The Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture is pleased to announce that Dr. Tamar Zinguer, Associate Professor of Architecture, has been selected to participate in the prestigious 2026 Summer Residency at the National Humanities Center (NHC).
The competitively awarded residency will take place from June 1 through June 26, 2026, at the Center’s campus in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The National Humanities Center is one of the nation’s leading institutes for advanced study in the humanities, providing scholars with dedicated time, resources, and a vibrant intellectual community to support major research projects.
During her residency, Zinguer will write a full chapter of her forthcoming book manuscript, Sandbox: An Architectural History of Play. The chapter, titled “Play Mountains (c. 1960),” examines significant playground designs in New York City during the 1960s. It considers visionary but unrealized proposals—such as Isamu Noguchi and Louis Kahn’s lunar landscape design for Riverside Park—alongside experimental sand-art techniques occasionally used in public spaces, including Costantino Nivola’s bas-relief murals. The chapter also analyzes innovative designs that became influential models for other cities, including the Jacob Riis Housing Project Playground by Paul Friedberg and the Adventure Playground in Central Park by Richard Dattner. In addition, Zinguer traces the legal and public debates surrounding sandboxes during the decade, culminating in New York City’s ban on sandboxes in the early 1970s amid growing concerns about sanitation.
Zinguer’s participation in the NHC Summer Residency is made possible with support from the OU Arts & Humanities Forum. As an institutional sponsor of the National Humanities Center, OU conducts an internal competition to nominate faculty members for national consideration, making this selection both a campus and national distinction.
The Gibbs Design in Action Awards (GDAA) program, led by Dr. Wanda Liebermann, has announced its 2026–2027 funded student projects. The initiative supports design and research work that addresses social, cultural, and economic issues in the built environment through collaboration with faculty and community partners.
The OU Institute for Quality Communities (IQC) 2024 collaboration with the Historic Threatt Filling Station has been recognized in the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's newly released Byways Report: The Scenic Route to Rural Prosperity – a story-driven publication exploring how road trip culture and place-based tourism can fuel economic growth in rural communities.
The Gibbs College of Architecture is pleased to announce that Camille Germany, Chief of Staff, has been named the 2026 recipient of the university-wide Jennifer L. Wise Good Stewardship Award.
