Gibbs College faculty Vanessa Morrison and Lisa Chronister were recently featured in the Women in Preservation video series by the Oklahoma State Historic Preservation Office. The series was launched during Women’s History Month in March to recognize women’s contributions to historic preservation in the state.
The OU Institute for Quality Communities recently hosted a Route 66 Placemaking Retreat in collaboration with the OU Arts and Humanities Forum. The retreat was funded by an Oklahoma Humanities “Community Discussions” grant that an interdisciplinary OU team received in November. This retreat built upon the team’s site visits and community discussions in several historic towns along Route 66.
An interdisciplinary team from the University of Oklahoma recently received funding from Oklahoma Humanities, a non-profit organization in Oklahoma City. The funding will support a humanities-informed design experience in preparation for the Route 66 centennial in 2026. The project, Route 66 Placemaking Communities Retreat, will explore placemaking efforts for communities along the historic Mother Road.
Ronald Frantz Jr, associate professor of Architecture, was recently recognized at the 2023 AIA Honor Awards Celebration. Frantz received the AIA Oklahoma Award for Lifetime Achievement, which recognizes a lifetime of distinguished leadership and dedication in Architecture and the community. This award is AIA Oklahoma’s highest honor.
During the spring 2023 semester, OU Environmental Design students created reuse design concepts for the historic Jewel Theater in northeast Oklahoma City. Led by Vanessa Morrison, assistant director of OU’s Institute for Quality Communities, students conducted research, listened to local stakeholders and visited historic sites to gain a deeper understanding of the spatial and social challenges facing the Black community in Oklahoma City.
The 2022 Fall Semester marks the 35th Anniversary of Associate Professor Ron Frantz’s being involved with the Historic Preservation course at the Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture.
GCA Communications intern Kali Curtis spoke with Ron Frantz the director of the Environmental Design program here at Gibbs! We sat down with Frantz to learn about how the use of technology and design methods have changed since he was an architecture student.
In the spring of 2020, the town of Okemah, Oklahoma requested design assistance from the Institute for Quality Communities (IQC) through the Oklahoma Municipal League. In fall of 2020, twenty-five undergraduate students and nine graduate students enrolled in three sections of the OU College of Architecture’s Historic Preservation Planning course completed a downtown historic building survey for Okemah.
The Oklahoma City Council honored Lynne Rostochil by designating November 5, 2019, as “Lynne Rostochil Historic Preservation Day” in recognition of her advocacy for preserving mid-century modern architecture. A founding member of Okie Mod Squad and author of a key work on Oklahoma City architecture, Rostochil documented and championed the city’s architectural heritage until her passing in 2019.
Five teams of third-year Interior Design students recently presented interior design proposals to the Woodward Arts and Theatre Council director Laurie Steenburgen. Their presentations offered creative design solutions for the historic Woodward Theatre and the Josie Adams Cultural Center.
Third-year students enrolled in Interior Design Studio V, a course taught by Gibbs College of Architecture lecturer Rick Skaggs, are working on interior design proposals for the historic Woodward Theater in Woodward, Oklahoma.
Congratulations to Merriman Anderson Architects for being recognized as the 2019 Preservation Achievement Awards Honoree for their “incredible body of work in the rehabilitation of many of the iconic historic buildings in downtown Dallas,” according to David Preziosi, Executive Director of Preservation Dallas.
Interior Design students in the Commercial Design Studio visited 21c Museum and Hotel in Oklahoma City as part of their precedence study for a boutique hotel project they are working on this semester. A facilities tour was provided by General Manager of 21c, Matt Cowden.
Instructor Warren Ross recently led OU-Tulsa students from his Entrepreneurial Architecture and Leaders class on a tour of Bruce Goff’s Tulsa Club during its renovations. Ross Group is leading a $30 million dollar rehabilitation of the historic building in Downtown Tulsa. The Club is expected to re-open this spring.
The Historic Preservation Planning course, which includes students from almost every College of Architecture division, loaded a bus on a Saturday and traveled to document historic buildings in Waurika, Oklahoma during the community’s annual Brick Street Classic Car Show.
