and its discontents, documenting how underperforming suburban property types and development patterns are being redeveloped, reinhabited or regreened.
Inspiring the Next Generation of Change Makers: An Interview with UArizona School of Architecture Director Ryan E. Smith
In this interview, UArizona School of Architecture Director Ryan E. Smith shares his initial vision for the school, discusses the importance of interdisciplinarity, shares his passions for research on affordable housing and the importance of research in an architectural education, discusses the value of connecting with firms, provides advice to students and more.
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.
Ketchup, the Telephone and Cherry Coke: CAPLA Scholar Explains How World's Fairs Bring Inventions to the Public
World's fairs introduced us to Heinz ketchup, the Ferris wheel, the telephone and countless other now-ubiquitous innovations. Lisa Schrenk, a CAPLA associate professor who studies world's fairs, has helped establish a new institute to study how the events impact global society. Learn more in this interview.
Inaugural Institute for the Study of International Expositions Symposium Looks to the Past to See the Future
On March 24 and 25, 2022, the Institute for the Study of International Expositions (ISIE) will host its first annual symposium: International Expositions: Looking to the Past, Seeing the Future. Registration for the online event co-sponsored by CAPLA is now open.
Prize-winning E-ROBOT Technology Created by UArizona Architecture and Engineering Professors Showcased on Local CBS Affiliate
UArizona Assistant Professor of Architecture and Sustainable Built Environments Jonathan Bean and Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Wolfgang Fink were featured in a recent news segment by Tucson, Arizona CBS affiliate KOLD News 13.
Lecture Recap and Video: Kirk Dimond on 'A Photovoltaic Green Roof'
Kirk Dimond, assistant professor of landscape architecture at the University of Arizona, joins us for the CAPLA Lecture Series on the topic of "A Photovoltaic Green Roof." View the video from Dimond's October 22, 2021 presentation.