Projects of the Drachman Institute

A collaborative initiative between the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture (CAPLA), the Drachman Institute, community organizations, and the City of Tucson is offering architecture students a unique opportunity to design and develop transitional housing solutions for Tucson’s unhoused population.

The winners of CAPLA's Design Ideas Competition, aimed at re-envisioning the Student and Alumni Center, were revealed during the college's Homecoming celebration. Taking first place was the submission "ReFraming Assembly," designed by Montse Bover, Yusef Sakr, and Greg Veitch.

CAPLA students and faculty are invited to submit their design ideas for a re-envisioned Student and Alumni Center in the CAPLA West Building.

Lecturer Kenny Wong has been selected to join the 2024 cohort of the Academy for Public Scholarship on the Built Environment: Climate Action.

Collaborative efforts from City of Tucson leadership and staff, community stakeholders, and University of Arizona faculty to address escalating heat challenges have resulted in the adoption of a newly crafted Heat Action Roadmap and Heat Protection Ordinance for city workers and contractors.

A new federal initiative will rely on University of Arizona research and scholarship to help communities across the U.S. create policies and take action to mitigate and manage extreme heat. Ladd Keith, an associate professor in CAPLA, will lead UArizona's involvement in the center.

The University of Arizona College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture continues its streak of success in the Department of Energy Solar Decathlon Design Challenge Competition, with its three teams clinching prestigious awards and recognition, including the 2024 Design Challenge Grand Winner.

The U.S. Department of Energy hosts the Solar Decathlon Design Challenge annually, which gathers students worldwide to present their teams' innovative technologies and designs aimed at fostering the development of the next generation of clean energy buildings. This year, teams from CAPLA will compete alongside students from 37 other universities worldwide, including some from as far as Tehran, Iran.

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.

Laura Carr, a Senior Lecturer in Architecture at the College of Architecture, Planning & Landscape Architecture, is part of a team that secured a $200,000 grant for the Native People's Design Coalition. This grant will support their efforts in collaborating with tribal communities to plan and design sustainable and resilient built environments.

The Drachman Institute—CAPLA’s outreach arm committed to advancing equity, resilience, connection and belonging across the built environment through interdisciplinary research, design and partnerships—has announced its second annual community call for projects.

Plan the Plan aims to apply crowd-source technology to foster greater inclusion and social justice in the City of Tucson’s neighborhood planning process. CALPLA faculty and students applied this platform to seven neighborhoods in the Grant-Alvernon area of Tucson, Arizona.

The Camp Naco story map tells the story of the still-standing adobe Buffalo Soldier cavalry camp and its meaning both to the descendants of these soldiers and to African American members of the military and their families.

Architecture lecturer Bill Mackey investigates the development regulations, costs and trends within the metropolitan Tucson region associated with “innovative” housing types on individual lots for a Drachman Institute project funded by AARP.

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. 

Students in Teresa Rosano's ARC 410/510 studio worked with students from New Mexico and Chihuahua to design concepts and visualization of the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Oñate Crossing historic site in El Paso and associated sites in the city of Jaurez, Mexico.

When Arizona Daily Star sought to put together a “visual trip down memory lane” of Tucson’s commercial real estate development over the last five decades, it turned to students in the Master of Real Estate Development program to lead the research.

Designed by Class of 2019 B.Arch and M.Arch students, constructed by Class of 2020 B.Arch and M.Arch students under the guidance of Professor of Architecture Mary Hardin and completed this summer, the South Stadium Rowhouse 1 is the first of five CAPLA Design/Build rowhouses.

The Drachman Design-Build Coalition Residence 4 is a three-bedroom, two-bathroom residence of 1200 square feet in area. This residence combines thermal mass Integra-block with light gauge steel frame plus insulation.

The Drachman Design-Build Coalition Residence 3 is a three-bedroom, two-bathroom residence of 1200 square feet in area. The main building features include two courtyards that allow natural light and ventilation to reach all habitable spaces, a sliding wall panel that enables reconfiguration of interior space, a super-insulated building envelope, and innovative use of polycarbonate sheathing.

The Trombe Wall House is a three bedroom, 2 bath residence of 1300 square feet in area. It was designed and constructed by School of Architecture faculty (Mary Hardin and David Bullaro) and students in 2013-2014.

Drachman Design-Build Coalition (DDBC) Residence 6 is a three-bedroom, two-bath residence of 1200 square feet in area. It was designed and constructed by School of Architecture faculty Mary Hardin and Bil Taylor and students in 2011-2012.