The Placemaking Conference is a biennial event hosted by the OU Gibbs College of Architecture’s Institute for Quality Communities. It features leading experts on topics in economic development, healthy communities, city planning and governance, architecture and design, district management, public spaces and parks, and more. Click here to learn more.
Event Details
Monday, April 1, 2019, 9:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Catlett Music Center – Norman, Oklahoma
Registration is required. Registration closes on March 15, 2019. For late registration, please contact Hope Mander, iqc@ou.edu or 405-325-2434.
Featured Speakers
Kennedy Smith of CLUE Group, one of the nation’s foremost experts on commercial districts, will speak about downtown and main street economic development.
Elena Madison of Project for Public Spaces will be joined by Jill Brown DeLozier of Downtown OKC Partnership and Laura Hoagland of Southwest Airlines to talk about placemaking partnerships that transform public space.
Mick Cornett, former Oklahoma City mayor, is the author of The Next American City and will join us to share ideas about how small- and middle-sized cities are positioned for success.
Dylan Thuras of Atlas Obscura will speak about the quest to document special (and sometimes odd) places around the world
Oklahomans Allison Bailey of Holiday Pop-Up Shops, Lauren Nitschke of Waurika, and Kelly Tompkins of Main Street Enid will share their placemaking stories
Houston-based artist Rick Lowe, creator of Project Row Houses and other projects around the world, will present the closing lecture featuring highlights of his career creating revitalization efforts driven by art and culture.
Past Conferences and Videos
To request accommodations, contact IQC staff (iqc@ou.edu).
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.
