CAPLA’s Reef Townsend earns national recognition for sustainable desert architecture
CAPLA Student Reef Townsend earned national recognition for Arid Futures Pavilion, a design that explores how contemporary architecture can respond to the Sonoran Desert through thoughtful site integration, material choices and sustainability.
CAPLA’s Ella Parsons earns national recognition for reimagining traditional desert architecture
CAPLA Student Ella Parsons earned national recognition for Aguán, a project that looks to the Sonoran Desert’s longstanding building traditions to inform a sustainable relationship between architecture and the natural world.
Mission Garden, Food, Culture, History | Lecture by Alyce Sadongei and Efren Martinez
This presentation explores the Tucson Mission Garden's history and the agricultural traditions of the many cultures that have farmed this land over time, and introduces the garden’s newer plots. Sadongei and Martinez discuss the challenges of growing food as Tucson’s seasons become hotter and drier, offering lessons that connect history, culture, and the future of sustainable food systems in the desert Southwest.
CAPLA students share Indigenous perspectives in Archtober presentation
“ISAPD in Our Hands: Student Chapters Shaping the Future” explored how student chapters of the Indigenous Society of Architecture, Planning, and Design (ISAPD) can foster learning, cultural engagement, advocacy and professional growth within universities and their communities.
Meet CAPLA’s Paul D. Coverdell Fellow: Michael Geiger
Paul D. Coverdell Fellows are returned Peace Corps volunteers who receive financial assistance to pursue graduate degrees at universities across the country. In exchange, fellows complete internships in underserved American communities, applying the skills they learned abroad.
CAPLA Students Collaborate with Community Gardens of Tucson
Last spring, CAPLA students partnered with Community Gardens of Tucson to explore new possibilities for the Mary Meredith Community Garden. Led by Architecture Lecturer Chris Tucker, students in the BA.DAP program’s Spatial Design Studio developed design proposals for the garden’s school-side grounds, considering how the space could support children’s outdoor experiences and the surrounding ecosystem.
New CAPLA Dual Degree Program Connects Architecture and Urban Planning
Sarena Rabinowitz, one of the first students in CAPLA’s new MS.Arch/MSUP dual degree, is combining architecture, planning and research to shape community-centered design.
Internship in Action: School to Studio
An interview with Josh, an architecture student from Phoenix studying at the University of Arizona, and Rob, a Tucson architect and U of A alum.
Michael Grassinger named CAPLA 2027 Alumnus of the Year
CAPLA is proud to announce Michael Grassinger MSUP '78 as its Alumnus of the Year. Grassinger will be recognized during CAPLA's Homecoming Garden Party on Friday, October 23 and at a university-wide celebration in March 2027.
CAPLA Open House Invites Tucson Community to Help Envision the Future of the Santa Cruz River
Students, professionals and community members gathered at CAPLA for an open house focused on the future of the Santa Cruz River corridor in September.
CAPLA student teams win national awards for desert tree care
Two University of Arizona student teams earned national awards for advancing desert tree care science and bringing it into everyday practice.
After the hottest summer on record in the U.S., the value of a landscape with robust tree cover is hard to argue against.