Dr. Francesco Cianfarani, assistant professor of architecture at the OU Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture, is part of the 2025 cohort for the Academy for Public Scholarship on the Built Environment. The theme of this year’s cohort is housing equity. The program offers participants coaching on how to extend their scholarship beyond academics and influence both conversation and policies in housing.
Dr. Cianfarani’s research encompasses elements of architecture and urban design, with an emphasis on housing. He has investigated housing through field research, mapping, design proposals, and critical studies. His research include infill initiatives in Oklahoma City and the development of a housing database to identify gaps in affordable housing, produced for the Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency.
For more information about the program, view the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture press release.
The University of Oklahoma College of Architecture is proud to announce that Model Schools in the Model City, authored by Director of the Institute for Quality Communities, Amber N. Wiley, Ph.D., has been named one of ten finalists for the 2026 ASALH Book Prize for Best New Book in African American History and Culture.
This semester, students in the LA 5535 Studio: Ecological Planning and Design, led by Prof. Afsana Sharmin, took on an ambitious hypothetical project to redesign key parts of the OU campus. Their mission: to tackle the critical real-world challenge of stormwater management through innovative green design.
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.
