A multidisciplinary team of OU researchers from the Gibbs College of Architecture and the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the Gallogly College of Engineering has been selected by the Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) to create the Oklahoma State Housing Needs Assessment.
The $925,000 grant will fund the development of a searchable, geodatabase and web portal. This portal will be used by policymakers to allocate funds in the most efficient and equitable way possible to promote affordable housing in the communities with the greatest need. It will also be used by housing developers, lenders, and real estate professionals to identify housing locations and develop market analyses for affordable housing projects.
The research and development team will be led by the following skilled professionals: Shawn Michael Schaefer, a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP), and Director of the Urban Design Studio; Shane Hampton, a member of the AICP and Director of the Institute for Quality Communities; Dr. Francesco Cianfarani, an Assistant Professor of Architecture; and Dr. Joe Havlicek and Dr. Ron Barnes, Co-Directors of the Center for Intelligent Transportation Systems. The team hopes to launch the web portal in early 2024.
For more information contact Shawn Schaefer at: sschaefer@ou.edu.
Gibbs College is pleased to present the exhibition Vollendorf in Oklahoma: The Architecture of Dean Bryant Vollendorf during the Spring 2025 semester. It will be on display in Gould Hall, on the OU-Norman Campus, from February 16, 2026 - March 13, 2026.
On November 21, 2025, the Mainsite Contemporary Art gallery was transformed into a showcase of innovation and craftsmanship for the University of Oklahoma’s furniture design build studio exhibition, “Purpose in Form.”
Associate Professors Lee Fithian, Ph.D., and Elizabeth Pober have published a chapter in the recently released New Perspectives in Indoor Air Quality, published by Elsevier. Their contribution, titled “Chapter 16 – Architecture and the Challenges of Indoor Air Quality,” examines the relationship between architecture and indoor air quality.
