Dr. Negar Matin, an assistant professor of Interior Design, has been conducting research on the effects of photochromic coatings on the performance of buildings’ façades. She is conducting this project with research partners from the GameAbove College of Engineering and Technology at Eastern Michigan University (EMU) including Professor Ali Eydgahi, Dr. Mirabedini and Dr. Zareanshahraki. Zhina Rashidzadeh, a PhD student with Gibbs, is also working on the project.
The project involves applying photochromic coatings to glass as they would be used in the windows of the façades. Using computer modeling, the researchers then measured how eight different combinations of red, blue, and yellow resulted in changes in various visual comfort metrics, including useful daylight illuminance, daylight glare probability, and uniformity of interior space.
The results of these tests showed that using these photochromic coatings can improve the visual comfort inside – improving glare by 54% compared to regular glass and increasing useful daylight illuminance 36%.
Moving forward, Dr. Matin and her team will look to integrate this idea with more advance mechanical and electronic technologies to design a hybrid façade system that will improve visual comfort conditions inside buildings.
The University of Oklahoma College of Architecture is proud to announce that Model Schools in the Model City, authored by Director of the Institute for Quality Communities, Amber N. Wiley, Ph.D., has been named one of ten finalists for the 2026 ASALH Book Prize for Best New Book in African American History and Culture.
This semester, students in the LA 5535 Studio: Ecological Planning and Design, led by Prof. Afsana Sharmin, took on an ambitious hypothetical project to redesign key parts of the OU campus. Their mission: to tackle the critical real-world challenge of stormwater management through innovative green design.
Petya Stefanoff, Chair of the Educational Committee with the American Planning Association, Oklahoma Chapter (APA-OK) and Gibbs College PhD candidate, has developed a new training program for local government officials. The program, focused on land use, zoning principles, and land development, recently certified its first graduates with Certified Citizen Planner status.
