Skip Navigation

Telesis “Habitation” (Vol. IV) Now Available!

The word "Habitation" stylized to look like topographic lines.

Telesis “Habitation” (Vol. IV) Now Available!


Date

August 30, 2022

Tags


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 drawing titled "New Headspace" with comments from the creator.

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?”

An article titled Transient Urbanism.

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”: 

  • Dimitri Bradford (Student at OU School of Visual Arts) 
  • Jason Cytacki (Associate Professor at OU School of Visual Arts) 
  • Ben DeCuyper (Adjunct at OU Gibbs College of Architecture) 
  • Kailtin Salisbury (Interior Design Student at OU Gibbs College of Architecture) 
  • Ricardo Silva (Architecture Student at OU Gibbs College of Architecture) 
  • Haley Cytacki (Instructor at OU School of Visual Arts) 
  • Carlos Valverde and Michelle Vizcaino (Founders of Varq Design Studio) 
  • Luis Felipe Flores Garzon (PhD Student at OU Gibbs College of Architecture) 
  • Francesco Cianfarani (Assistant Professor at OU Gibbs College of Architecture) + the OU Affordable Housing Lab 
  • T.O. Bowman (Program Planner with the City of Oklahoma City) 
  • René Peralta (Greene Fellow at OU Gibbs College of Architecture)

View the PDF of Habitation below, or visit the Telesis page to view additional issues.


Recent Gibbs College News

August 31, 2026

Gibbs College Names Interim Associate Dean for Research

The Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture announces John Harris as Associate Dean for Research ad interim, effective Aug. 25, 2026, until the permanent position is filled.


August 31, 2026

Gibbs College Announces 2026 Faculty and Staff Award Recipients

Gibbs College is pleased to announce the 2026 Gibbs College Faculty & Staff Awards recipients. These individuals were recognized by Dean Butzer during the Gibbs College Back to School Meeting and will be honored during the Celebration Banquet in October. They were nominated by their colleagues via an open nomination process.


August 18, 2026

University of Oklahoma Student Journal Telesis awarded Graham Foundation Grant

Telesis, the Gibbs College of Architecture’s student journal, has been awarded a grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts to support its next two issues, “Pause” (Volume IX) and “React” (Volume X).