Gibbs College Interior Design professors, Dr. Suchi Bhattacharjee and Dr. Yeji Yi, as well as PhD. Student Abrar Talal Alhamadi, have been awarded the 2025 Irene Winifred Eno Grant from the American Society of Interior Design (ASID) Foundation. The grant will support their project “Artificial Intelligence (AI) Assisted Design for Independent Living.”
The project aims to develop and test an Artificial Intelligence (AI) assisted interior design platform that promotes independent living among individuals with neurodevelopmental disabilities. Interior design is a vital discipline that can promote autonomy, safety, and well-being, and design strategies have been extensively researched and documented to assist independent living. However, applying these strategies through the traditional design processes often requires significant time and effort to explore and assess multiple iterations for each unique case.
Advances in AI offer an opportunity to transform these design processes into an efficient, user-driven approach. The proposed intelligent agent seeks to automatically analyze spatial environments and generate design iterations that maximize both physical and cognitive accessibility. Technologies such as Large Language Models (LLMs) and Deep Q-Network (DQN) algorithms will be employed to interpret user input and produce adaptive, personalized design solutions.
This innovative platform will serve not only individuals and caregivers seeking safe and supportive environments for people with disabilities but also equip interior designers with intelligent tools capable of addressing the functional and cognitive needs of clients with varying neurodevelopmental conditions. Additionally, the platform can be integrated into interior design curricula, enabling students to apply emerging technologies in creating human-centered environments.
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.
