CAPLA Faculty Win 2024 AIA Arizona Design Awards
On Nov. 16, CAPLA Faculty Teresa Rosano, Laura Carr and Michael Kothke were recognized for their achievements in architecture at the AIA Arizona Design Awards Gala held at the Heard Museum in Phoenix.
Rosano won the Design Pedagogy Award, Carr the Community Design Award and Kothke three Project Design Awards.
Rosano received the award for Border Studio, an advanced studio offered in fall of 2022 and 2023.
“While architects are accustomed to working within rules, codes and regulated conditions (or sometimes around them), this course asks students to question them to find other solutions to wicked problems,” Rosano said. “Thinking about how policy drives design, and inversely how design can positively impact policy changes, empowers students as future architects and citizens of their communities and the world.”
Students in this studio got the unique opportunity to explore how policy shapes the built environment at borders, examining economic, environmental and socio-cultural influences. They designed solutions that challenged these policies, promoting sustainability and inclusivity along the U.S./Mexico border.
“I was delighted that the studio I led for two years (initial conception by Bill Mackey) was recognized for the pedagogy and student work on a challenging and complicated topic,” she said.
Carr won the Community Design Award for her work on the Native Peoples Design Coalition Studio, a course centered around serving tribal communities in Arizona.
“This year, we worked closely with the Tuba City Chapter to develop a master plan and the architecture for a tract of land that will house various community services needed in their community,” Carr said.
This is the third consecutive year that this studio has won this award, and Carr said it was a great honor for all involved.
“Winning this award feels great because it recognizes the efforts made by everyone,” she said. “This award celebrates a design process that empowers communities and highlights the very best practices and outcomes of our profession.”
The students, coalition members, chapter council members and local government officials who contributed to this project attended the gala and went on stage to receive the award.
“There were lots of laughs and cheers because we had so many people on the stage, and throughout the evening, so many of our friends and colleagues congratulated us and encouraged us,” Carr said. “It was extraordinarily memorable and inspiring to be part of this event.”
Kothke with HK Associates was honored with awards for projects Casita Obscura, Casa Luce and Real House.
“We were thrilled to have our work recognized by AIA Arizona and the esteemed jury of New York City-based professionals,” Kothke said. “Practicing architecture in Arizona is deeply meaningful to us, given its profound beauty, rich cultural traditions and the incredible, renowned talent of its architectural community.”
Casita Obscura, a detached addition to a mid-century home in the Sonoran Desert, received the Component Design Honor Award. The project enhanced the connection of the original home to its setting, highlighting the nearby landscape and vegetation while emphasizing the distant horizon.
A reimagined mid-century modern home in the Catalina Foothills, Casa Luce, won the Interior Architecture Honor Award. It was originally designed by Tom Gist and the goal of the work was to redefine the essence of the home in various ways.
Real House took the Merit Award for Distinguished Architecture. The project transformed the home into one with views of the Santa Catalina mountains and that blends traditional indoor-outdoor design with modern living, adapting to the sun, water and nature.
“The gala is always a remarkable event, a shared celebration of the positive impact of architecture on our clients, communities and state,” he said.
Teresa Rosano - Border Studio
Michael Kothke - Casa Luce
Michael Kothke - Casita Obscura
Michael Kothke - Real House
