OU Giving Day will be April 14, 2022!

Last Chance! Get Your Tickets to the Charles W. Graham Travel Study Dinner, to Be Held April 8, 2022 [ Rescheduled ]

The Gibbs College of Architecture’s annual Charles W. Graham Travel Study Benefit Dinner is back for 2022! The dinner will be held from 6:30-9:30 p.m. Friday, April 8, at the Petroleum Club in Oklahoma City. The event will feature a multi-course meal with fine wine pairings. All proceeds from the Benefit Dinner support student travel study scholarships and opportunities.  

If you are interested in becoming an event sponsor, please contact Hans Butzer (butzer@ou.edu). Learn more about sponsorship opportunities here.

GCA communications intern Kali Curtis sat down with Rebekah Curry, an architecture alumna here at Gibbs! We spoke with Curry to learn about her experiences as a senior virtual design and construction specialist at JE Dunn Construction, a leader in the commercial construction industry. She received her bachelor of architecture (2009) from the Gibbs College of Architecture.

Ralph Ochsner earned his bachelor's degree in sociology and master’s degree in city and regional planning from the University of Oklahoma. He is also a member of the board of visitors for both the Regional and City Planning program and the College of Architecture. He is also a Charter Member of the American Institute of Certified Planners. In 2017, Ochsner retired after a successful 60-year career, entrusting his planning and landscape architecture firm, Ochsner Hare & Hare, to a group of nine partners.

We recently sat down with Si Chen, a visiting assistant professor in the regional and city planning department here at Gibbs! We sat down with Si Chen to learn about her background and experiences in the field of regional and city planning. With a background in computer science, Si Chen’s expertise focuses on the intersection of new technologies and city planning.

L. Quincy Jackson was the first African American architect to open an office in the state of Oklahoma. Born in Wewoka, Oklahoma, in 1926, Jackson would earn his bachelor of architecture degree from the University of Kansas. He then opened an architecture office in Oklahoma in 1950. In 1952, he enrolled in the University of Oklahoma, where he studied urban planning under Bruce Goff in order to earn his master’s degree in planning in 1954.

We recently spoke to Chelsea Holcomb, an alumna and lecturer of interior design here at Gibbs! We learned about her experiences with technology as an interior designer.

The University of Oklahoma’s online Master's in Construction Business Program was just named the No. 2 online construction management program in the country by Online Master’s Degrees. The MCB program began this past fall and has already proven to be quite successful. The program offers a way for those already in the construction field to earn a master's degree in the professional skills required for construction business management.

Regional and City Planning student Daniil Solovev was one of several members of the OU community who were recently interviewed by the Oklahoma Daily about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing crisis. Daniil is a Russian graduate student in the RCPL program. He reported to the Oklahoma Daily that his parents had participated in protests in St. Petersburg against the invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 25.

Angela Lee, a University of Oklahoma architecture alumna, has been elevated to the American Institute of Architects’ College of Fellows. Only 3% of AIA members have been awarded this distinction. Lee was elevated in the practice category, “Object Two,” which recognizes architects’ work to advance the science and art of planning and building by advancing the standards of practice. Currently principal and regional managing director of Asia Pacific Singapore for HKS, Inc., Lee has dedicated herself to health care design and planning for the last 27 years.

Regional + City Planning Alumnus Inducted into 2022 AICP Class of Fellows  

Michael Southard, a regional + city planning alumnus and current member of the RCPL Professional Advisory Board, has just been inducted as a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners! Being elevated to the American Institute of Certified Planners College of Fellows is the highest honor the AICP bestows upon a member. Southard currently serves as the economic development director for the Choctaw Nation.

John Postic, who earned his bachelor's degree in architecture from Gibbs College in 2011, has recently been promoted to principal of Studio Architecture, an award-winning firm based in Oklahoma City! His more recent projects include the design of a food hall in downtown Oklahoma City, a campus master plan for Langston University, an office building renovation, and a new community activity center in Elk City.

Sarah Little’s landscape architecture studio is currently collaborating with students from the Rainbolt College of Education on the design of a nature-based playground for the new University of Oklahoma Institute of Childhood Development. The education and landscape architecture students have been able to learn from each other to produce a more impressive, well-rounded final product.

Earlier this month, a team of seven construction science and interior design students attended Design and Construction Week in Orlando, Florida. This week features both the National Association of Home Builders’ International Builders Show and the National Kitchen and Bath Association’s Kitchen and Bath Industry Show. The team also competed in the National Association of Home Builders’ student competition.

Gibbs College Dean Hans E. Butzer Elevated to Fellow of the American Institute of Architects   

University of Oklahoma Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture dean Hans E. Butzer, Mabrey Presidential Professor and A. Blaine Imel, Jr. Professor, has been elevated to the American Institute of Architects’ College of Fellows. Only 3% of AIA members have been awarded this distinction. Butzer was elevated in the Design category, “Object One,” which recognizes excellence in promoting the aesthetic, scientific and practical efficiency of the profession. An architect and urban designer, his career is centered on the goal of creating meaningful and memorable places designed with and for communities.

Vanessa Morrison Authors Column in The Oklahoman  

Vanessa Morrison, the associate director of the OU Institute for Quality Communities and co-founder of Open Design Collective, recently authored a column in The Oklahoman titled “Let’s celebrate everyday, unseen roles Black women play in Oklahoma communities.” In the article, Morrison discusses the vital roles that Black women often play without garnering recognition or attention.

Spring 2021 Carceral Studies Consortium micro-grant recipients Sharee Asberry and Bailey Hoffner have begun the process of developing food sovereignty through gardening for the women of Mabel Bassett Correctional Center. Read on for an update and statement on the recent progress of their project (Feb. 2022), as well as a poem by Sharee. Three Gibbs College faculty serve on the Carceral Studies Consortium board.

Passion for ‘Place’ Translates into Inclusive Approach to Supporting Communities    

Communities are so much more than just places in which people live. The term “sense of place” is commonly used to describe the emotive bonds and attachments people develop or experience in particular locations and environments, or to describe the distinctiveness or unique character of localities and regions. This understanding inspires the origins of many community-based organizations seeking to help support communities with various needs. These organizations typically attract passionate go-getters who wish to help improve the spaces they and others like them came from. Count the Institute of Quality Communities at the Gibbs College of Architecture and its associate director, Vanessa Morrison, among those go-getters.

Architecture Professor Receives Award to Attend Summer Workshop     

Architecture professor Marjorie P. Callahan has been selected to receive the University of Oklahoma Ed Cline Faculty Development Award, which will allow her to attend a two-week intensive workshop at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Maine. Professor Callahan will attend the Haystack school’s two-week Intensive Sustainability and Bio-Materials Contemporary Session in July, where she will learn to use 3-D computer applications and techniques to create press fit joints for high-performance lattice structures. These lattice structures are part of Callahan’s research surrounding new architectural techniques used to improve conditions in Oklahoman jails and prisons.

Telesis “Isolation” (Vol. III) Now Available!    

Telesis, the Gibbs College of Architecture’s award-winning student journal, is releasing its third edition in spring 2022. This edition, “Isolation,” serves as a platform to discuss the systemic change required – at both the infrastructural and social level – to dismantle the equally systemic injustice and inequality. “Isolation” explores how design can influence one’s sense of belonging, a question Telesis will continue to explore in forthcoming editions.

The Gibbs College of Architecture is excited to announce our Spring 2022 Lecture Series! This lecture series was made possible with support from the Bruce Goff Chair of Creative Architecture.

Ernest E. Burden was born Aug. 22, 1934, in Worcester, Massachusetts, to Priscilla and Ernest E. Burden, Sr. He passed away Feb. 9, 2022, in Altamonte Springs, Florida, after a courageous battle with cancer. Ernest studies architecture at OU under Bruce Goff at the American School. He was the author of over 50 works on architectural design, theory, visualization, restoration and preservation, as well as marketing and communication.

Catherine Dwen Montgomery, AIA, was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on July 2, 1960, to Sarah and Robert King. She passed away on Feb. 17, 2022, in Oklahoma City at the age of 61. In 1999, Catherine moved to Oklahoma and became a preservation architect with the State Historic Preservation Office. She would later become the director of construction and maintenance for the Oklahoma Historical Society’s Outreach Division. Catherine was an active member of the American Institute of Architects and served on multiple boards for architectural organizations in Oklahoma, including the Gibbs College Architecture Professional Advisory Board at the University of Oklahoma.

Oculus is distributed by the University of Oklahoma Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture during the fall and spring semesters. It features news about student, faculty, staff and alumni accomplishments, as well as events that may be of interest to our community. Note that there is a weekly version of the newsletter for a local audience, and a monthly version for a broader audience.