The essential research of the CAPLA faculty goes well beyond the fields of design, development, planning and sustainability to the core of how we can live better lives in the built environment.
Faculty research solves problems, impacts decisions and shapes policy. Read our CAPLA faculty research stories:
Office of the Provost Grants Senior Lecturer Laura Carr $200,000 for Native People's Design Coalition
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.
Balancing Books and Trails: Garrett Smith, Lecturer in SBE and Landscape Architecture Interim Chair
Garrett Smith serves as a CAPLA lecturer in both Sustainable Built Environments and Landscape Architecture. His research focuses on how recreation affects people, the environment and those responsible for managing it.
Drachman Institute Will Help Establish New Center to Study Housing Equity and Sustainability with $3M Federal Grant
Researchers from the UArizona Drachman Institute, along with colleagues from ASU, NAU and the University of New Mexico, will research housing security, climate and health with a focus on Hispanic and underserved communities in the arid Southwest.
Nature Sustainability Article by CAPLA Emerging Faculty Fellow Proposes Model for Sustainability Transition in the Global South
Seth Okyere, a CAPLA visiting assistant professor and Emerging Faculty Fellow, contributed to an article published this summer in Nature Sustainability, which publishes significant original research about sustainability, including policy dimensions and possible solutions.
Teaching as Mediation: Noémie Despland-Lichtert, Emerging Faculty Fellow and Visiting Assistant Professor of Architecture
Noémie Despland-Lichtert joined CAPLA this fall as our second Emerging Faculty Fellow. An accomplished teacher, researcher and practitioner, she spent the last year in Brussels and has also worked at Taliesin West, the Canadian Centre for Architecture and the Architecture Department of Getty Research Institute, among others.
CAPLA’s Ryan E. Smith Leads Efforts on HUD Research Roadmap to Address Challenges in Offsite Housing Construction
Architecture Professor Ryan E. Smith, director of the School of Architecture, is lead author on a HUD report outlining policy, finance, labor and other parameters for growth of offsite housing construction in the United States: Offsite Construction for Housing: Research Roadmap.
The Housing-Health Connection: Atticus Jaramillo, Assistant Professor of Planning and Real Estate Development
Assistant Professor Atticus Jaramillo joined the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture this fall. His research focuses on housing and community development planning, with a particular focus on the housing-health connection.
Professor Arthur C. Nelson Honored with Western Planner’s Article of the Year Award
Arthur C. Nelson, an emeritus professor of urban planning and real estate development, has received the Western Planner 2023 Stan Steadman Article of the Year award for his “Homes on the Range” article series.
CAPLA Lecturer Valerie Lane Aims to Accelerate Tucson Casita Construction
In a recent story in Arizona Daily Star, CAPLA's Valerie Lane is highlighted for her new Tucson-based business partnership, the Urban Infill Project, working to help the Tucson community meet supplementary and affordable housing needs.
Dr. Esther M. Sternberg Authors Acclaimed New Book, ‘Well at Work: Creating Wellbeing in Any Workspace’
Esther M. Sternberg, M.D., Inaugural Andrew Weil Chair for Research in Integrative Medicine and professor of architecture, landscape architecture and planning (by joint appointment), has published Well at Work: Creating Wellbeing in Any Workspace, a "Top Ten Lifestyle Book" by Publishers Weekly.
New Media Guide Offers Tips for Journalists Reporting on Extreme Heat Events
The Global Heat Health Information Network’s free resource for members of the press, created by CAPLA's Ladd Keith, aims to help make reporting on heat more impactful, effective and beneficial for the public.
Why Homes Often Feel Warmer Than the Thermostat Suggests — And What to Do About It
In a thought leadership piece for The Conversation, Associate Professor of Architecture, Sustainable Built Environments and Marketing Jonathan Bean discusses why homes often feel warmer than what the thermostat suggests, and what we can do about it.