Date
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.
A project designed by Gibbs College of Architecture faculty member Austin Lightle has been selected for BuildFest 2026, a national art and architecture festival held at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in New York, on the historic grounds of the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival.
Two Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture alumni are helping shape recommendations that could influence affordable housing design and construction across Oklahoma.
The University of Oklahoma Libraries recently welcomed Carl Siegel as an Architecture Librarian and Archivist and Assistant Professor. In his role, Siegel supports students, faculty and staff across the Gibbs College of Architecture while also serving as archivist for the American School of Architecture Archives.
