Ryan Smith co-authors HUD report advancing offsite construction for U.S. housing
Ryan Smith, director of the University of Arizona’s School of Architecture, co-authored a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) report outlining a national strategy to expand offsite construction as a solution to housing affordability and supply challenges. Drawing on global case studies, the report introduces an Offsite Action Plan focused on regulatory reform, innovation and education to accelerate scalable, high-quality housing production.
Lecture Recap | The Cyborg Watershed of the American West | A Jones Studio Grand Challenges Lecture featuring Lauren Bon
An engineered network of waterways flowing west from the Rockies sustains life in one of the hottest regions on Earth, forming a “cyborg watershed” that blends natural systems with human-made infrastructure and regional mythologies. Bon explored this system through her large-scale artworks, examining buried waterways, the complexities of policy and politics, and the pursuit of a civic identity shaped by water rather than boundaries.
The Temporal Passage: Jacob Downard '22 B.Arch
The architecture of The Temporal Passage responds to the site's volcanic conditions by being conceptually rooted in scale, time and the moving materials of our living earth in an attempt to convey the magnitude of these natural forces. It further explores the spatial and conceptual juxtapositions between the human-operated straight line and the ensured chaos of nature.
Design Poetics: Michael Scott Silver, Assistant Professor of Architecture
Assistant Professor of Architecture Michael Scott Silver joined CAPLA this fall. His research and practice focus on the relationship between existing cultures of labor and the effects new automation technologies will have on the built environment.
Sustainable Scandinavian Pursuits: Zsalina Allen ’23 MS Urban Planning
This summer, graduate student Zsalina Allen participated in a sustainable transportation study abroad program in Denmark and Sweden. She documented her travels in a fascinating and entertaining blog. We followed up to learn more about her experience in Scandinavia, as well her UArizona MS Urban Planning experience.
CAPLA Graduate Students Bring Sights and Sounds of the Sonoran Desert to Austin for SXSW
“For thousands of years, the beauty of the Sonoran Desert has invoked wonder among its human inhabitants,” says Hunter Lohse when introducing the Sonoran Soundscape project that he and fellow MLA students Alizabeth Potucek and Christian Galindo created with Assistant Music Professor Yuanyuan (Kay) Le for the UArizona Wonder House at South by Southwest in March.
Timely, Essential ‘Planning for Urban Heat Resilience’ Report Wins Planning Awards
CAPLA Assistant Professor of Planning and Sustainable Built Environments Ladd Keith and ASU Associate Professor Sara Meerow have been honored with the Western Planner 2022 Sheldon D. Gerber Merit Award for Excellence in Environmental Planning and 2022 APA Arizona Open Category (Applied Research) Award for their Planning for Urban Heat Resilience.
Designing Suburban Futures: June Williamson, Visiting Professor of Architecture
Visiting Professor of Architecture June Williamson has joined CAPLA for the Fall 2022 semester from The City College of New York. Her research focuses on northern American suburban form and its discontents, documenting how underperforming suburban property types and development patterns are being redeveloped, reinhabited or regreened.
Thinking Innovatively: Daniel Kuhlmann, Assistant Professor of Real Estate Development and Planning
Assistant Professor Daniel Kuhlmann joined CAPLA this fall. He has an MA and PhD in Urban Planning from Cornell University and a BA in International Relations from Carleton College. In his research, he focuses on land-use issues, real estate development and the businesses of residential landlords.
Award-Winning Report by CAPLA Urban Planning Students Envisions Equitable, Accessible Public Transportation for Underdeveloped Corridors in Tucson
Last spring, Master of Science in Urban Planning students in Associate Professor Kristina Curran's capstone course published the report Thriving Transit Corridors: Driving Transit-Oriented Development Along Tucson’s Broadway Corridor, which has been awarded the 2022 Student Project Award by the Arizona chapter of the American Planning Association.
Inspiring the Next Generation of Change Makers: An Interview with UArizona School of Architecture Director Ryan E. Smith
In this interview, UArizona School of Architecture Director Ryan E. Smith shares his initial vision for the school, discusses the importance of interdisciplinarity, shares his passions for research on affordable housing and the importance of research in an architectural education, discusses the value of connecting with firms, provides advice to students and more.