Last spring, CAPLA students partnered with Community Gardens of Tucson to explore new possibilities for the Mary Meredith Community Garden. Led by Architecture Lecturer Chris Tucker, students in the BA.DAP program’s Spatial Design Studio developed design proposals for the garden’s school-side grounds, considering how the space could support children’s outdoor experiences and the surrounding ecosystem.

Anselmo Vinhas, CAPLA’s Class of 2026, reflects on growth, favorite projects (3D-printed housing for Angola), cherished memories, and his next steps: U.S. experience and launching a business in Angola.

CAPLA Professor Michael Kothke and Kathy Hancox won a national AIA Interior Architecture Award for Casa Luce, a Tucson renovation honoring adaptive reuse, sustainability, and the Sonoran Desert.

Dillon Tisdale’s externship with The M Group in D.C. immersed him in real-world architecture workflows, sustainability, and collaboration, shaping his career goals in net-zero design and project management.

CAPLA student Ella Parsons ('27 B.Arch) shares her ecological “cookbook,” blending art, architecture, and ecology to explore site, narrative, and design through experimental methods.

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.

Teresa Rosano, associate professor at the School of Architecture, earned the 2025 AIAS Faculty Advisor Honor Award for her mentorship, inclusive teaching, and leadership. She inspires students through community-focused, real-world architectural education and over 25 years of professional experience.

Students in CAPLA’s ARC 201 studio, guided by faculty including Christopher Domin and others, completed the "Gather Light" project focused on understanding and designing in harmony with the Sonoran Desert environment. Through observation, drawing, and modeling, students explored how light, nature, and architecture interact. Key activities involved studying desert plants, translating their forms into design systems, and developing canopies that filter light and enhance outdoor spaces. The project emphasized hands-on learning, teamwork, and iterative design using 2D and 3D representations to create thoughtful architectural interventions that respect and respond to the desert landscape.

Jesus Robles, an Assistant Professor of Practice and co-founder of the architecture studio DUST, was selected to showcase Tucson-inspired work at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, one of the world’s leading platforms for design innovation.

CAPLA students brought creativity and design thinking to global Park(ing) Day on Sept. 19 at Main Gate Square, transforming a parking space into a vibrant public installation themed “Curb the Power: Micro Acts of Civil Joy.” Led by Master of Landscape Architecture student Esmeralda Carrasco, the project featured colorful ground painting, desert-adapted plants, and flexible seating to reimagine urban streets as safer, greener, and more welcoming spaces. Partnering with the City of Tucson and community organizations, students demonstrated how small-scale interventions can spark conversations about design, equity, and the future of Tucson’s streets.

Led by faculty member Teresa Rosano, the CAPLA Study Abroad program combined classroom learning with visits to cities like Rome, Florence, and Venice. Students explored historic and modern architecture, sketched and journaled on site, and immersed themselves in Italian culture.