Sophomore Interior Design students are working in teams of two to design a space for the OU Clara Luper Department of African & African-American Studies. The department wants to relocate to a space that reflects its rich cultural history and encourages community engagement. This new space will tell the story of the Department of African & African-American Studies, civil rights activist Clara Luper, and other important elements of their cultural and historical contexts, rooted in the state of Oklahoma.
The students spent three weeks researching the rich cultural history of the African-American community both in and outside of Oklahoma to facilitate their preliminary design development. They also interviewed the Chair, faculty members, and students of the OU Clara Luper Department of African & African-American Studies.
Interior Design sophomore Riley Fleming notes that the goal of the project is to create “a home for the department.”
“The most challenging part of the project was going above and beyond as instructed by the chairman but still following the trends of higher-level education design,” says Fleming. “There were limitations, but we found ways to make this space stand out and make its mark on campus.”
This project correlates with work by 5th-year architecture students, who were charged with designing a new building for the department.
The Interior Design students presented their preliminary designs to Gibbs College of Architecture faculty on February 27. They will present their final, revised designs to the OU Clara Luper Department of African & African-American Studies faculty on March 11th and March 13th from 2:00 pm to 4:45 pm in Gould Hall, Room 330.
[Featured Image: Interior Design students present their preliminary designs]
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.
In May, students from the Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture's Architecture, Environmental Design, and Interior Design programs participated in an intensive five-day Studio in Residence at Taliesin West, the iconic winter home and desert laboratory of Frank Lloyd Wright.
