On April 21, Gibbs College celebrated the inaugural Gibbs Design Activism Awards (GDAA). The GDAA is a grant-initiative that supports student-led design and research projects that engage topics of community, social and economic concerns across Oklahoma.
At the event, Master of Interior Design student Azra Fific and Architecture student Ryan Godfrey received awards for their innovative projects. Fific’s project, Refugees and Placemaking: Healing Trauma Through Interior Design, investigates placemaking and interior design strategies to help the Afghan refugee community heal trauma and assimilate to Oklahoma City.
GDAA Award Recipient Azra Fific presenting her project.
Godfrey’s project, Passing, explores the intersection of architecture, gender and sexual identity, focusing on the different ways in which buildings can be qualified as queer spaces.
GDAA Award Recipient Ryan Godfrey presenting his project.
Gibbs College also announced the 2023-2024 grant recipients Salma Akter, a PhD student in Planning Design and Construction, and Giselle Walker, an Environmental Design student. Their projects were selected from a pool of highly competitive proposals.
Akter’s project, titled Spatializing Refugees during Resettlement: Investigating the Role of Built Environment in Refugee Children’s Well-being, focuses on assessing the well-being of children of families who have fled Myanmar resettled in Tulsa since 1970. Tulsa is known as “Zomi Town” because of the concentration of Zomi (ethnic group) people. Due to the absence of refugee integration in the built environment process, child refugees in south Tulsa often experience profound physical and emotional vulnerabilities in their newly resettled living environment.
This project aims to identify and explore the role of the ‘people-place’ connections or the impact of the built environment and place attributes on children’s psycho-physical well-being and how these connections develop over time in new settlements. Finally, the project intends to develop a perceived “ideal” design model for children’s well-being to guide future research and design.
2023-2024 grant recipients Giselle Walker (left) and Salma Akter (right).
Walker’s project, Cut: The study of wayfinding and directional signage implementation in and around the built environment of historically Black townships in Oklahoma, brings visibility to the unique history of Black Townships in Oklahoma. Through a process of research and mapping, the project will locate and provide information about the fifty towns that have been documented, of which thirteen remain today. This digital wayfinding seeks to uncover the identity gap between passersby and the rich history of these Oklahomans.
These towns were targeted by a series of Jim Crow Laws and county-level oaths that called for white farmers to refuse to rent, lease or sell land within a mile of White or Indian residents to any Black person. With the growing Placemaking movement, under-resourced and under-represented towns are positioned to finally express and represent their unique identities in the built environment. This project will create a graphic story of these All-Black towns, which have persisted despite efforts to harm them socially and economically.
Congratulations to our students for receiving these well-deserved awards!
A team of Construction Science and Architecture students from the Gibbs College of Architecture made their mark on the national stage this week, earning third place out of 37 universities competing at the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Student Competition, held during the International Builders' Show in Orlando, February 16-18, 2026.
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has elevated Gary Armbruster, FAIA, ALEP to its prestigious College of Fellows—AIA’s highest membership honor—for his exceptional work and sustained contributions to architecture and society. Fellowship recognizes architects who have achieved a standard of excellence in the profession and made a significant impact at a national level. Members elevated to this distinction carry the FAIA designation after their name.
Students from the Spring 2026 Graduate 4 Architecture Design Studio, led by Professor Amy Leveno, exhibited their work at the School of Visual Arts. The exhibition, titled Reimagining the OU School of Visual Arts, featured drawings, models, and animations developed throughout the semester's studio project. The show was hosted in The Spotlight, a creative gallery space located on the first floor of the Fred Jones Art Center, and ran from January 20–30, 2026.
