CAPLA Lecturer and Alumni Win 2025 AIA Arizona Ideas Competition
Senior Lecturer in Architecture Oscar Lopez and three CAPLA alumni won first place in the 2025 AIA Arizona Ideas Competition for their proposal “BLOCK UP.” The project reimagines the urban tower as a vertical civic framework for Phoenix, integrating public space, housing and climate-responsive design into a shared, adaptable structure. Developed through close collaboration between Lopez and alumni Sal Arellano, Trevor Watson and Cameron Noble, the proposal explores how density can expand community and access beyond the street level, highlighting CAPLA’s impact on forward-thinking, civic-minded design in Arizona.
Applied Active Transportation Class Aims to Improve Bike and Pedestrian Safety on Campus
A CAPLA studio led by Senior Lecturer Joey Iuliano is turning student interest into action by focusing on improving walking and cycling conditions on campus. In collaboration with Parking & Transportation Services and the Office of Sustainability, students analyze crash data and develop design proposals for key campus corridors to improve safety and connectivity. Inspired in part by last fall’s fatal traffic accident near campus, the course aims to produce practical ideas that could inform future campus planning.
Everything is Cumulative: Ryan Meeks '05 B.Arch
Ryan Meeks, a 2005 graduate of the Bachelor of Architecture program who grew up in Tucson and now lives in Denver, is the founder of Bosk, an urban design and architecture firm. In this interview, he offers keen insight on his B.Arch experience, lessons learned from his capstone project, what it means to start his own design firm, the best career advice he has received and more.
Lecture Recap and Video: Tao Zhang on 'Marginalized Edge Effect: Ecology, Urban Waterfront and Landscapes'
In this CAPLA Lecture Series lecture, Tao Zhang discusses the edge effect and how landscape architecture should protect vulnerable landscape boundaries and help regenerate marginalized edge effects in urban ecology.
Sustainable Built Environments Students Cultivate More Than Community in the UArizona Community Garden
At the beginning of the Spring 2023 semester, students in the University of Arizona Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Built Environments and Minor in Sustainable Built Environments programs joined together at the UArizona Community Garden to grow fruits, vegetables and other plants while cultivating their own community. This is their story.
Prestigious Graham Foundation Grant Supports Architecture Professor Beth Weinstein's Research on Architecture and Choreography
Thanks in part to a 2022 grant from Chicago-based Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, Associate Professor of Architecture Beth Weinstein is synthesizing more than a decade of her research on architecture and dance into a book that “establishes a field of practice, raises many critical questions” and also aims to “inspire people interested in interdisciplinary dialogues.”
CAPLA West Building Phase 2: Review Design Charrette Outcomes and Provide Your Own Ideas!
On Wednesday, March 22, more than two dozen students, faculty and staff assembled in the Foundation Studio after hours to kick off the second phase of the CAPLA West Building renovation. Their charge: reimagine the ground floor of CAPLA West in a design charrette. Now it's your turn to submit ideas.
Lecture Recap and Video: Fletcher McCusker on 'Rio Nuevo: Catalyst for Tucson's Urban Core'
Fletcher McCusker speaks about the history and impact of tax increment financing districts, and how this tool was used to spur economic growth in Tucson's urban core in this CAPLA Lecture Series lecture.
Lecture Recap and Video: Greg Faulkner on 'Built Form: Observation, Association and Transformation'
In this CAPLA Lecture Series lecture, Greg Faulkner of Faulkner Architects presents seven houses completed by the firm over the past decade.
CAPLA Faculty Collaborate with Salt River Project to Understand Arizona’s Electrified Transportation Network Needs
SRP is funding CAPLA faculty members Bo Yang, professor of landscape architecture and urban planning, and Shujuan Li, associate professor of landscape architecture and planning, to research the planning and design of electric vehicle charging stations. Learn more in this fascinating interview.
Lecture Recap and Video: Jesus M Barajas on 'Equity in Project Prioritization and Planning at State and Regional Transportation Agencies'
Jesus M. Barajas shares findings from research about how departments of transportation and metropolitan planning organizations are addressing equity in their planning and project prioritization processes in this CAPLA Lecture Series lecture.