30 high school students from across the state took part in OU Gibbs College’s recent annual design camp, led this year by interior design faculty Elizabeth Pober and Chelsea Holcomb. The camp introduces students to OU’s Interior Design and Architecture degree programs and associated professions.
Design camp students with architectural models.
From June 4-9, the students were provided the full college experience, with the opportunity to live in the residence halls, eat in the cafeteria and attend classes. They also participated in teambuilding exercises, learned about the elements and principles of design and developed basic graphic skills.
Design camp students creating digital models.
Throughout the week, the students worked on a project where they designed a small coffee shop kiosk, located on the South Oval of the OU Norman campus. For the project, the students conducted precedent studies, built physical and digital models, and created floor plans, elevations, sections and perspective renderings.
Students on the South Oval.
The students utilized important architectural tools including SketchUp to create digital models and a heliodon to study the impact of daylight on their designs. By the end of the week, the students presented their full-scale design plans to share their ideas and show what they learned.
Testing impacts of daylight with the heliodon.
This year, Gibbs College received a grant from the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education to fund the camp. Gibbs also partnered with OU Precollegiate Programs to provide students with housing, food arrangements and camp counselors. This year’s camp counselors included fellow Gibbs students Joey Barzellone, a third-year Interior Design student, and Ben Jawad, a third-year Architecture student.
Pober would like to thank Chris Elliot, Joseph Tassinari, Cassie Eads and everyone else who made this camp possible. She hopes to receive grant funding again next summer to host her 14th annual design camp.
Gibbs College of Architecture is proud to recognize Petya Stefanoff, who is pursuing her doctorate in the Planning, Design & Construction (PDC) program, has been appointed the new role of Director of Community Development for the City of Shawnee, Oklahoma. She joined the city in 2024.
Gibbs College of Architecture is pleased to announce that Amber N. Wiley, Ph.D., associate professor in the Division of Planning, Landscape Architecture and Design and director of the Institute for Quality Communities, has received national recognition for her book Model Schools in the Model City. The book has been named a finalist for the 2026 the PROSE Awards.
Gibbs College of Architecture Regional + City Planning Professor of Practice Vanessa Morrison and Associate Professor of Architecture Deborah Richards’ Open Design Collective received top honors at the inaugural BlackSpace Urbanist Collective Studio KIN Pitch Night Competition, held last month in Brooklyn, New York City.
