CAPLA Planning Faculty, Recent Alumna Study TUSD’s Climate Impact
A report led by Associate Professor Philip Stoker and alumna Alyssa Fink delivers the most comprehensive climate assessment of Tucson Unified School District’s 2024 operations to date. The study establishes a greenhouse gas baseline and outlines strategies to reduce emissions, energy use and costs, supporting the district’s sustainability goals. Sponsored by Jobs With Justice, the project also highlights the impact of student-led, community-based research.
Teresa Rosano and Greg Veitch’s Capstone Studio wins ACSA Collaborative Practice Award
Architecture Professor Teresa Rosano, Research Coordinator Greg Veitch, and their students won the 2026 ACSA Collaborative Practice Award for their “Tucson Hope Factory Micro Shelter Village” project. The studio partnered with the community to design and build micro-shelters, emphasizing equal collaboration between students and community members. This approach fostered student agency, teamwork, and meaningful impact. The project was praised for advancing inclusive, community-driven architecture. Rosano and Veitch will present the work at the ACSA conference in Chicago.
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.
Richärd Kennedy Fourth-Year Studio Prize Focuses on Environmental Innovation and Water Consciousness Along Tucson’s Santa Cruz River
Built environment innovation. Water consciousness. These are the principles fourth-year B.Arch students in the ARC 401 studio considered when crafting designs for a research center at the base of Sentinel Peak, along Tucson’s Santa Cruz River, for the Fall 2021 Richärd Kennedy Fourth-Year Studio Prize.
Inaugural Institute for the Study of International Expositions Symposium Looks to the Past to See the Future
On March 24 and 25, 2022, the Institute for the Study of International Expositions (ISIE) will host its first annual symposium: International Expositions: Looking to the Past, Seeing the Future. Registration for the online event co-sponsored by CAPLA is now open.
Sustainable Built Environments Professor Ladd Keith Provides Insight for CBS Story on Tucson’s Climate Action Goal
Ladd Keith, CAPLA assistant professor of planning and sustainable built environments, was quoted in a February 17, 2022 KOLD-TV story on Tucson’s goals to become carbon neutral by 2030. “We need to make sure the most vulnerable in our community are taken care of when we address climate change.”
Lecture Recap and Video: Mabel O. Wilson on 'Can We Forget? A Memorial to Enslaved Laborers'
In this talk, Mabel O. Wilson, Nancy and George E. Rupp Professor in Architecture and Professor in African American and African Diaspora Studies at Columbia University, discusses her work to create the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers on the University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville, Virginia.