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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.
Open Design Collective is Oklahoma’s first and only Black and women-led nonprofit design firm. The organization focuses on creating design tools that support built environments where Black communities can thrive.
Morrison, CEO and co-founder of Open Design Collective, was one of eight executives nationwide selected for the inaugural Studio KIN Accelerator, a program from the BlackSpace Urbanist Collective that supports Black urbanist organizations. Open Design Collective was one of only two organizations from Oklahoma chosen for the program.
Over the course of 12 months, participants worked on strengthening business strategy, storytelling, and impact at the intersection of design, planning, and cultural practice. The program concluded with a live pitch night in Brooklyn, where each group member presented their project and competed for funding before a national audience and a panel of design leaders.
Open Design Collective won the inaugural competition and received a $10,000 award to support its mission and expand its culture-centered design work in communities across Oklahoma.
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.
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).
