The Gibbs College of Architecture celebrates fifth-year architecture student Haley Praytor, who has been recognized at the national level for her design work. In early March, Haley received a Graduate Division Award of Merit for her submission to the 2025 Metal Building Manufacturers Association student design competition.
The national competition invited undergraduate and graduate architecture students to develop an innovative design for a botanical garden and event space using pre-engineered metal building systems as the primary structural framework. Participants were asked to create a complex that blended indoor and outdoor experiences. Designs included elements such as an event center, biomes and greenhouses, an aviary, a sculpture garden, an observation deck, and spaces for education and research.
Exterior rendering of Haley Praytor’s Garden & Event Space.
Students were also asked to propose an additional exploratory program, an open-ended element that allowed them to introduce a distinctive idea to set their project apart.
The competition was one of two major projects assigned during the Fall 2025 semester in the ARCH 6956 graduate design studio. The course was coordinated by Associate Professor Paolo Sanza and co-taught with Professor Marjorie Callahan.
Interior rendering showcasing the botanical garden.
Telesis, a journal produced by students in the University of Oklahoma Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture, has earned first place in the 2026 Douglas Haskell Award for Student Journals for its seventh volume, “Unfold.” This marks the fourth time the publication has earned recognition for excellence in student architectural journalism. It shares the honor with student journals from Columbia University, University of Michigan, and Cal Poly.
Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture congratulates Thinh "Henry" Duong, a master's student in the Division of Interior Design, for earning first place in the 2026 Robert Bruce Thompson Annual Student Light Fixture Design Competition.
Gibbs College of Architecture Institute for Quality Communities (IQC) Director and Division of Planning, Landscape Architecture, and Design (PLAD) faculty member Amber N. Wiley, Ph.D., recently published a new book, Collective Yearning: Black Women Artists from the Zimmerli Art Museum.
