Fifth year architecture student, Benjamin Jawad, won an AIA Dallas Student Design award for his project 8209 Park Lane. The project was developed in the Design 7 course under the direction of Amy Leveno.
The competition allowed entries from current architecture students from Texas and Oklahoma, both from the undergraduate and graduate level. The competition sought entries that were, “responsive to beauty, poetry, context and previous condition, inspiration, process, environmental and social impact, economy and consumption.”
“Ben’s award submission was creative, thoughtful, well conceived, and beautifully represented,” said Leveno. “His win is a huge accomplishment.”
Jawad’s submission, 8209 Park Ln., was a community housing project based in Victory Meadow, Texas. His submission was the only entry out of Oklahoma to receive an award.
”The project was the result of months of research, iterations, and many late nights in the studio. The project type, location, and brief all presented interesting new challenges that I hadn’t dealt with before, and each decision required balancing practicality and sustainability while addressing the needs of a marginalized community,” said Jawad. “I’m honored to have the project acknowledged by professionals and industry leaders, and it means a lot to know that my ideas resonated with others beyond the studio. The experience as a whole has inspired me to keep designing and creating work that makes a positive impact on the communities it serves.”
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.
