The vision of the School of Architecture is to empower students to make creative contributions in the cause of architecture.
The mission of the School of Architecture is to cultivate a collaborative learning community focused upon critical thinking and ethical responsibility. We embrace established fundamentals and encourage the exploration of emerging innovations in design and technology.
Vol. XII Spring 2023
Hello!
The 2022-2023 academic year is complete! This is an especially bittersweet time for me, as I am closing out my thirty year career with the Oklahoma State University School of Architecture. Professor Moh’d Bilbeisi and I are both “retiring” from OSU, but really this is a moment of transition and the start of a new adventure for us. We are leaving Stillwater, where we have raised our son and dedicated decades of our lives to students and to the School. We will miss many things, but are grateful for the people we’ve met and the connections we’ve made along the way.
It is my pleasure to bring this edition of the Reflections newsletter to you. Our theme for this issue of the Newsletter is “Faculty in Focus.” We hope to communicate information about several of our current faculty and some of their teaching, scholarly work, and other activities that are a part of the life of the School of Architecture today. I’d like you to get to know them!
Enjoy the articles and information within this newsletter, and please do keep in touch with us here at the School. We are proud of our current students and of the accomplishments of our alumni!
Suzanne Bilbeisi, AIA
Centennial
Professorand Head of the School of Architecture (until July 5, 2023)
suzanne.bilbeisi@okstate.edu
Website: https://ceat.okstate.edu/arch/
Facebook: Oklahoma State University School of Architecture
Instagram: @OkStateArch
► The faculty and staff of the School of Architecture, Spring 2023: Row 1: Admin Associate Chelsea Wooldridge, Advisor Lori Carroll, Suzanne Bilbeisi, Moh’d Bilbeisi, and Christina McCoy. Row 2: Admin Assistant Michelle Hughes, Arch Librarian Sara Mautino, Awilda Rodriguez, Sarah Ra, Bailey Brown, and Michael Rabens. Row 3: John Phillips, Keith Peiffer, Shop Manager Daniel Ochoa, Blake Mitchell, Jared Macken, Seung Ra, Nathan Richardson, and Khaled Mansy. (not pictured are Jerry Stivers, Jay Yowell, Alex Campbell, and Paolo Sanza)
Alumni Jerry Conduff (B Arch ‘90) and Renee (Kolar) Conduff (B ArchE ‘90) provided travel support for the student competition team to the national Solar Decathlon in Denver. He notes: ”We are both excited for the opportunity to support the SoA, this year towards student travel and competitionsand thrilled that this years team received a “Director’s Award” in the National Solar Decathlon’s Education Building Division while networking with other teams around the globe.”
The “Friends of the School of Architecture” campaign is a way for alumni to annually share their appreciation for the education received at the OSU School of Architecture, and help pave the way for the next generation of young professionals. A gift of $1000 or more benefits student programs and allows us to enhance the daily operations of the school. A gift of $5000 or more can support two student scholarships for an academic year, or a special program. These are all very important gifts. A gift of greater than $25,000 can create a new endowment to assist the School as directed by the donor.
In this academic year, alumni giving funded the following:
• FOUR new fund agreements that were fully endowed - wow! Each of these funds is directed towards providing scholarship support for students, in perpetuity;
• Sponsorship of educational field trips - OSU Architecture sent a student team to compete in the national Solar Decathlon in Denver this Spring, and a NOMAS contingency to compete in the student design competition in Nashville last Fall. Additionally, the entire Steel II class was sponsored to attend the Oklahoma Structural Engineering Association annual conference;
• Assistance with the fifth year Urban Studio field trip to NYC!
• Support for graduation receptions honoring those who complete our degrees (yay!);
• And any number of moments when we’ve needed this or that to improve the quality of the experience for students in our school. These are just a few of the many impacts of giving to the School of Architecture - THANK YOU!
In gifts for this academic year (since July 1, 2022), the following
Generous gifts received July 1, 2022 through May 21, 2023 include:
Brad and Janet Gaskins
Michael and Kim Griffin
Eric and Jenn Hoffman, with Judith Hoffman
Larry and Linda Kester
Randy and Valda Kreie
lwpb Architects, with Craig Foster
Bill and Patti Lundeen
Bill and Mindy Silk
Kevin Snowden and Sherri
Snowden Voelkel
Alpha Consulting Engineers, with Thom Campbell
Dean Anderson and Paige
Anderson
Mallory and Price Buckley
Jerry and Renee Conduff
Ken and Katherine Corbin
Cyntergy, with Jim Turner
Mike and Sharon Damore
FSB, with Gene Brown
Virginia and Jim Hart
Sterling Little
Thom Maciula
David and Kerri Powell
Neal Willison
Bob Zahl
Align Design Group
Moh and Suzanne Bilbeisi
Barbara Bond
Ed Bond and Lauren Bond
Brady Born
Dallas and Suzanne Branch
Jack and Carol Corgan
Dewberry, with Dave Huey
Aubree Diebolt
Brenda and John Eaton
Rand and Jeanette Elliott
Dan and Susan Evans
Steve and Jane Ford
Briar and Patrick Glenn
Jim and Belinda Hasenbeck
Billy and Katherine Hinton
Carrie Johnson
Hui Min Liaw and Ko Makabe
Phil and Linda McCurdy
Connie and Mark McFarland
John and Trish Meek
Randy and Anna Parks
Bill Seider and Mandy Miller
Julie and Ryan Roberts
Small Architects, with Thomas Small
David and Sarah Timberlake
Eric and Leesha Vogt
Tom and Susie Wallace
Keith and Katherine Yancey
AIA Oklahoma
ACME Brick
WW AFCO Steel
Illuminating Engineers Society
Alumni friends may donate to any fund of their choosing to be noted as a Friend of the School of Architecture. Consider the following possibilities for your giving:
26-00550 Architecture Scholarship
26-65100 ‘Friends of Architecture’
26-86550 Study Abroad Scholarship
26-88150 George Baumiller Prize
26-98100 John Bryant Scholarship
26-00380 Louis Bass Scholarship
26-01380 O’Hara AE Program Fund
26-99420 Alan Brunken Scholarship
26-94600 Bilbeisi Prize for Sketching
Find these funds and more at osugiving.com - Your gifts of all scales are much appreciated!
If you have questions or would like to discuss a possibile gift, please contact the OSU Foundation liaison for the SoA, Jill Johnson, at jjohnson@osugiving.com
Please join your fellow alumni in becoming a Friend of the School of Architecture and show your support of our students and programs this coming academic year. Thank you!
Professor Suzanne Bilbeisi, in her role as Head of the School of Architecture over the past seven years, has worked with many alumni to establish a permament legacy at the School of Architecture through the vehicle of an endowed fund. Most alumni don’t know exactly what an endowed fund is - well, it is simply a fund that is established with the OSU Foundation. The fund retains the base principal while annually providing 4.25% of return to support the School of Architecture, in perpetituity. The fund never expires, and never “runs out” of money. Donors can continue to add to the principal as well, thereby increasing the annual program support the fund provides. And, anyone can contribute to any fund, at any time.
Endowed funds are established with a funding agreement created with the OSU Foundation. The agreement must note three things:
The exact name the donor wishes the fund to have;
The purpose of the fund (ie, for student scholarships?, etc); and,
The criteria that should guide the use of the fund. By OSU Foundation requirements, a minimum threshold of $25,000 is required to establish an endowed fund. This sum can be provided over five years, however. Gifts made to the OSU Foundation, by either an individual or a company, can have tax benefits; the OSUF is a 501(c) (3) charitable organization.
If you want to know more about developing an endowed fund with the OSU School of Architecture, please contact our OSU Foundation liaison Jill Johnson at jjohnson@osugiving.com - Thank you!
“I heard the stories of the previous AE professors, and benefitted from the scholarships which bore their names. When I learned that Professor O’Hara was retiring, I wanted to make certain that he too would forever be remembered among the most beloved AE faculty at the OSU School of Architecture.”
- Gene Brown (B ArcE 98), lead initiator of the O’Hara Fund
The endowed funds established and funded within the past seven years to support the students and/or the work of the faculty at the School of Architecture are:
George Baumiller Prize for work created in the urban design studio;
Rand and Jeanette Elliott Prize for the study of light in architecture;
The Patrick and Briar Glenn Prize for educational facility design;
The Moh’d and Suzanne Bilbeisi Prize for architectural sketching;
The Ken Koerner Travel Study Scholarship Fund;
The Alumni Travel Study Scholarship Fund;
The Duane and Robin Mass Travel Study Scholarship;
Piper’s Travel Study Scholarship (in memory of Piper Anderson);
The J. Kencil Willison Helping Hands Fund;
The O’Hara Family Architectural Engineering Program Fund;
The Kathleen Green Gardner Scholarship for sustainable design;
The Louis Bass Scholarship for AE students;
The Ken and Katherine Corbin Scholarship;
The Cole and Macy Griffin Scholarship;
The Pryce and Mallory Buckley Scholarship for AE students;
The Alan Brunken Scholarship;
The lwpb Scholarship in memory of Larry Stubblefield;
The Harris Foundation Scholarship;
The Hoffman Family Scholarship;
The M. Bradley Gaskins Scholarship;
The Mervin L. Snowden Scholarship for AE students.
These endowed funds represent more than $1.5M in program support from our alumni - wow! Several other fund agreements are also in place to be funded through an estate gift at a later date. If you want to know more about developing or documenting an estate plan with the OSU School of Architecture, please contact our OSU Foundation liaison Jill Johnson at jjohnson@osugiving.com - Thank you!
Suzanne Bilbeisi knew that she wanted to pursue a career in teaching architecture at OSU from the first moment that Professor Bob Wright asked her to review a freshman’s figure-ground drawing... in 1987! After receiving her degrees and then leaving the state to work for a large firm in Philadelphia, she felt the call to come back to OSU. Suzanne has been a member of the faculty since Fall of 1993, primarily focusing her efforts on the education of freshmen, and helping them to cross that threshold from high school thinking to DESIGN thinking. Over her thirty years with OSU, she has taught more than 3,000 freshmen students. Additionally, she has taught design studios in the first, second, third, and fifth year levels. Most recently, she developed the “Professional Development for Architects” course, which helps to transition our students from the concerns of the academic environment to their future situation in professional practice. A staunch supporter of our profession, she has also worked tirelessely with Professor Moh to carry out summer workshops for high school students, to ensure the pipeline of highly qualified students remains strong. Suzanne is both dedicated and hardworking, which has led to her considerable success as a member of our faculty team, and also in leading our School.
Mohammed Bilbeisi began honing his skills in drawing and his love for architecture as a young boy in Amman, Jordan. He arrived in Stillwater on New Year’s Day 1982, to pursue a major in Architectural Engineering. He soon found his real passion in design and drawing, and completed the Bachelor and Master of Architecture degrees. He also felt the call to teach, and vowed to one day make that a reality. After working with firms in Philadelphia, his first teaching assignments were with the Department of Design, Housing and Merchandising at OSU, and then with the OU College of Architecture. The past twenty-five years he has dedicated his career to OSU and to our students, teaching studios throughout our curriculum and introducing each student to the importance of graphic communication. Beyond Moh’s obvious graphic talents and design skills, it is his impish tricks and funny comments, however, that most endear him to his students. Professor Moh encourages each student to explore with an open mind (he often says “the worst that can happen is you’ll get a zero!”), to help them find their true voice in design. All agree there is no one quite like Professor Moh.
Many of you know Professor Bilbeisi, and that she has accomplished many “firsts” over her career with OSU. These include:
First student to receive all three of the highest awards from the SoA at graduation: the AIA Henry Adams Medal, the Alpha Rho Chi Medal, and the SoA Outstanding Student designation (1988);
First woman as a tenured faculty member at the SoA (1997);
First woman to be promoted to full Professor of Architecture (2005);
First person to hold an endowed Chair in the SoA (2013);
First woman to Head a School in CEAT (2016).
Added to these accomplishments are her AIA Oklahoma Outstanding Educational Contributions Award, the NCARB Prize, the ACSA New Faculty Teaching Award, and several other unique awards from OSU: CEAT Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Faculty of the Year; OSU Outstanding Community Service by a Faculty Member; CEAT Mentoring Excellence Award; CEAT Student Council Outstanding Teaching Award; CEAT Service Award; CEAT Outstanding Advisor Award; and the OSU Regents Distinguished Teaching Award. Many alumni may also know that Suzanne achieved the rank of Third Degree Blackbelt in Tae Kwon Do! While these honors and awards are humbling to receive, Suzanne notes that her greatest joy is in seeing her students push themselves and succeed - whether that means crafting an excellent page of architectural lettering, or securing a job with the firm of their dreams. All of these moments matter to her.
In addition to teaching, Suzanne has consistently dedicated time and effort to developing and leading outreach efforts for the SoA. To that end, Suzanne has led 19 Discover Architecture workshops, 8 REACH Academies, 17 Grandparent University sessions, and led numerous professional panel discussions... with the one purpose of inspiring others to love design and architecture as much as she does.
In her role as Head of the School of Architecture, Suzanne has initiated many new programs of note: the annual Professional School Welcome event series, the Graduation Pinning Ceremony, the Coffee Cart program, and the ‘Friends’ fundraising campaign. She also led the creation of the first DEI Strategic Plan for the SoA. Bottom line, Suzanne Bilbeisi strives to place the student experience first and foremost in her work, in both the visible and the nuanced aspects.
Did you know that Moh was the first professor in the School of Architecture to be promoted to Regents Professor at OSU, the only professor in our School to be named an Eminent Professor at OSU, and the only person to win First Place in both the Ken Roberts Memorial Delineation Competition and the American Society of Architectural Illustrators International Competition? He’s also been noted as a nationwide DesignIntelligence ‘Most Admired Educator’ three times! He’s conducted graphic workshops at over a dozen universities in the US and worldwide: at the Middle East Technical University, Ningbo Pan Tianshou Academy, American University of Sharjah, OU, KSU, KU, Judson College, California Baptist University, UT Arlington, Montana State, Western Kentucky, and Woodbury. He’s an educator armed with a watercolor set, ready to travel!
Moh loves working with students from all corners of the globe and all walks of life. He also relishes teaching our OSU students while on study abroad. At this very moment he is working with our group of 28 students in Italy, helping them learn to draw what they see, and understand what that drawing might tell them about design.
In addition to teaching, Moh’s scholarly areas of study are the theories of graphic representation of design over time, and the history and development of Islamic architecture. He conceived and developed an elective course for each of these topics at our school, and each year adds scholarly material to the discourse. To that end, he has co-authored or contributed content/illustrations to more than 40 books and journal articles.
Moh is perhaps most known for his drawing talents - he has been continuously developing his skills since he was a teen! Over the past 30 years, his work has been included in more than 25 art exhibitions. Moh has built a following of collectors of his art, and currently has more than 215,000 followers of his social media platforms - he has managed to find a way to use Facebook and Instagram as spaces for instruction and inspiration. (FB: “Mohd Bilbeisi”, IG: “mbilbeisi”, website: mohdbilbeisiart.com)
When meeting Moh, in his cargo shorts and with ink stained fingers, the students don’t have any knowledge of these accomplishments. And that’s fine with him. He is content to humbly win them over with a smile, a funny anecdote, and a quick stroke of his fountain pen!
After graduating from OSU with a Bachelor of Architectural Engineering in 1990 and a Master of Architectural Engineering in 1991, John practiced as a structural engineer for nine years in Los Angeles, Oklahoma City, and Dallas before returning to his alma mater to teach in the fall of 2000. John, along with his wife Jana Phillips, FAIA, have raised three children in Stillwater, two of whom graduated from OSU in 2022, and one who will graduate from OSU in 2024. Jana is also a graduate of the School of Architecture, with dual degrees in Architecture and Architectural Engineering, and is the OSU University Architect. The combination of professionals in the Phillips family led to many a vacation being planned around visiting architectural and engineering marvels, and as John jokingly puts it “We raised our kids right - making sure they understood architecture, engineering, and high-quality design, whether they wanted to or not.”
As a student attending OSU in the late 1980s and early 1990s, John had a tough decision to make upon entering the professional program at the School of Architecture - whether to major in architecture or architectural engineering, as he enjoyed both. Ultimately he decided to continue as he started, and became an Architectural Engineer. John has never questioned this decision, and as a faculty member he is often given the opportunity to interact with students on architectural design projects in studios at all levels of the curriculum. These interactions have allowed John to keep his architectural design skills at the forefront, and are those ‘extra’ moments in his teaching that he thoroughly enjoys.
Over his 23 years of teaching at OSU, John has been the AE instructor in the capstone Comprehensive Studio (newly renamed the Integrative Design Studio). The course, which was awarded the grand prize for the 2004 NCARB Prize for the Creative Integration of Practice and Education in the Academy, has evolved over the years to become team oriented, discipline focused, and includes vital sustainability and energy aspects. It is a course that truly demonstrates the high quality interdisciplinary design education our students are provided in our architecture and architectural engineering programs.
In 2022, John became a national ABET Program Evaluator, where he is tasked with reviewing Architectural Engineering programs to make sure they are properly and consistently meeting requirements
to qualify for accreditation. Through this service, he has been able to better understand the accreditation process which in turn has helped to enhance the educational experience of students in the AE programs at OSU. In visiting other AE programs, John has been afforded insight into what a truly unique program we have, with the interdisciplinary aspects of architecture and architectural engineering taught together, an interaction that is commonplace in the profession but uncommon in the academic setting.
A full Professor with many years of experience under his belt, John was recently appointed Interim Head for the School of Architecture, and will begin those responsibilities in July. He looks forward to the challenge and feels well-equipped to work seamlessly with the current faculty and staff to keep the programs on their current successful trajectory until a new Head of the School of Architecture is named.
▼ John Phillips helps students understand the application of structural systems in their design for both Architecture and AE students in the Comprehensive/Integrative Design Studio
Paolo Sanza has had a rich and rewarding twenty years at the OSU School of Architecture where, having lived in three continents, he brought his multicultural experiences and unique perspectives on design and pedagogy. He has predominantly taught in the upper division studios, and has created two new elective courses. These are the fifth-year elective design studio Architecture Without Borders (aka: The Italian Job), and a history/theory course on Modern Architecture in Italy. The idea for the Italian Job studio was sparked by a change in the curriculum in 2010 that freed the spring semester of the graduating year of a design studio. Among the elective studio’s aspirations was to draw closer to the intricacy of professional practice in Italy, Sanza’s homeland, and to provide for a collaborative environment that would connect a group of fifth-year students with a boutique Italian architectural practice, Ivrea’s FFWD Architettura, to jointly work on professional competitions within Italy. Offered on average every other year, the studio has seen its entries featured at an exhibition at Torino’s City Hall in 2012 for the reconstruction of the historical Filadelfia soccer stadium and, most recently, in the November 2021 issue of Concorsi & Architettura, which published the top fifteen entries for the competition to enhance the historical center of Lissone, near Milan.
The Modern Architecture in Italy course, first offered in 2013, surveys selected examples of modern architecture during the 1909-1943 period while simultaneously introducing students to recent Italian history and culture. The course has been significant to Paolo’s development in different fields. His interest and professional experience in graphic design has found in the course a venue to
explore visual communication strategies to promote an understanding of complex topics. But most importantly, the course has been the catalyst for creating several scholarly publications including two book chapters, several peer-reviewed articles, presentations at conferences, and a research fellowship that he has just concluded in The
Wolfsonian of Florida International University in Miami Beach, which hosts one of the richest collections of information on interwar Italy. Sanza has also been involved with the School’s summer study abroad courses, bringing into the mix his extensive knowledge of Italian design culture and connections with local professionals and institutions. Furthermore, in 2018 he reestablished the student exchange program with the School of Architecture at the Politecnico di Milano in Milan, Italy, ranked one of the top 10 architecture schools in the world. After the hiatus caused by COVID, one SoA student is currently in Milan, and four will head to the Politecnico in the next academic year.
Paolo’s complements his passion for teaching with an interest in exhibition design utilizing inexpensive or office-found material. For Sanza, exhibition design is an affordable way to test spatial configurations, tectonics, interaction psychology, and more; in other words, a laboratory for creating architecture. As a result of this interest, Sanza has designed and curated exhibits in Italy, at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, at the OSU Museum of Art, at Modella Gallery in Stillwater, and more than twenty at the OSU School of Architecture Gallery.
▼ SoA Gallery “Postcards from North Italy” exhibition of work created by students of the 2017 OSU European study abroad program
Curiosity is one of the most important driving forces in education and in life. Even though Nathan is assigned to teach many of the same courses each year, he is perennially motivated to explore new edges and opportunities. It’s an important reason that he and Moh’d Bilbeisi wrote Creative Journeys: Timeless Strategies for Traveling with Purpose. Nathan firmly believes that travel study, for example, is a critical way in which we build confidence and insight through uncertain experiences. These moments allow us as humans to learn to be more flexible, adaptable, and curious enough to find new ways of exploring the world around us. Plus, these experiences can be fun! For professors, it’s important to continue to explore ways to work creatively with those inside and outside our discipline. In Urban Studio, the class regularly engages ongoing “real” projects and partners with architects, governmental agencies, and other educators in a major urban US city center. Most recently, Nathan and Seung Ra worked with the New York City Planning Department and the Governor’s Island Trust in New York. This effort added value to the experience of our students, allowing them to work with and present their projects to participating clients and professionals. To address the complexities of twenty-first century practice, it is increasingly important to build collaborative relationships within and beyond the School of Architecture.
As an educator that seeks to collaborate and remain curious, Nathan takes an interest in a student’s education from beginning to end. He regularly teaches the first and last studios in our curriculum, allowing him to form a deep appreciation for the importance of beginning strong and finishing even stronger. Nathan values fundamental design education as much as capstone design education. He finds it rewarding to sketch, model, and demonstrate design to first year students; it is also rewarding to spur, question, and motivate students in fifth year studio. Because architectural education can take so many forms in teaching and research, Nathan demonstrates that we must leave room for advanced questions in beginning studio and fundamental concerns in advanced studio. Nothing is ever too simple to revisit nor is anything too complex or challenging to try. Curiosity is key, from the beginning to beyond the degree.
The Bilbeisi Prize was created to celebrate the contributions of Professor Moh, who has taught generations of students to sketch and utilize a journal to better understand the world of architecture around them The goal of the Prize is to emphasize the importance of sketching for OSU SoA students - it is a hallmark of our brand! Each year students can submit their work, and receive recognition and a cash award through the Bilbeisi Prize. If you’d like to contribute to this effort, give to the Bilbeisi Prize Fund, 26-94600 at osugiving.
It’s the beginning of the summer and Jerry Stivers is traveling with 28 students and Professors Moh’d Bilbeisi and Nathan Richardson, studying architecture in Europe. They’ll be forming a new travel family as they learn, live, and experience “community” in Italy, France, and the Netherlands over the next month.
The concept of community is a feeling of fellowship with others as a result of common attitudes, interests, and goals. For Jerry, this search for and creation of community has fueled his purpose in architecture and been central to his life.
Music is another “present” community that is central to Jerry’s life. In some ways, it precedes his discovery of and passion for architecture... but he doesn’t see them as one or the other, or the least bit competitive. Rather they are creative companions, pairing well together, sharing the common threads of rhythm, texture, harmony, proportion, dynamics, and when experienced with others, a sense of community.
Jerry’s mandolin is an indispensable part of his travel toolkit, just as much as his Journal, sketchpad, and pens. In the last twelve years, he’s been learning to play the mandolin and exploring folk music. Folk music describes all sorts of musical, oral, and cultural traditions from specific regions and communities from around the world. In particular, the three genres he’s been exploring are: Celtic, old time, and bluegrass.
The beginnings of his explorations in the shared relationship between music and architecture may have started with the historical, cultural, and mathematical aspects mentioned prior, but quickly found meaning in the musicians and friends he was surrounded by while playing at home or traveling abroad. When in Europe, Jerry searches out local “sessions” where he can come alongside other folk musicians to play and experience community. Sessions are typically found in local pubs which spatially function as a community family room. Students enjoy attending these performances, and before their night is over, have made friends and broadened their own community.
Travel study always reminds Jerry of how important community is no matter how you find it. Shared places, spaces, and experiences need to be a part of our everyday no matter where one exists in this great big world.
Demonstrated through design awards and academic scholarship, the discipline of architecture tends to celebrate and elevate custom, unique, and one-off conditions and solutions. However, standard details are ubiquitous in contemporary architecture, common in many of the buildings we occupy every day. Despite their extensive use, there is limited scholarly attention given to theorizing their role. Drawing from his experience in professional practice, Assistant Professor Keith Peiffer is interested in considering the gaps between the standard and the custom, in both material selection and detailing. One way that he is currently exploring this topic is through a speculative design project that proposes a reconstruction of the Barcelona Pavilion designed by Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich. The Pavilion is especially compelling for this work because it was temporarily constructed for the International Exposition in Barcelona in 1929 and painstakingly reconstructed in 1986. The building’s reconstruction offered a second chance to execute the “same” building, and the reconstruction architects deliberately chose to create a pure, idealized version of the original building.
In his proposed redesign, Keith embraces the often overlooked reality of the budget-challenged, improvisational, contingent process of the original pavilion. In designing a third iteration of this significant work of architecture, he is using only standard details and materials as an intentional provocation to consider the discipline’s often unstated value systems and preferences. As part of this ongoing project, he will be presenting a paper at the upcoming Building Technology Educators’ Society (BTES) conference that discusses the three
iterations (the original, the reconstruction, and his speculative redesign) of the pavilion and in particular, the selection of the onyx dore stone used for the wall at the heart of the pavilion.
Assistant Professor Sarah Ra teaches beginning design studios and enjoys introducing students to the world of design. The incredible evolution that happens in architecture school is rewarding as an educator, and her favorite aspect is seeing what specific interests students develop during their upper years as a result of all that they have learned. Sarah also teaches history and theory of the architecture of Asia and is currently co-leading a study abroad trip to Asia this summer, taking 22 students to Japan and Korea with Professor Seung Ra.
Many of her teaching and research endeavors this year have centered around the Washington School here in Stillwater. Efforts are underway to save the historic black school, and in tandem, students across the university have participated in various projects with the Washington School at the center of the attention. In the fall, Sarah coled with Dr. Khaled Mansy our first cross-disciplinary US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon entry. Their proposal centered on adaptively reusing the Washington School - five architecture students participated, as well as students from Mechanical Engineering, History, and Construction Management. The team was invited to compete at the finals event in Golden, Colorado, and was awarded the Director’s Award as a project that caught the jurors’ attention. Sarah also lectured on the Washington School’s history as part of the introduction for a third-year level project for our students, again focused on the adaptive reuse of the school. Top projects in the third year studio for this work were awarded the Glenn Prize for excellence in educational facility design. Her overall hope in all of this work is that our students will gain experience with community-based design, and understand the importance of serving the community, while simultaneously preserving important history. Her upcoming research presentations include a paper on integrating reuse principles into beginning design education, which will be presented at the National Conference on the Beginning Design Student in Fargo. She will also virtually present a paper on contemporary Korean architecture at the Architecture, Media, Politics, and Society conference in Prague this summer. Rounding out a busy academic year, Professor Ra will complete her Knight Fellowship travel to Asia, following the study abroad trip. She will be documenting Buddhist temples in Korea. It is a scholarly investigative trip that has been on hold since 2020.
Suspension and membrane is a structural system largely based on tension. Compression members are only used as a means of erecting and suspending the tensile objects. Because the system is tensile-based, the structure can span across larger distances, making it advantageous for large spaces that need central openings.
Suspension and membrane structures are typically easy to identify, as the form very closely follows the force. As identified by the arrows on the diagrams, the load paths directly follow the curves in the membrane and the pull of the cables. From these two tensile structures, the forces are then distributed into the compression members, which are most typically columns.
Advantages for suspension and membrane structures are their ability to create large spans or accommodate for large roof openings. This kind of structure typically works best in the form of stadiums or arenas. Due to changing loading conditions, there is a disadvantage for structural stability if tensile cables fall into compression.
In the office of AE Assistant Professor McCoy is a desktop marquee that reads “I (heart) buildings.” In her four years thus far as a faculty member of our school she has spread this enthusiasm, particularly with regard to structures in architecture. Christina McCoy has developed two new classes: a third year AE class on structural loadings which examines how the building code handles and applies loads, and also how different structural systems respond and transfer those loads; and a History and Theory of Structures in Architecture elective. This history course focuses on work completed after the Industrial Revolution, and the way changes in structural systems and material technologies influenced and continues to influence design.
McCoy’s current research delves into the collaborations between noted historical architects and their structural engineers. By examination of archival documents, she is studying the contributions of the partnering engineers, and looking to what extent structural and technical factors influenced decisions in iconic architectural design. Specifically, she is looking at the work of Carlo Scarpa and his longtime collaborator, Carlo Maschietto, and the “Tectonic Moves” found in such iconic work as that of Brion Cemetery and Castelvecchio. While Scarpa is most commonly known for his intense attention to craft and the artisan construction of details, the research reveals this intensity carries over to the details of engineering as well. Scarpa was not simply interested in form irrespective of a structural solution, rather, he worked with Maschietto to find elegant, expressive solutions within the structural design. While McCoy does not read Italian, most of the collaboration documents are calculations
and sketches – languages in which she is well-versed! She hopes to publish this research with her co-author Anne-Catrin Schultz of Wentworth University later this year.
◄ (Top) Students diagram and model the load path of a suspension and membrane system
One of the newest additions to the School of Architecture AE faculty is Alex Campbell, PE. Alex practiced structural engineering at KFC Engineering in Oklahoma City where he served as the Director of Delegated Design Services and an Associate Structural Engineer. Determined to share his passion for structural engineering, in January Alex transitioned to teach at his Alma Mater where he received his Bachelor of Architectural Engineering (BAE) and Master of Science in Civil Engineering (MS) degrees.
Although proficient in the design of steel, concrete, timber, and masonry structures, Alex specialized primarily in delegated design services centered on designing and analyzing structural steel connections and steel stairs for steel fabricators. He brings his experience and passion into the classroom; he is currently teaching Statics, Steel I, Steel II, and Architecture Design Studio I.
If you are a structural engineer, you may know Alex from his various roles in organizations both in Oklahoma and nationally. Over the years Alex has served on the Executive Council of the Oklahoma Structural Engineers Association (OSEA) as Director, Vice-President, President, and Past-President. Alex was also the chair of the National Council of Structural Engineers Associations (NCSEA) Students and Educators Task Force and was a member of the External Communications Committee. In addition, he enjoys being a guest of the American Institute of Steel Construction’s (AISC) Task Committee 6 where he participates on several task groups developing specifications regarding connection design.
Alex’s current research has been focused on his unique role of being a part of the faculty for the first-year architectural design studio. Alex is exploring how he can possibly provide a unique perspective, enhance the studio experience, and provide Architectural Engineering students with a sense of belonging. Additionally, he seeks to build an understanding for AE students in how the skills developed in the architecture design studios are important in the field of structural engineering. Alex is excited to be presenting his studies in upcoming publications and conferences.
Outside of the classroom he loves to spend time with his wife Amy (who he met at OSU), his three-year-old daughter, and his one-yearold son, taking walks, dancing, cooking, and enjoying Stillwater!
Bailey Morgan Brown Mitchell will begin work as an Assistant Professor at the School of Architecture this fall after serving as an Adjunct Professor this academic year. Last fall she co-taught Intro to Architecture and Honors for Intro with Suzanne Bilbeisi, and was part of the Design Studio II teaching team. In the spring, she led the freshman Honors session for Design Studio I, and was also a member of the Design Studio I teaching team.
She joins the OSU School of Architecture having completed two masters degrees from the Harvard Graduate School of Design: a Master of Architecture degree as well as a Master of Design Studies degree. Her recent research work includes two funded grants related to tribal housing and sovereignty: (1) Cherokee Nation Affordable Housing: Working within Complex Networks of Power and (2) ‘Temporary’ Homes and Permanent Cultural Hierarchies: Variations in Zoning Reflect and Create Housing Inequities in Rural Communities. Both are funded by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. She also recently completed a paper titled “Pedagogies Toward Sovereign Indigenous Futures: 10 Strategies for Early Design Educators” which she presented at the National Conference on the Beginning Design Student in May. Bailey intends to extend these research efforts through grants, exhibitions, lectures, and projects while focusing her teaching on furthering the legacy of a rigorous fundamental design education based upon timeless principles and an emphasis on the sense of craft for beginning design students.
This summer, Bailey will be an instructor for the Discover Architecture workshop and several other summer outreach programs. This coming year she will be continuing her work in the beginning design studios and foundational coursework level. She hopes to lead the Urban USA travel study program next year, with a focus on providing that opportunity to sophomore students so that they may begin the process of seeing and analyzing great architecture firsthand.
Bailey is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and grew up on her family’s tribal allotment land in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma before attending Oklahoma State University for her Bachelor of Architecture degree. Before returning to OSU, Bailey was a designer at Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects in New Haven, CT, a teaching fellow in the Harvard College, as well as a public high school English teacher in Sallisaw, Oklahoma.
After serving as an Adjunct Professor with our school this past academic year, Blake Mitchell will begin work this fall as an Assistant Professor at the School of Architecture. Blake joins the faculty after having received a Master in Design Studies from the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where he specialized in Architecture, Landscape, and Urban History and Theory. Blake received his Bachelor of Architecture from Oklahoma State University.
He is a recipient of the Harvard Irving Innovation Fellowship, where he researched teaching methods developed in architecture schools during the pandemic and how architectural digital media courses can be optimized to better engage diverse cohorts of students. At the completion of his B Arch studies, Blake received the Caudill Fellowship from Oklahoma State University. His research travels took him to South America to study architectural practices that work at the edge of traditional architectural practice.
Blake worked professionally at Pelli Clarke Pelli in New Haven, Connecticut, and Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. At these practices, Blake worked on various project types; high-rise residential, university lab buildings, multifamily residential, and adaptive reuse projects.
Blake has more recently taught at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston as an Adjunct Professor. At Wentworth, Blake taught studios that introduced construction, technical, and structural logic to second-year students. Blake also taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Design’s Early Design Education summer program, where he coordinated digital media workshops and assisted first-time teachers with pedagogical strategies.
Blake will be an instructor this summer for the Discover Architecture workshop, the School of Architecture’s summer outreach program for high school students. This program holds a special place for Blake as it is the program that first introduced him to architecture more than a dozen years ago. This fall, Blake will be co-teaching the fifth year Urban Design Studio and the second year Architectural Graphic Communication I course.
During Design Week, the Cunningham Architecture Library partnered with the SoA student group ‘The Almighty S(he)’ to host a showcase highlighting our new Women in Architecture Collection. The collection includes hundreds of books and resources by women and about women in architecture. The effort to build the collection was initiated after recognizing women make up 45% of the student population at the OSU School of Architecture, but only 22% of licensed architects in the US are women. ¹ What are the driving forces behind the drop? The AIA released a report in 2021 titled The Elephant in the WellDesigned Room that explores bias in the Architecture profession. Coupling that information with results from the Spring 2021 Campus Climate survey from the OSU Cowboy Data Round-Up² provides a glimpse of the lived experience of the female students in the College of Engineering, Architecture & Technology. According to the data, 33% of women in CEAT personally experienced discrimination and ony 33% of women in CEAT believe all members of the college community at OSU are treated equitably, regardless of gender. An overwhelming majority of the women in CEAT also believe diversity and inclusion could be improved by providing and promoting resources devoted to diversity for the OSU community. There was a glaring absence of female representation in the architecture collection, and building the Women in Architecture Collection is one way to provide and promote resources devoted to diversity for the OSU and School of Architecture community.
A small group of library faculty and staff members worked on a grant proposal to fund the collection. Though the grant request was unsuccessful, Dean of Libraries Shelia Johnson elected to infuse the architecture library collection with materials for women and by women in architecture, allocating $12,000 of the Rosalinn Swinka Library Endowment to purchase materials. The addition of these resources ensures that library materials represent women in the architecture profession. If you would like to browse the collection online, the link is: bit.ly/WOMENARCH.
The public showcase was held to celebrate the culmination of over a year’s worth of work to create this important collection. In addition to the display of the 85 new titles, a companion exhibit of course
projects by SoA alumnae who are now practicing in the field was displayed in the Cunningham Architecture Library. The exhibit was built as an end-goal encouragement for the female SoA students currently working their way through the B Arch program. The creation of this collection is just the beginning; we will continue the process of adding items to the Cunningham Architecture Library that reflect and represent the students and community we serve.
¹ Kendall A. Nicholson, “Measuring Progress on Gender in Architecture.” ACSA, (June 2020) ² Cowboy Data Round-Up (CDR)” Campus Climate Survey - Students” (Spring 2021)
As shared earlier in this Newsletter, Suzanne Bilbeisi is retiring from OSU this summer which opens the position of Head of the School. Professor John Phillips will be taking on the role of Interim Head, and a search will begin for a new Head of the School this Fall. The ideal candidate has an advanced degree, several years of professional experience, a professional license, and several years of teaching experience. Candidates should have a desire to engage with students, and an area of scholarly interest. Experience in management, and skills in leadership are essential. We need your help locating a candidate ready to lead our school through its next phase!
Travel/Study abroad is ON! This summer we have 50 students (yes, FIFTY!) traveling with our faculty in two distinct program offerings: ‘Europe: Zeitgeist’ in Italy, France, and the Netherlands, with Professors Jerry Stivers, Nathan Richardson, and Mohd Bilbeisi, and ‘Urban Asia’ in Japan and South Korea with Professors Seung Ra and Sarah Ra. Participation in a travel/study program of at least a month is a degree requirement for Architecture majors. If you’d like to support students studying abroad with the SoA, consider giving to the Alumni Travel Abroad Scholarship fund: 2686550 at www.osugiving.com.
The School of Architecture hosted seven faculty candidates this spring, who each provided an open presentation to the students and faculty. These presentations, by default, became a guest lecture series! Additonally, architects Shannon Criss and Nils Gore, founders of Dotte Agency, led a workshop with students as part of an event organized by the SoA Lecture Committee and held in conjunction with Design Week 2023. Dotte Agency is a University of Kansas-led “multidisciplinary design collaborative engaging neighborhoods to shape the built environment to improve public health.”
Our coffee sponsorship program allows professional firms to support free coffee for the students for one month. For the modest fee of $500, firms support the purchase of K-Cups and our students enjoy free coffee! The Spring 2023 coffee sponsors were Mass Architects, Cyntergy, Corgan, and KFC Engineering. Thank you! In exchange for the sponsorships, firms are recognized on our school’s info TVs, and can place firm swag on the coffee cart. If your firm would like more info, email architecture@okstate.edu.
This academic year the school’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee worked to promote a “Centering” project, which highlighted different groups of students in our community - Native American, Black, and Asian. For Women’s month in March, many students, faculty and alumni contributed to a video that was shared on the school’s social media channels. Additionally, at the CEAT DEI Awards Banquet this spring several students were recognized for their contributions in making our school and college a better place. If you would like to assist our DEI initiatives at the School, for example helping to recruit diverse students or supporting student scolarships, let us know! Email achitecture@okstate.edu.
The AIAS Career Fair 2023 was a success! In February, 68 firms came to the Student Union Ballroom to meet and recruit our talented students for summer internships as well as for full time hires. It was a full house! We understand the need is great in the profession, and we thank all who came to interact with our student body. Internships are a vital partner in the process of developing future professionals.
Design Week 2023 occurred April 10-15, with the theme of “WONDER.” Events included an AIA firm crawl in OKC, guest speakers, various class vs class competitions, Pecha Kuchas, a trivia competition, and the annual Honors + Awards program. The week was capped off by the Pig Roast on Friday night.
Regents Professor Mohd Bilbeisi is also retiring this semester after 25 years on our faculty, which leaves an open position. Look for that faculty search to open later this year - candidates must have an advanced degree in architecture, professional experience, and an area of scholarly interest.
Our faculty have been very productive in speaking engagements, research, and conference publications this spring! Christina McCoy addressed the NASCC Steel Conference in Charlotte. Jared Macken and Paolo Sanza presented at the ACSA Annual Meeting in St. Louis, and Michael Rabens presented at the Society of Architectural
Historians conference in Montreal. Seung Ra and Jay Yowell gave presentations at the Architectural Research Centers Consortium conference in Dallas. Keith Peiffer, Sarah Ra, and Bailey Brown are presenting at the National Conference on the Beginning Design Student in Fargo this May. Alex Campbell will be presenting at the American Society of Engineering Educators conference this summer. Keith Peiffer and Jay Yowell will also be presenting this summer, at the Building Technology Educators Society conference in Phoenix.
In February, Professor Suzanne Bilbeisi was invited to be a session speaker at the national AIA Leadership Summit (formerly Grassroots). Her presentation, prepared jointly with alumnus Scott Cornelius (B Arch 2021), focused on generational values and communication strategies.
Congratulations to Assistant Professor Christina McCoy who was named the 2023 CEAT Excellent Young Teacher! Our long time Admin Associate also received a well-deserved note with the 2023 Staff Outstanding Performance Award. Yay!
Upon completion of her Master of Accounting degree, Staff Support Specialist Gabrielle Morris left the SoA. Gabrielle was our chaos coordinator for four years, and we miss her. Just hired this month and joining our staff are Michelle Hughes at the front desk, and Matthew Shockley as Academic Advisor, who will assist our awesome Advisor Lori Carroll in keeping our 375+ students on track.
into Professional School: 48 Architecture majors, and 24 in Architectural Engineering. We expect nine to progress into our new 4 year BS degree program.
This academic year we graduated a very large group of students: 17 Arch and 4 AEs in fall, and 18 Arch and 19 AEs this spring. That’s a total of 58 graduates in one academic year. Yay!
For this coming Fall we have accepted another large group
Are you attending the A’23 Conference in San Francisco this June? Please join Professor Bilbeisi for an OSU Alumni Reception! Alumna Sarah Turner (B Arch ‘14) and her firm of Sutro Architects will host the Wednesday, June 7th event at their office. RSVP on our LinkedIn or social media channels. Hope to see you there!
Alumni, keep in touch! Email Suzanne.Bilbeisi@okstate.eduyes, she’s keeping her OSU email! Thank you, all, for your years of loyal and true support!
▲ The Bilbeisis (on spiral stairs) met with over 80 Tulsa area alumni in May 2023.
◄ (Cover) The “Cheers for the Years” group picture at the celebration for the Bilbeisis at the School of Architecture in May.
Newsletter designed and published by Suzanne Bilbeisi at the Oklahoma State University School of Architecture. Printed on Mohawk Via Light Gray with a smooth finish. Bound at the Oklahoma State University School of Architecture. Original content authors retain copyright of their creative work.
©2023 The Oklahoma State University School of Architecture
Image Credits:
Pgs 1, 33: John Phillips; Pg 3: Blaise McFadden; Pg 4: Khaled Mansy; Pg 7: Don Wheeler; Pgs 8, 17, 20, 34: OSU Photographer Phil Shockley; Pgs 10, 44: Chelsea Wooldridge; Pgs 13, 14: collage with various images; Pgs 18, 25, 27, 31 (insets): Melissa Lukenbaugh; Pg 20 (bottom): Nathan Richardson; Pgs 22, 23, 37: Suzanne Bilbeisi; Pgs 25, 40, 43: Jerry Stivers; Pg 26: Keith Peiffer; Pg 29: Seung Ra; Pg 30 (top): Maggie Carathers and Presleigh Adams; Pg 30 (bottom): Castelvecchio Archives and Carlo Maschietto’s Archive; and Pg 39: Edmon Low photographer Nina Thornton.
