Study Architecture 
ProPEL University of Oklahoma Division of Architecture: October 2014
DesignIntelligence (DI) Magazine has named Director and Professor and Director Hans Butzer, AIA and Assistant Professor and Associate Director of Student Development Dr. Stephanie Pilat as two of DesignIntelligence’s 30 Most Admired Educators for 2015.
In association with the Bruce Goff Chair of Creative Architecture, Assistant Professor Dr. Catherine Barrett, AIA chaired the 2014 Creating_Making Forum, November 5-7. Sessions, keynote speakers, and student workshops built upon discourse introduced at the inaugural 2010 Creating_Making Forum. Featured speakers included E.B. Min, principal at Min|Day, and Kristen Murray, principal at Olson Kundig Architects. Both Min and Murray collaborated with select students in 1-1/2 day workshops that generated ideas for art installations within downtown Norman’s Main Street.
Associate Professor David Boeck, AIA is leading a 4th year studio class to New Orleans this semester to explore the Claiborne Avenue site related to the 2015 NOMA Student Competition. The project allows Architecture and Interior Design students to collaborate with OU’s NOMAS chapter. The 3rd year Interior Design students are designing a restaurant within the complex.
Professor and Director of The Center for Middle Eastern Architecture and Culture Dr. Khosrow Bozorgi recently returned from a sabbatical in the Middle East where he visited, surveyed, and documented 27 architectural sites of various historical nature and size particular to Iranian desert architecture. He is currently working with professional filmmakers in Oklahoma City and New York to assemble and edit hundreds of hours of video into three documentaries focused on courtyard architecture, historical wind catchers, and ancient technology to bring subterranean water to remote locations. For more information about CMEAC, vist: http://www.ou.edu/
Professor and Director Hans Butzer, AIA, through his practice Butzer Gardner Architects, recently received an Honor Award from AIA Central States Region and an Honor Award AIA Central Oklahoma chapter for the “SLIVR” Building.
Associate Professor and Associate Director of Student Development Marjorie P. Callahan, AIA recently authored Teaching Leadership Skills: “Practice” Coursework in Architecture Education Program in the Journal of Social Sciences Collection. Marjorie was also an invited Conference Facilitator on Leadership Issues at the recent State of Oklahoma Women in Higher Education Conference. She also collaborated with Professor Debra Reisweber on the 2014 published book Sooner State of Mind: Forging Leadership Legacies North of the Red River.
Associate Professor and Associate Director of Curriculum Development Anthony Cricchio, RA and Associate Professor Lee Fithian, AIA helped lead OU’s 2nd annual C5 Capstone Collaborative Competition. Ten interdisciplinary teams, consisting of senior Architecture, Interior Design, and CNS students partnered with JE Dunn Construction and architectural firm ADG. The two-week competition focused on an urban infill rehabilitation scenario in Oklahoma City’s Bricktown. Through the use of BIM and other collaborative technologies, students presented comprehensive and interior concepts along with cost estimates and schedules for the client group.
Director of Small Town Studios Associate Professor and Director of Small Town Studios Ron Frantz, AIA collaborated with the CoA’s Division of Regional and City Planning to host the recent American Planning Association (APA) Oklahoma Chapter Conference. Ron was also a guest speaker in OU’s recent inaugural Placemaking Academy.
Long time DivA supporter and award winning architect John Ward, AIA, principal at TAP Architecture in Oklahoma City, recently joined the faculty as a Professor of Practice.
Associate Professor Jay Yowell, AIA has been working with Hornbeek Blatt Architects on the 21c Museum Hotel in Oklahoma City. New York-based Deborah Berke & Partners are the design architects. The project is an adaptive reuse project transforming the historic Fred Jones building into a boutique hotel that will showcase permanent and rotating artwork.
Additional news includes:
Architecture, Urban Design, and Landscape students are collaborating on a design competition to re-imagine a section of historic Route 66 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Design teams are challenged to change perceptions of the stretch of road by redesigning the streetscape and cultural experience. Teams are also developing new ideas for signage along Route 66 which draw from the legacy of the legendary road’s neon signs. Led by Director of Urban Design Shawn Schaefer and Director of Regional and City Planning Dr. Dawn Jourdan, the faculty team includes Assistant Professor Dr. Stephanie Pilat, Assistant Professor Scott Williams, and Associate Professor Jay Yowell, AIA. The project has been supported by a $10,000 grant from the Signage Foundation, Inc. Each student on the winning team will be awarded a travel grant to support a Spring 2015 trip to Chicago.
Jerri Hodges Bonebrake, Bruce Goff’s long-time assistant, sadly passed away late 2014. The CoA’s Jerri Hodges Bonebrake award will continue to recognize outstanding staff. A newly developed student scholarship in her name is being developed to reward outstanding creative students.
