Recently, a group of Gibbs College students from OU’s chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) attended the 2022 NOMA Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. The group was led by Felipe Flores, a Gibbs College PhD student and supervisor of OU’s NOMA chapter.
Alongside Flores, four of the NOMA members were able to attend, including the president Hiroki Mishima, the vice president Janvi Patel, the treasurer Gilbert Magana, and the secretary Madelyn Novosad. The two other members, Reilly Tuer and Alexa Rietz, were not in attendance, but actively participated in the creation of the team’s project for the student design competition.
Top Row: Madelyn Novosad, Reilly Tuer, Hiroki Mishima, and Janvi Patel
Bottom Row: Felipe Flores, Alexa Rietz, and Gilbert Magana
NOMA is a national organization that celebrates diversity in the architecture profession and promotes justice and equity in communities of color through architecture. The organization works to empower local chapters through outreach, community advocacy, professional development and design excellence.
The NOMA conference is an annual event that connects architects, designers, professionals and students, giving them the opportunity to connect and share industry knowledge. Flores expressed that, “NOMA is not just an architecture conference, but a means of incubating leaders who care about their community and try to go beyond the status quo.” This year’s conference, titled “Unplugged,” took place in Nashville, Tennessee from October 26 to October 30. Over the course of a few days, more than fifty sessions of seminars and workshops took place, in addition to a student design competition.
Flores and his team spent three weeks developing their project for the 2022 Barbara G. Laurie NOMA Student Design Competition. The student participants were challenged with the task of rebuilding the North Nashville community that was negatively impacted by the construction of the I-40 highway. Our student team utilized innovative design and architectural strategies in order to complete their project, titled “The Nashville N.E.T.” View the team's design boards (pdf). You can learn more about the team’s project by watching this short video.
Although the team’s project was not awarded, they still gained a lot of important knowledge and experience. The conference gave these students the opportunity to grow a deeper understanding of the importance of diversity in architecture and foster meaningful connections within the NOMA community.
Janvi Patel reflected on her experience at the conference: “The one thing that I appreciated most about this conference was meeting other Indian architects. Outside of my family, I have never seen Indian architects, so it was eye opening to learn about their experiences and how their racial background comes with a lot of challenges in the field.”
Petya Stefanoff, Chair of the Educational Committee with the American Planning Association, Oklahoma Chapter (APA-OK) and Gibbs College PhD candidate, has developed a new training program for local government officials. The program, focused on land use, zoning principles, and land development, recently certified its first graduates with Certified Citizen Planner status.
Gibbs Construction Science and Architecture students recently traveled to Dublin, Ireland, to compete in the Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Region 8 Student Competition. The team partnered with Czech Technical University and secured third place in the Design-Build category.
Gibbs College is pleased to present the exhibition Vollendorf in Oklahoma: The Architecture of Dean Bryant Vollendorf during the Spring 2026 semester. It will be on display in Gould Hall, on the OU-Norman Campus, from February 16, 2026 - March 13, 2026.
