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.
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.
Home by Assistant Professor of Practice Teresa Rosano and Luis Ibarra Showcased in Residential Design Magazine
The 2022 issue of Residential Design magazine—“for architects and builders of distinctive homes”—features Casa Schneider, a custom home in Tucson, Arizona designed by CAPLA Assistant Professor of Practice in Architecture Teresa Rosano and Luis Ibarra of Ibarra Rosano Design Architects.
Lecture Recap and Video: Urs Peter Flueckiger on 'Natural Light: The Architecture of Donald Judd'
In this presentation, Urs Peter Flueckiger lectures on "Natural Light: The Architecture of Donald Judd."
CAPLA Undergraduate Architecture Student Wins AIAS Chapter Leader Honor Award
Ally Kwan ’23 B.Arch has been awarded the 2021 Chapter Leader Honor Award from the national American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) organization, while the UArizona AIAS student organization has been honored with a 2021 AIAS Chapter Honor Award Honorable Mention.
Lecture Recap and Video: Jason Jurjevich on 'Navigating Differential Privacy In Decennial Census Data'
In this talk, Jason Jurjevich, associate professor of practice in the UArizona School of Geography, Development and Environment, reviews the history of data protections leading up to differential privacy and outlines important takeaways for planners and real estate professionals working with census data.
Immersed in Architecture: Christine Ufondu '25 B.Arch
B.Arch student Christine Ufondu, who is also pursuing in a Minor in Real Estate Development, will graduate in 2025. She was born in Houston, Texas, but mostly grew up in Rivers State, Nigeria. Though she chose to come to CAPLA site unseen, it was the right decision: she loves the community of faculty, students and immersive design.