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.
Lecture Recap and Video: Arlie Adkins on 'The Criticality of Context: Centering the Sociocultural in Planning and Urban Design Practice'
Arlie Adkins discusses "The Criticality of Context: Centering the Sociocultural in Planning and Urban Design Practice."
How does CAPLA help students find jobs? The largest Job Interview Fair so far opens doors.
The 12th Annual CAPLA Job Interview Fair, made possible by the Chasse Building Team and 22 other sponsors, was held February 10-11, 2022. For the first time, the interactive two-day event took place both online and in person and included 42 employers, 145 students and 536 interviews.
Lecture Recap and Video: Lisa Schrenk on 'An Architect's Laboratory: The Early Studio of Frank Lloyd Wright'
In this talk, Lisa Schrenk, associate professor of architectural history at the University of Arizona, presents the early studio of Frank Lloyd Wright from research she conducted for her critically acclaimed book The Oak Park Studio of Frank Lloyd Wright.
Architizer Highlights Universal Design Projects by CAPLA Bachelor of Architecture Students
“Winners of the 2nd Annual Universal Design Awards reveal how the next generation of designers are rethinking accessible architecture,” says Architizer in a March 2022 article that highlights work produced by third-year B.Arch students in a studio sponsored by Ascension Wheelchair Lifts.
Ketchup, the Telephone and Cherry Coke: CAPLA Scholar Explains How World's Fairs Bring Inventions to the Public
World's fairs introduced us to Heinz ketchup, the Ferris wheel, the telephone and countless other now-ubiquitous innovations. Lisa Schrenk, a CAPLA associate professor who studies world's fairs, has helped establish a new institute to study how the events impact global society. Learn more in this interview.
CAPLA Planning and Real Estate Law Professor Helps Land Tucson Midtown Townhomes on National Register of Historic Places
Linus Kafka, CAPLA professor of practice in planning and real estate law, spearheaded the successful addition of the "desert modernist" Orchard River Garden Park, a 136-unit townhome complex built on a former pecan orchard, to the National Register of Historic Places.
UArizona Architecture Undergraduate Serves on National Jury for AIA 2022 Architecture Awards
Ana Astiazaran ’22 B.Arch, who received a national COTE Top Ten for Students Award for Sustainable Design Excellence from the AIA in 2021, recently served as one of nine national judges for the AIA 2022 Architecture Awards. She was the only student jury member in the esteemed competition.
Extreme heat is the deadliest climate hazard in the U.S. How are urban planners tackling it?
In a paper published in December 2021 in the Journal of the American Planning Association, ASU's Sara Meerow and UArizona's Ladd Keith analyzed the results of their extreme heat survey of planners from diverse cities across the United States to establish baseline information for a growing area of planning practice and scholarship that future research can build on.
Retail Design Innovator Richard Altuna ’74 B.Arch Honored through CAPLA Endowed Scholarship
Richy Altuna, who graduated from the Bachelor of Architecture program in 1974 and went on to become a renowned consumer experience designer for many of the world's most iconic retail stores, passed away in June 2021. His family and friends have established the Richard “Richy” Eugene Altuna Endowed Scholarship to support CAPLA undergraduate students.