Research & Practice

Theory to build a changing world. Expertise to get it done.

Capstone rendering by Luyi Huang '18 B Arch

Faculty Research

Publications & Presentations

Projects & Other Work

CAPLA Design/Build

The Drachman Institute

Institute on Place...

The College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture is a hub for research, service and practice that profoundly shapes the built environment—in the Sonoran Desert and beyond.

Our innovative and award-winning faculty work across disciplines, across communities and across nations. Through world-class scholarship and application, they discover and create. And they nurture: working closely with our students to apply their education in boundless ways. At CAPLA, our research and practice are building a changing world.

It’s time to look at how research can be addressed in buildings so we solve problems in a way that is fully informed, impacts decisions and shapes policy.

Barbara Bryson, CAPLA Associate Dean for Research

Faculty Research

View the latest stories of built environment research by CAPLA's dynamic, innovative faculty members:

Tucson, Arizona

Cities are Heating Up—Here's How Urban Planners Should Prepare

As heat waves blaze across the United States, CAPLA's Ladd Keith, assistant professor of planning and sustainable built environments, says city planners should take the lead in managing and mitigating extreme heat. Read this Q&A to learn more.

Camp Naco

Student and Faculty Research Leads to ‘Most Endangered Historic Places’ Designation for Buffalo Soldier Camp

Thanks to research by CAPLA's Heritage Conservation Project Director Helen Erickson and graduate students Sarah McDowell and Teresa DeKoker, the Buffalo Soldier military establishment Camp Naco in Southeastern Arizona has been listed by the U.S. National Trust for Historic Preservation's as one of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places for 2022.

Jonathan Bean

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.

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Other CAPLA Research and Practice

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Faculty working with students

CAPLA faculty are leading experts and innovators in the built environment, with presentations made around the world and research published in the top architecture, landscape architecture, development and planning journals and referenced widely in the media.

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Projects and Other Work

From student, alumni and faculty work to community and design/build projects, the CAPLA community is involved in a wide array of architecture, landscape architecture, sustainability and urban planning projects.

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CAPLA Design/Build

CAPLA Design/Build project

CAPLA Design/Build involves students in hands-on projects via studio courses, independent study and other courses with lab components, centered around the belief that learning by doing is a powerful method of gaining knowledge.

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The Drachman Institute

Illustration of path with trees

The Drachman Institute, the outreach arm of CAPLA, is committed to building interdisciplinary research capacity while enhancing the student experience and supporting community decision-making in the built environment.

Learn More About the Drachman Institute »

Institute on Place, Wellbeing and Performance

IPWP research director

IPWP is a partnership between the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, the College of Medicine - Tucson and the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture.

Learn More About the Institute on Place, Wellbeing and Performance

Research Support

CAPLA front entrance viewed through the Sonoran Pentapus

CAPLA provides research support to faculty ranging from news and research opportunities to conference opportunities, workshops and collaborations in this regularly updated resource.

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RESTRUCT: Built Environment Research at the University of Arizona

The University of Arizona will be the first university to develop a robust university-wide ecosystem supporting research, teaching and service for the built environment, defining a new fully integrated discipline leveraging knowledge and research from all Arizona colleges, including CAPLA.

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Connect with CAPLA Research and Practice

Take advantage of our faculty expertise and student ambition for approved design/build projects, or utilize CAPLA faculty research or design expertise for a business or community project.

Connect with CAPLA

 

Header image by Luyi Huang '18 B Arch, a rendering of her fifth-year architecture capstone project.