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A team of researchers from the OU Gibbs College of Architecture recently presented The American School to over 100 attendees during the AIA National Conference in Las Vegas. They led an interactive seminar that was designed to help today’s practitioners grapple with mind-numbing standardization, tricky sustainability issues, and increasing pressure to stand out in the Instagram era.
Dean Hans E. Butzer provided an overview of the American School approach to design, which emphasized resourcefulness, experimentation and contexutalism. Dr. Stephanie Pilat presented the work of students of the American School in comparison to those trained at Bauhaus inspired institutions. Professor Lee Fithian shared the historic preservation work of students in a course led by Ron Frantz dedicated to preserving a Goff home. Finally, Yetunde Obasade, an engineer and recent graduate of the Master of Sciences in Architecture program shared her climate, wind and site analysis documenting how the Bavinger house design and orientation facilitated natural heating and cooling.
In small group discussions, the audience then considered and shared ways in which the American School approach might inspire their own practices.
Telesis, a journal produced by students in the University of Oklahoma Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture, has earned first place in the 2026 Douglas Haskell Award for Student Journals for its seventh volume, “Unfold.” This marks the fourth time the publication has earned recognition for excellence in student architectural journalism. It shares the honor with student journals from Columbia University, University of Michigan, and Cal Poly.
Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture congratulates Thinh "Henry" Duong, a master's student in the Division of Interior Design, for earning first place in the 2026 Robert Bruce Thompson Annual Student Light Fixture Design Competition.
Gibbs College of Architecture Institute for Quality Communities (IQC) Director and Division of Planning, Landscape Architecture, and Design (PLAD) faculty member Amber N. Wiley, Ph.D., recently published a new book, Collective Yearning: Black Women Artists from the Zimmerli Art Museum.
