Skip Navigation

Architecture Professor Earns PhD in Engineering with Active Building Facade Research

Lee Fithian headshot

Architecture Professor Earns PhD in Engineering with Active Building Facade Research


Date

January 27, 2020

Tags


Associate professor of architecture Dr. Lee Fithian was awarded a PhD in Engineering in December 2019.

The title of the dissertation is “Active Building Facades to Mitigate Urban Street Pollution.” This multidisciplinary research utilized current thinking in planning, engineering, science and architecture, and proposes an interdisciplinary solution (an active Double Skin Facade) for addressing urban air pollution related to increasing urbanization.

It advances the premise that buildings are interconnected with urban infrastructure, with buildings serving as a resource and not just as a load, and the use of an active building facade to remediate environmental air pollutants beyond the building’s perimeter, representing a fundamental paradigm shift as to the nature of buildings in the urban environment.

The abstract and dissertation can be found at https://shareok.org/handle/11244/323255.


Recent Gibbs College News

March 19, 2026

Current PhD Student Named Community Development Director for City of Shawnee

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.


March 12, 2026

IQC Director Named Finalist for 2026 PROSE Award

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.


March 12, 2026

Gibbs Professors Win National Studio KIN Pitch Night Competition

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.