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:
![Grand Teton National Park](/sites/default/files/styles/az_card_image/public/studio/grand-teton-np-barn.jpg?itok=pnIVMI_c)
Research by Assistant Planning Professor Philip Stoker Provides Context for Deseret News Story on Housing Affordability and Other Challenges in ‘Gateway Communities’
In an examination of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and Springdale, Utah, Deseret News asks: What to do when your small town is overrun by the rich? CAPLA Assistant Professor Philip Stoker’s research provides insight.
![Arthur C. Nelson](/sites/default/files/styles/az_card_image/public/studio/arthur-c-nelson-deseret-news.jpg?itok=3SDWKLKm)
Forbes Housing Affordability Story References Research by Urban Planning and Real Estate Development Professor Arthur C. Nelson
Research on “missing middle housing” conducted by CAPLA Professor Arthur C. Nelson forms the basis for analysis in a February 2021 Forbes magazine story on how innovation can help offset America’s lack of affordable housing.
![Barbara Bryson](/sites/default/files/styles/az_card_image/public/studio/barbara-bryson-hdr.jpg?itok=jDrn_RIW)
Creating a Culture of Predictable Outcomes: CAPLA Associate Dean Barbara Bryson Publishes New Book on Leading in Architecture and Construction Industry
Creating a Culture of Predictable Outcomes: How Leadership, Collaboration and Decision-Making Drive Architecture and Construction demonstrates the critical importance of value-driven culture in the changing design and construction industries.
![Tucson skyline](/sites/default/files/styles/az_card_image/public/studio/tucson-skyline-hdr-sm.jpg?itok=N0Unsea7)
Research by Architecture Professor Courtney Crosson Shows that Neighborhood Farms Could be the Answer to Tucson's 'Food Deserts'
A study co-authored by Assistant Professor of Architecture Courtney Crosson makes a strong case that even in arid climates, urban farms can help neighborhoods get the nutritious food they need if the farms are irrigated in a sustainable way.
![Bo Yang](/sites/default/files/styles/az_card_image/public/studio/bo-yang-hdr.jpg?itok=u0aibwKD)
Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning Professor Bo Yang Awarded Research Grant to Examine Spatial Patterns of Green Infrastructure
Awarded to Yang and three other researchers, the four-year grant by the National Natural Science Foundation of China explores green infrastructure interactions with microclimate and stormwater at the urban block level.
![Elena Cánovas](/sites/default/files/styles/az_card_image/public/studio/Elena-Canovas.jpg?itok=6-G9cLp1)
Building a Common Vision: Elena Cánovas, Professor of Practice in Architecture
Professor of Practice in Architecture Elena Cánovas, who came to CAPLA in 2017 from Barcelona, views service as "being a part of a community that works together to build a common vision. This is a fundamental role of architects in society.”
![Courtney Crosson](/sites/default/files/styles/az_card_image/public/studio/courtney-crosson-hdr.jpg?itok=T1hnqGkv)
Equitable Green Infrastructure Research Led by Architecture Assistant Professor Courtney Crosson Featured in ScienceDaily
Research exploring the potential of green infrastructure for mitigating flood impacts, particularly related to the mobility of low-income and minority communities, was published in a National Institute for Transportation and Communities report led by Courtney Crosson and featured in ScienceDaily.
![Middle housing: rowhouses in Brooklyn, New York.](/sites/default/files/styles/az_card_image/public/studio/brooklyn-rowhouses.jpg?itok=DH7YhKaE)
New Kid in Town: Missing Middle Housing
There’s a new urban development concept in town—it’s called missing middle housing. And Arthur C. Nelson, CAPLA professor of urban planning and real estate development, had a big part in making it happen, showcased in the new book Missing Middle Housing: Thinking Big and Building Small to Respond to Today's Housing Crisis.
![Clare Robinson](/sites/default/files/styles/az_card_image/public/studio/clare-robinson.jpg?itok=0IJO52jw)
Passionate About Learning: Clare Robinson, Associate Professor of Architecture
Associate Professor of Architecture Clare Robinson, who joined CAPLA in 2012, explores how the everyday built environment facilitated the definition of social and aesthetic norms, and how professional designers used modern architecture and planning paradigms to define middle-class activities and spaces during the mid-20th century.
![Nicole Iroz-Elardo](/sites/default/files/styles/az_card_image/public/studio/nicole-iroz-elardo-hdr.jpg?itok=UxsaNjRK)
Transportation, Health Equity and Social Justice in Regional Transportation Planning
What can fine-scale spatial modeling of health impacts from long-range transportation plans do to support racial and social justice? More than you may realize, according to CAPLA’s Nicole Iroz-Elardo, assistant research professor of planning.
![Jesús Robles](/sites/default/files/styles/az_card_image/public/studio/jose-robles.jpg?itok=QRPwauF_)
Poetics of Space: Jesús Edmundo Robles Jr, Assistant Professor of Practice in Architecture
Assistant Professor of Practice in Architecture Jesús Edmundo Robles Jr, who teaches Techne 2 and second-year studios and is a principal at DUST Architects, has a focus that "oscillates between sustainable material development and poetics of space."
![Associate Professor Courtney Crosson](/sites/default/files/styles/az_card_image/public/2023-04/courtney-crosson-sxsw-sm.jpg?itok=7nZFDyaz)
Beyond the Studio: Courtney Crosson, Associate Professor of Architecture and Director, Drachman Institute
Assistant Professor of Architecture Courtney Crosson joined CAPLA in 2016. She enjoys connecting students’ academic knowledge with real projects in the community, with a particular focus on water in the built environment and community outreach.