A book edited by Stephanie Pilat, an OU Professor of Architecture, and Kay Bea Jones received praise in a recent review for the European Architectural History Network. The book, “Routledge Companion to Italian Fascist Architecture,” considers the reception and legacy of fascist architecture and urbanism in Italy. It investigates how these historic sites have been transformed and what constitutes the meaning of these buildings and cities today.
The essays include a rich array of new arguments by both senior and early career scholars from Italy and beyond. Francesco Cianfarani, assistant professor of Architecture, authored three of these essays and served as a section editor. The essays examine the reception of fascist architecture through studies of destruction and adaptation, debates over reuse, artistic interventions and routine daily practices.
The review was conducted by Laura Moure Cecchini, a professor at the University of Padua in Italy. According to Moure Cecchini, the book “unpacks the afterlives of fascist architecture on the Italian peninsula and in Italy’s former colonies in the Mediterranean and in the Horn of Africa.” In her review, she argues that the book is sure to be a “touchstone for those interested in the fate of buildings once the violent regime that sponsored them no longer exist, and in the diverse strategies used to both preserve and resignify them.”
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.
