Architecture educator promoted to SAPL assistant professor

Strengthening curriculums and enhancing coordination across courses is what designer, educator and musician Dan Hapton aims to achieve in his new role as a teaching-focused assistant professor at the University of Calgary’s School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape (SAPL).

Born in Calgary, Hapton returned from Los Angeles in 2019 and joined SAPL as a Master of Architecture sessional instructor. That same year, he founded the Calgary-based boutique design studio, AITCH Design, specializing in the creative revitalization of buildings.

Hapton has a Master of Architecture with distinction from the Southern California Institute of Architecture, where his many honours, included the Henry Adams Medal for academic excellence from the American Institute of Architects. He also holds a Bachelor of Environmental Design from the University of British Columbia and a Cabinet Maker’s Certificate from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.

His mentors included Morphosis, a world-renowned design firm, and the firm of Eric Owen Moss, where he played a key role in the construction of the award-winning experimental restaurant, Vespertine. Before living in Southern California, Hapton also practised with award-winning design and architecture studios in Copenhagen and Berlin.

Over the years, his designs have been featured in publications such as Western Living, Design Calgary, Avenue Magazine, Ground-Up Journal, Non-Architecture Journal and the Melbourne Design Week.

As an assistant professor, Hapton will teach design courses and develop and refine pedagogy and curriculum with updated teaching practices. Hapton says he hopes “the new position will provide opportunities for greater collaborations and contributions to the School's culture.”

Outside of the classroom, Hapton is passionate about improvisational music, where his love for revitalization projects carries into restoring guitars and other stringed instruments.

With his innovative approach to design, hands-on experience in a vast array of studios, in both North America and Europe, and continued commitment to academia, Hapton embodies the entrepreneurial spirit UCalgary wishes to impart on its students.

His new role promises extraordinary outcomes for SAPL.