The work of Environmental Design students was featured in a special report by the Independent Shopkeepers Association (ISA) of Oklahoma, the State of Retail 2020.
Students in the Environmental Design Practicum, Spring 2020, worked with community partners in the Bricktown, Downtown Norman, the Plaza District, and Uptown 23rd Street to record tenant mix trends in urban commercial districts. They also worked to identify and research dozens of benchmark districts in peer cities in the United States. Their work was compiled into a special report published by the ISA to offer insights on trends and areas for growth in local districts (see below).
Students who contributed to the research and collaboration with local partners included Cy Bergner, Cole Brignac, Justin Fish, Jennifer Fuentes, Johanna Hilmes, Logan Holtmyer, Charles Joly, Isabel Kienzle, Andrew Meyers, David Miller, Shobha Pathmanathan, Emily Perkins, Trey Potts, Jackson Schultz, Edward Schwarz, Mingming Shi, AJ Talib, Cooper Wilson, and Yueyang ‘Elijah’ Wu.
The Environmental Design Practicum carries OU’s service learning designation and is led by Shane Hampton, director of the Institute for Quality Communities.
Above: Environmental Design practicum students. Note: Taken in Spring 2020, before social distancing protocols were put in place for COVID-19.
Gibbs College of Architecture is proud to recognize Petya Stefanoff, who is pursuing her doctorate in the Planning, Design & Construction (PDC) program, has been appointed the new role of Director of Community Development for the City of Shawnee, Oklahoma. She joined the city in 2024.
Gibbs College of Architecture is pleased to announce that Amber N. Wiley, Ph.D., associate professor in the Division of Planning, Landscape Architecture and Design and director of the Institute for Quality Communities, has received national recognition for her book Model Schools in the Model City. The book has been named a finalist for the 2026 the PROSE Awards.
Gibbs College of Architecture Regional + City Planning Professor of Practice Vanessa Morrison and Associate Professor of Architecture Deborah Richards’ Open Design Collective received top honors at the inaugural BlackSpace Urbanist Collective Studio KIN Pitch Night Competition, held last month in Brooklyn, New York City.
