ABOUT

A plat·form /ˈplatfôrm/ is an elevated surface on which to stand. It also a place to make your beliefs known publicly or to initiate action. Urban Platform constructs a foundation to support a transdisciplinary collection of architects, planners, geographers, historians, economists, environmental engineers, and computer scientists dedicated to exploring the conditions of contemporary urban growth. We are located in San Antonio, Texas—one of the oldest and fastest growing cities in the United States.

Ian Caine founded Urban Platform in 2018. He is an Associate Professor and a Distinguished Teaching Professor. From 2018 to 2025, he was the Director of the UTSA Center for Urban and Regional Planning Research (CURPR), where he led applied design and planning efforts in communities throughout South Texas and the Lower Rio Grande Valley. In 2023, he was awarded the SOM Foundation Research Fellowship, leading a research team that explored strategies to retrofit commercial strips with multifamily housing. His work appears in Log, MONU, Scenario, The Plan Journal, Housing Studies, Competitions, and has received coverage in popular press outlets such as the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Metropolis, The Discovery Channel Canada, and Texas Public Radio. Caine’s design collaborations have earned multiple international honors, including a shortlist in the Modular Home Edition #2 competition, an honorable mention in Dry Futures, finalist recognition in Build-a-Better-Burb, and first prize in the Rising Tides competition. Caine has received awards from the American Institute of Architects and American Planning Association for built and unbuilt projects. His drawings and designs have been exhibited in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Toronto, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

A dedicated educator, Caine received the 2017 ACSA|AIAS New Faculty Teaching Award, 2017 UT Regent’s Outstanding Teaching Award, 2016 UTSA President’s Distinguished Teaching Award, 2016 and 2017 CACP Outstanding Teaching Awards, and was selected for the Architecture 2030 Pilot Curriculum Project, which highlighted a course developed with Dr. Rahman Azari as a national model to “transform the culture of sustainable design education.” In 2018, Caine was a visiting faculty member in urban design at Washington University. He holds degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (SMArchS) and Washington University (MArch), where he received the AIA School Medal.

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