Architecture Senior Lecturer Shares His Innovative, 'Prideful' Favorite Place for Arizona Daily Star

“The University of Arizona Health Sciences Innovation Building (HSIB) caught my attention initially because it is easy to be drawn to its form and placement in the urban realm which proudly emerges from the landscape as a nine-story building,” writes Damon Leverett in an October 21 Arizona Daily Star editorial. “How each face of the building is a different combination of materials—glass, concrete, metal and terra cotta—thoughtfully apportioned in response to the sun’s orientation. However, looks, like so many things we experience, represent a cover that is only part of the story.”

Leverett, an architecture senior lecturer at the University of Arizona’s College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture, takes the reader on a tour of the 245,000-square-foot facility designed by the partnership of Swaim Associates and CO Architects as part of the newspaper’s “Favorite Places” series.

“HSIB exemplifies the spirt of the expectation that buildings for the public and more importantly in the education of future generations should reach beyond the utilitarian and become prideful places for our community and society,” Leverett concludes.

Visit the HSIB with Leverett as your guide via the Arizona Daily Star or watch the video:

 
Leverett, who joined CAPLA in 2019, formerly served as managing director, workforce development and strategy at the American Institute of Architects in Washington, D.C. He has over 30 years of experience working in the architecture and design industry as a principal, lead designer and instructor. In addition to serving as a senior lecturer at CAPLA, he teaches in the UArizona School of Information. His current areas of instruction include architectural design, architectural technology, installation design and digital storytelling. Originally from Detroit, Leverett is a licensed architect in Arizona and Michigan.