On March 20th, hundreds of planning and design professionals, civic leaders, and students gathered at the University of Oklahoma for the 5th biennial Institute for Quality Communities’ Placemaking Conference. The all-day event featured speakers working in a variety of fields, all of which contribute to community placemaking.
Dr. Sarah Little, an Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture, was recently recognized alongside her co-editors – Janet Loeback, Adina Cox, and Patsy Eubanks Owens – by the Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA) for their work on The Routledge Handbook of Designing Public Spaces for Young People: Process, Practices, and Policies for Youth Inclusion. The book was selected as the 2022 Honorable Mention of EDRA’s Place Book Award.
Dr. Khosrow Bozorgi, Architecture professor, and Dr. Keith Gaddie, Associate Dean of Gibbs College, have authored a book manuscript titled “Philadelphia House: Genius Loci - Concept of Placemaking.” Based on over ten positive reviews, the Editorial Board of Rowman & Littlefield has approved the manuscript and the contract has been signed for publication.
In 2020, the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments (ACOG) reached out to the University of Oklahoma’s Institute for Quality Communities (IQC) to ask for assistance with their Community Economic Resiliency Initiative (CERI). The Initiative was developed to help local governments respond to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Three Oklahoma communities were selected to receive urban planning services from the IQC. These services would emphasize community identity and placemaking.
Institute for Quality Communities (IQC) interns, Kyler Smith and Reilly Tuer spent their semester rethinking pedestrian spaces in downtown Edmond, Oklahoma. Kyler and Reilly both recently completed their third year in the Gibbs College Architecture program. Throughout the project, they were mentored by Michael Hoffner (OU B.ARCH ‘90) of höffnerdesignstudio in Oklahoma City.
