Marco Piscitelli, an Herb Greene Teaching Fellow of Interior Design and Architecture, was recently awarded funding as a part of the Gibb’s College of Architecture’s Program for Research Enhancement. Each year, this merit-based program grants funds to Gibb’s faculty members in order to increase their research and creative activities.
Piscitelli received the grant to pursue his project Rust on a Razor Blade: the Architecture of Mickey Muennig (1962-2002). Mickey Muenig, otherwise known as “the man who built Big Sur,” was an American architect who largely contributed to the built environment and cultural landscape of the Central Coast of California.
Muenig was responsible for the development of organic architecture in Big Sur, which is an architectural ideal that promotes harmony between humans and the natural environment. Piscitelli’s proposed project will delve into Muenig’s recently acquired archives, which explore the history of the Big Sur region’s geographical and cultural constraints and how it shaped Muenig’s architectural practices.
The University of Oklahoma College of Architecture is proud to announce that Model Schools in the Model City, authored by Director of the Institute for Quality Communities, Amber N. Wiley, Ph.D., has been named one of ten finalists for the 2026 ASALH Book Prize for Best New Book in African American History and Culture.
This semester, students in the LA 5535 Studio: Ecological Planning and Design, led by Prof. Afsana Sharmin, took on an ambitious hypothetical project to redesign key parts of the OU campus. Their mission: to tackle the critical real-world challenge of stormwater management through innovative green design.
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.
