Laura Carr

Laura Carr is a principal lecturer in the University of Arizona School of Architecture and founder and program coordinator of the Native Peoples Design Coalition (NPDC), a center within CAPLA’s Drachman Institute. Her teaching spans architectural design studios, building technologies, professional practice, sustainable design, and community-driven design. Across these courses, she emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration, cultural and place-based learning, and the responsibility of designers to work with—not simply for—the communities their work affects.

Through the NPDC, Carr leads partnerships that connect Tribal communities with university resources in architecture, planning, landscape architecture, sustainability, and economic development. The coalition supports community-led planning and design, strengthens Tribal capacity, prepares students to work respectfully across cultures, and advances Native and Indigenous student pathways within the design professions. Her recent work has included collaborations with the Tuba City Chapter, Black Mesa United, Navajo Technical University, the Hopi Nation, the Colorado River Indian Tribes, and the Hualapai Tribe. These partnerships have addressed community land-use planning, housing and civic development, food systems, green infrastructure, cultural resources, and the design of community-serving facilities.

Carr’s teaching and community work have contributed to multiple AIA Arizona Community Design Awards, national recognition from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, and student achievements in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon. Carr also advises the Indigenous Society of Architecture, Planning and Design (ISAPD) and works to expand mentorship, professional exposure, and leadership opportunities for Native and Indigenous students.

Carr brings more than 15 years of professional practice and community-design experience to her teaching. She began her career with the Drachman Institute in 2004, managing affordable-housing and sustainable-community initiatives supported by two consecutive HUD Empowerment Zone grants. She also directed Drachman’s Architecture Technical Assistance Program, providing planning and design assistance to neighborhoods, municipalities, nonprofit organizations, and Tribal communities. Her work included master planning, neighborhood and zoning-overlay plans, housing research, infill initiatives, and post-occupancy research.

Carr later designed residential projects with Taylor Design Build and served as a project architect with Nelsen Partners. She returned to the University of Arizona in 2017, where her teaching and leadership continue to bridge professional practice, community partnership, and design education. She serves on the executive committees of the Drachman Institute and the Arizona Institute for Resilience, and is the president of the Drachman Design Build Coalition.