Vivek Vijay, a Regional and City Planning graduate student with Gibbs College of Architecture, shared his recent volunteer experience with Blackspace Oklahoma, an organization that is dedicated to creating, developing, and supporting Black communities and professionals within the realms of city planning, architecture and design.
While Vijay was helping in a number of capacities for the organization during their Storytelling Project series, including set up and take down, photography, and digital content, he was able to listen to the stories and experiences being shared.
The Storytelling Project series consisted of three lectures and two workshops throughout March that were focused on ‘Celebrating the Past, Building Community.’
“The story is about the unseen, unheard, unknown voices of life that have been forgotten in time,” he explained. “I saw emotions, feelings, struggle, tears of joy, and so much more.”
Part of Blackspace’s mission is to acknowledge the past, particularly how city planning and architecture within Oklahoma has changed over the years.
“I got to see what happened in the past and how much things have changed,” said Vijay.
“It made me realize empowering others is as important as empowering yourself, as you live in the very same world that they do.”
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.
