Assistant profs. Sarah Little (Landscape Architecture) and John Harris (Regional and City Planning) recently published in the peer reviewed journal Urban Forum. The article uses maps drawn by youth living in Lusaka, Zambia’s informal settlements to better understand how those youth understand their environment. The analysis suggests that there are several social-spatial anchors of hope in the city’s informal settlements that simultaneously orient youth’s day-to-day lives and long-term aspirations. These findings suggest that the youth locate hope and despair throughout their settlements in discrete locations and also see hope as a group effort. The findings are also used to make recommendations for how urban managers can use this information to support the hopes of informal settlement youth.
Access their full article, entitled “Mapping Hope: How Do Vulnerable Youth Locate Hope in Informal Settlements?,” here.
A project designed by Gibbs College of Architecture faculty member Austin Lightle has been selected for BuildFest 2026, a national art and architecture festival held at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in New York, on the historic grounds of the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival.
Two Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture alumni are helping shape recommendations that could influence affordable housing design and construction across Oklahoma.
The University of Oklahoma Libraries recently welcomed Carl Siegel as an Architecture Librarian and Archivist and Assistant Professor. In his role, Siegel supports students, faculty and staff across the Gibbs College of Architecture while also serving as archivist for the American School of Architecture Archives.
