OU Urban Design alumni recently teamed up with the Society of Urban Design Students to celebrate International Park(ing) Day. On Sept. 15, they occupied parking spaces in downtown Tulsa to transform on-street parking into urban parklets.
Park(ing) Day is a global participatory project where people across the world temporarily repurpose parking spaces and convert them into public parks and social spaces. The annual event promotes safer, greener and more equitable streets and emphasizes the importance of public spaces in urban environments.
Tulsa Park(ing) Day engaged the local community by inviting visitors to check out each pop-up installation and vote for their favorite activation. The interactive event catalyzed a critical discussion about the creation of public spaces and how the city of Tulsa can improve the quality of downtown streets in the long term.
The event was organized by the Downtown Tulsa Partnership, the City of Tulsa, Tulsa’s Young Professionals and Partner Tulsa. The OU Urban Design activation was sponsored by Coracle Coffee and Scraps Designs.
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.
