Eric D. Weber

Associate Professor of Architecture

Programs

  • Architecture
  • School of Architecture
Eric D. Weber

Smith House

Areas of Expertise

  • Design-build pedagogy
  • Materials/tectonics as generators of architectural meaning
  • Phenomenology and architecture
  • Regionally responsive design

Degrees

  • Master of Architecture, Arizona State University
  • BSD Architectural Studies, Arizona State University

Biography

Eric Weber is an associate professor of architecture and will assist Professor Mary Hardin in completing South Stadium Rowhouses 3+4 in Fall 2021. He is a registered architect in the State of Arizona.

Prior to joining CAPLA, Professor Weber served as coordinator of the David G. Howryla Design+Build Studio at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. He served as principal investigator for UNLV’s entry in Solar Decathlon 2013, which finished second overall, first U.S. team. Recent design+build projects include the Sand Harbor State Park Box Office at Lake Tahoe, Nevada, an artist in residence facility in Springdale, Utah, and several interior installation projects. In 2019, Professor Weber returned to the Solar Decathlon as principal investigator for UNLV’s entry in Solar Decathlon Build Challenge 2021; this team finished in third place. In addition to teaching the fourth-year/graduate design+build studio, Professor Weber has taught building technology courses and seminars on the conceptual/theoretical genesis for material selection and detailing, and a course on temporary installation design.

Before joining the faculty at UNLV, Professor Weber worked for noted Arizona architects Will Bruder (2000-2009) and Jones Studio (2009-10). While working for Will Bruder Architects, he was project manager for the Jarson House, which won AIA Arizona/Desert Living House of the Year in 2009. He also served as project manager for TAXI Mixed-Use, which won an AIA Arizona Honor award in 2008. Other notable projects included the Nevada Museum of Art, Hercules Public Library and several residences.

Professor Weber joined Jones Studio in 2009, where he served as a team member for the Mariposa Land Port of Entry, which later won an AIA National Institute Honor Award in 2016, as well as the GSA Design Excellence Program’s Honor Award in Architecture.

Professor Weber’s research interests include design+build pedagogy, the study of materials/tectonics as generators of architectural meaning, regionally responsive design and phenomenology in architecture. As he joins the faculty at CAPLA, Professor Weber looks forward to continuing to build on the School of Architecture’s legacy of learning by doing. He believes every decision an architect makes has the opportunity to be a design decision. Construction decisions are design decisions, and the choices architects make have the potential to enrich design concepts. Design+Build is an ideal method for teaching students how compelling ideas can become memorable architecture through a rigorous, thoughtful inquiry into tectonic development. Good architects recognize and embrace this responsibility, and Professor Weber looks forward to the opportunity to help CAPLA’s students to develop this ability.

Courses

  • ARC 241 Techne I
  • ARC 242 Techne II
  • ARC 410E Options Design Studio
  • ARC 410F Options Design Studio II (Design-Build)

Awards

  • 2nd place, UNLV Team Las Vegas, 2013 Solar Decathlon Build Challenge, Professor Weber, Principal Investigator.  This competition, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, challenges university-based teams to design and build solar-powered housing prototypes.
  • 3rd place, UNLV Team Las Vegas, 2021 Solar Decathlon Build Challenge, Professor Weber, Principal Investigator.

News, Research and Projects

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AIA Arizona 2022 Design Awards

UArizona Architecture Faculty Honored for Community Design, Design Pedagogy and Distinguished Architecture by AIA Arizona

School of Architecture faculty members have been honored once again by the Arizona chapter of the American Institute of Architecture: Laura Carr with the Community Design Award, Eric Weber and Trevor Watson with the Design Pedagogy Award and Jesús Edmundo Robles Jr (DUST Architects) and Michael Kothke (HK Associates) with Distinguished Architecture Citations.