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The Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture is proud to announce the release of Telesis “Unfold,” the dynamic seventh volume of its award-winning student journal. Fully led, curated, and created by students, this seventh volume embraces the theme of unfolding, encouraging deep reflection, process-driven exploration, and storytelling from the margins.
With this volume, Telesis turns its focus away from finished forms and instead invites readers into the spaces in between—the sketches, drafts, conversations, and quiet revelations that make architecture and design human. “Unfold” explores the stories that are often left untold in the rush to present a polished result, offering instead a view into process.
“Unfold” is presented in a custom box.
“Unfold” includes more than two dozen contributions from OU students, faculty, alumni, and practitioners from across the U.S. and beyond. Each contribution is printed on a 12″ x 18″ sheet that unfolds to reveal its story. Together, the sheets are presented in a specially made box, shown above. The contributions are organized into four thematic sections: “Start Here,” which introduces the journal and its community; “Conversations,” featuring interviews with influential figures including 2024 Pritzker Prize winner Riken Yamamoto; “Narratives,” offering 12 essays and explorations on space, identity, and design justice; and “Design,” a closing section with eight contributions that explores art, material, and gesture in built form.
At the helm is Editor-in-Chief Felipe Flores, a Ph.D. candidate at the Gibbs College, supported by Managing Editor Trey London, an undergraduate architecture student, and Associate Editor Yousef Haghighi, a Ph.D. student in the college. The journal’s development was guided by Dr. Angela Person, associate professor of Architecture, who serves as faculty advisor.
Select contributions, including an interview with Jack Debartolo, FAIA; “Intersecting Visual Narratives,” by Awilda Rodríguez Carrión and Paolo Sanza; and “Layers: Storytelling through Photography,” by Jason O’Rear.
Also contributing to the success of this edition were student participants Terry Chisimba, Kayt Malone, Albert Rogers, and Chandler Thompson. Their voices helped shape the journal’s tone, visual identity, and editorial substance—blending rigorous reflection with a spirit of creative experimentation.
This year’s journal was made possible with the support of Gibbs College, led by dean Hans E. Butzer, and the Division of Architecture, led by director Daniel Butko. The Telesis team is grateful for the partnership of Jeff Gunter and Precision Printing Corporation, a local printer based in Moore, OK, whose commitment to quality and experimentation helped bring the journal’s bespoke vision to life.
For more information, visit the Telesis webpage, follow the journal on Instagram at @telesisou, or contact the team at telesis@ou.edu.
Robert L. Wesley, a pioneering architect and beloved mentor, has died at age 88. A graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Wesley joined Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) in 1964 and became the firm's first Black partner in 1984. Throughout his career, he contributed to significant architectural projects while maintaining a strong commitment to civic engagement and professional mentorship.
The Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture is proud to celebrate a series of recent accomplishments by Dr. Jim Collard, Professor of Practice in the Division of Planning, Landscape Architecture, and Design, whose work continues to shape conversations around Indigenous economic development nationally and internationally.
University of Oklahoma Gibbs College of Architecture Dean Hans E. [PA1.1]Butzer returned to one of his most significant works on December 15, joining survivors and past and present board members for the groundbreaking of a $15.8 million expansion of the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum.
