OU Gibbs College is pleased to announce that Jonathan Tate is invited to give a public lecture in the upcoming fall semester. Jonathan Tate is the founder and principal of OJT, an award-winning architecture firm based in New Orleans. OJT was established in 2011 as a creative, expansive, and exploratory practice with a desire to contribute to contemporary discourse.
For his lecture, Tate will discuss his firm’s work and related topical issues that are currently impacting the built environment. The lecture will take place on Wednesday, September 13 at 4 p.m., location TBD.
OJT project "Zimple." Photo by William Crocker.
Tate’s firm has a unique setup that is embedded in both practice and research. His work embraces ideas of community engagement and serving using design to address the challenges of affordable housing and urbanism. Tate’s practice focuses on reworking normative, overlooked, and familiar project types by integrating new designs with situational conditions. Every project is designed to belong and contribute to its original location while communicating with a lineage of associative built work.
OJT project "St. Thomas at 9th." Photo by William Crocker.
His firm offers architecture and urban design services as well as planning, interiors, graphic design, development consulting, historic preservation, and affordable housing activities. Most of his projects are focused in New Orleans, but his firm has completed several others across the U.S. and internationally. His firm’s clients include CDCs, NDCs, non-profits, institutions, governments, private developers, and individuals. Along with his work at OJT, Tate has also served as a visiting and adjunct professor at the Tulane School of Architecture.
For more information, contact Amy Leveno (amyleveno@ou.edu).
The Gibbs Design in Action Awards (GDAA) program, led by Dr. Wanda Liebermann, has announced its 2026–2027 funded student projects. The initiative supports design and research work that addresses social, cultural, and economic issues in the built environment through collaboration with faculty and community partners.
The OU Institute for Quality Communities (IQC) 2024 collaboration with the Historic Threatt Filling Station has been recognized in the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's newly released Byways Report: The Scenic Route to Rural Prosperity – a story-driven publication exploring how road trip culture and place-based tourism can fuel economic growth in rural communities.
The Gibbs College of Architecture is pleased to announce that Camille Germany, Chief of Staff, has been named the 2026 recipient of the university-wide Jennifer L. Wise Good Stewardship Award.
