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, earning a $5,000 award for their proposal, “BLOCK UP.”
Team BLOCK UP included:
- desertWORKS studio: Lopez & Sal Arellano (CAPLA ‘25)
- Research & Practice LLC: Trevor Watson (CAPLA ‘07)
- Ware Malcomb: Cameron Noble (CAPLA ‘25)
BLOCK UP reimagined the urban tower as a vertical civic framework for Phoenix. The project envisioned a new block typology that integrated public life, housing and climate-responsive design into a shared, adaptable structure.
“BLOCK UP explores a simple but urgent question for Phoenix and urban design as a whole: what if the public realm didn’t stop at the sidewalk,” Lopez said. “Instead of treating density as something private and sealed off, the proposal treats it as an opportunity to expand access, community and climate-responsive design upward.”
The team formed organically after the competition brief was released, with alumni reconnecting through shared interest in the challenge.
“The group was formed somewhat by happenstance,” Noble said. “After the brief was released, Sal and I began discussing the possibility of creating a proposal for the competition. I was later brought in by Oscar, who had reached out to Sal and Trevor.”
Collaboration was central to the project’s development, with ideas evolving through collective dialogue and iteration.
“Throughout the project, there was an exciting and invigorating four-way collaboration in which each of us shared ideas, sketches, models and revisions,” Noble said.
Watson’s primary contributions were related to the building’s concept and the 3D model.
“The most difficult part of the project was addressing the complexity of the program, which required fitting social aspects into a vertical tower in a meaningful and accessible way,” he said. “It was a pleasure to work with fellow CAPLA alumni to bring home the top prize.”
For Noble, who graduated in May, the recognition marks an early milestone in his professional career and reflects the values instilled during his education at CAPLA.
“Throughout my education, I often saw my professors, such as Oscar and Trevor, as collaborators rather than only educators or mentors,” Noble said. “Being on the other side of a diploma, I experienced them as collaborators who respected me in the process.”
Lopez said the experience of working with alumni was especially meaningful, blending academic exploration with professional insight.
“Working with CAPLA alumni was energizing and deeply meaningful,” Lopez said. “There’s a shared language and generosity that comes from being part of the same design community.”
He said winning the award affirms the importance of this kind of design.
“It affirms that ambitious, climate-responsive and civic-minded design has a place in shaping the future,” Lopez said. “It also speaks volume to the skills and ways of thinking that are coming out of CAPLA.”
The Ideas Competition recognition underscores the strength of collaboration between CAPLA faculty, alumni and professional practice, and highlights the college’s ongoing impact on shaping the future of architecture in Arizona.
