Telesis, the Gibbs College of Architecture’s award-winning student journal, is releasing its fourth edition in Fall 2022. This edition, “Habitation,” questions how we may ensure all things, living and non-living, may continue to inhabit our planet. “Habitation” continues the overarching theme explored in “Isolation”: “How can design aid people’s sense of belonging?”
The contents of “Habitation” involve developing new strategies for housing, food systems, education, consumerism, and more. Topics such as urbanism, migration, and border spaces are explored by a variety of authors in “Habitation.”
A spread from Telesis "Habitation."
According to the publication, “One’s sense of belonging is akin to perceiving one’s habitat. By understanding the general area that contains all the resources a given species needs to survive, species will stay put to leverage prospects and refuge. This relationship can become so solidified, a species may thrive in its habitat to the point of directly altering its surroundings. This process involves not only identifying, or perceiving, that habitat, but also strengthening a bond with it: carving and shaping it to intensify the species’ state of refuge. When does this alteration go too far? When does altering the landscape to increase one’s sense of belonging become so immense, that the act folds back on itself, yielding nothing but destruction and isolation?”
A spread from Telesis "Habitation."
This issue was coordinated by Ben DeCuyper (Adjunct at OU Gibbs College of Architecture), Angela Person, Ph.D. (Director of Research Initiatives and Strategic Planning + Assistant Professor at OU Gibbs College of Architecture), and Luis Felipe Flores Garzon (PhD Student at OU Gibbs College of Architecture).
Produced by students, Telesis has been recognized by national awards and grants for its exceptional quality. During its first year, the journal was awarded the Douglas Haskell Award for Student Journals. Telesis was also awarded a grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in Fine Art which assisted with the publication “Habitation” and will assist with “Adaptive Practice,” a future issue. Telesis’s most recent issue “Isolation” was awarded the 2022 Douglas Haskell Award for Student Journals.
Contributing Authors in Telesis “Habitation”:
View the PDF of Habitation below, or visit the Telesis page to view additional issues.
Petya Stefanoff, Chair of the Educational Committee with the American Planning Association, Oklahoma Chapter (APA-OK) and Gibbs College PhD candidate, has developed a new training program for local government officials. The program, focused on land use, zoning principles, and land development, recently certified its first graduates with Certified Citizen Planner status.
Gibbs Construction Science and Architecture students recently traveled to Dublin, Ireland, to compete in the Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Region 8 Student Competition. The team partnered with Czech Technical University and secured third place in the Design-Build category.
Gibbs College is pleased to present the exhibition Vollendorf in Oklahoma: The Architecture of Dean Bryant Vollendorf during the Spring 2026 semester. It will be on display in Gould Hall, on the OU-Norman Campus, from February 16, 2026 - March 13, 2026.
