The Studio
How the CAPLA community is building a changing world.
In The Studio, you'll find stories, thought leadership, profiles, and project narratives and galleries by and about the CAPLA community of faculty, staff, alumni and students.
The Studio
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Low-cost housing in a high-cost city: London’s approach to affordable housing | Lecture by Kath Scanlon
London, an undisputed global city, is well known for having some of the world’s most expensive housing but also boasts a substantial amount of low-cost social and affordable housing. This talk sketches the historic roots of affordable housing in London, explains how it is currently built and operated, and explores current political and practical challenges—some of which are shared by Arizona cities despite their very different contexts.
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Ladd Keith named 2025 Western Planner of the Year
The Western Planner organization has named CAPLA Associate Professor Ladd Keith its 2025 Planner of the Year, honoring his pioneering leadership in climate-responsive planning and community resilience across the American West.
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CAPLA Professor’s SunLink Research to be Published in Harvard Law & Policy Review
A new study co-led by CAPLA’s Arthur C. Nelson and the City of Tucson’s Daniel Lawlor finds that the Sun Link streetcar has reshaped Tucson’s growth, economy, and equity since its 2014 launch, driving major real estate investment, population growth, and city revenue gains. The research, to be published in the Harvard Law & Policy Review, highlights the streetcar as a national model for successful urban transit planning.
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Behind the Design: Andrew Weil Center recognized for outstanding architecture
The University of Arizona’s Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine has been recognized internationally for its innovative design, earning an honorable mention in the 2025 International Architecture Awards. The distinction highlights the university’s commitment to creating spaces that advance health, wellness, and architectural excellence.
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Urban Planning Students Win Statewide Award for City of South Tucson Project
A team of Master of Science in Urban Planning (MSUP) students at CAPLA received the Arizona APA’s Best Student Planning Project Award for their capstone, “Community Investment Strategy Toolkit for the City of South Tucson.”
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Projects
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Course: ARC 201 | Professors Christopher Domin, Oscar Lopez, Stefan Mostert, Mike Silver, and Siri Trumble | Students: Ava Beveridge & Katie Sweiven
Gather Light: Ava Beveridge '28 & Katie Sweiven ‘28 B.Arch
For the ARC 201 Design Studio, students worked on defining a shadow caster threshold in a publicly accessible space. The "Gather Light" project was led by professors Christopher Domin, Oscar Lopez, Stefan Mostert, Mike Silver, and Siri Trumble.
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Museum of the All Souls Procession: Merle Weisshaupt '26 B.Arch
The architecture of Tucson's Museum of the All Souls Procession serves as a daily reminder of multicultural strength, bridging past and future. The museum's design embodies the procession, uniting history and modernity with weathered steel and wood, mirroring the cyclical renewal of tradition.
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The Temporal Passage: Jacob Downard '22 B.Arch
The architecture of The Temporal Passage responds to the site's volcanic conditions by being conceptually rooted in scale, time and the moving materials of our living earth in an attempt to convey the magnitude of these natural forces. It further explores the spatial and conceptual juxtapositions between the human-operated straight line and the ensured chaos of nature.