The Happy Healthy Home Show recently invited Gibbs College alumnus Don Ruggles as an inaugural guest. Don joined the show’s host Odile Smith in their shared passion for making wellness in the home (and all built surroundings) a priority.
A practicing architect and founder of Ruggles Mabe Studio, Don has spent his 50-plus year career trying to answer the question, “What is beauty?” Since the early 2000s, he’s spoken with and read the works of fellow architects, scientists, neurologists, and other experts, and participated in symposiums and conferences around the globe to discuss the impact of beauty on humankind.
Don has also published the book, Beauty, Neuroscience & Architecture: Timeless Patterns & Their Impact on Our Well-Being, which investigates how timeless forms and patterns in design affect our health and well-being. The book was made into a full-length documentary in 2020 titled, Built Beautiful, An Architecture & Neuroscience Love Story with Narration by Martha Stewart. It suggests a new, urgent effort is needed to refocus the direction of design to include the quality of beauty as a fundamental, overarching theme in two of humankind’s most important fields — the built and artistic environments.
The Happy Healthy Home Show’s premier was held on May 14 and featured conversations with twenty-one different specialists including academics, bestselling authors, and design experts. The interviews are focused on the following topics that, together, lead to creating a space of wellness in our homes:
• Scientific – neuroscience & design psychology
• Nature – biomimicry & biophilic design
• Interior Design – light/applied color psychology
• Energy – fengshui & crystals
• Sustainability – trail blazer manufacturers
• Communication/Storytelling
Connecting the dots between these areas of focus, Happy Healthy Home Show viewers will see that to create a place of wellness for the user, several aspects must be taken into consideration as must the individuality of the final user.
During Don’s conversation with Odile Smith on the Happy Health Home Show, he shared his thoughts on the responsibility of architects and other designers to create spaces with health and well-being in mind. To watch the interview, visit the show's webpage.
During the Spring 2026 semester, students in Interior Design Studio IV and Graduate Studio IV gained hands-on experience in educational facility design through a semester-long partnership with MA+ Architecture.
The Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture congratulates Dr. Tammy McCuen, Robert E. Busch Professor of Construction Science, on beginning her term as president of the Associated Schools of Construction (ASC), an international organization dedicated to advancing construction education through teaching, research and service.
Following years of contributions to the College’s research and strategic initiatives, Gibbs College shares that Associate Dean for Research and External Engagement Angela M. Person, PhD, will step down from her position at Gibbs College as she moves to Tucson with her family, effective June 30, 2026.
