Conference Schedule
Tuesday, October 21
6:00 – 7:30 p.m. Opening Party: Firm Crawl!
Kick Off the Conference with a Firm Crawl on Film Row! Join us Tuesday evening as we officially open the 2025 AIA Oklahoma Conference on Architecture with a lively and engaging Firm Crawl along Film Row in downtown Oklahoma City. Enjoy drinks and light bites, and connect with fellow architects, designers, sponsors, and exhibitors in a relaxed and social setting. Open to all conference attendees, sponsors, and exhibitors. Don’t miss it!
Wednesday, October 22
8:00 – 9:00 a.m. – Registration
9:00 a.m. – Opening Remarks by David Brewer, 2025 AIA Oklahoma President
9:30 a.m. – OPENING KEYNOTE
Keynote presentation (more information coming soon)
presented by Bob Blackburn
10:30 a.m. – Visit with our Industry Partners / Tradeshow Bingo
11:00 a.m. – BREAKOUT SESSIONS
Cultural Sensitivity and Program Development: Lessons from the Pueblo Pintado Healthcare Center (1 HSW)
presented by Nicole Harris, AIA; Donnie Gillespie, AIA and Bob Dotson
Discover how cultural sensitivity enhances program development in underdeveloped regions, integrating community needs with architectural solutions. Explore stakeholder engagement, adaptive design strategies, and ethical considerations in this insightful session.
Enhance Your Human Centric Lighting (1 HSW)
presented by Justin Watson
This continuing education course provides an in-depth exploration of Human Centric Lighting (HCL), focusing on its fundamental elements and significance in modern lighting design. This session will guide participants in specifying effective control narratives for HCL designs, ensuring optimal integration and performance.
12:00 p.m. LUNCH KEYNOTE + SCHOLARSHIP RECOGNITION
Sponsored by The Boldt Company
Keynote presentation- more information coming soon
presented by Steve Dumez, FAIA
1:40 p.m. BREAKOUT SESSIONS
Midwest Modern – The Journey of Freese Architecture (1 LU)
presented by Brian L. Freese, AIA
Since founding Freese Architecture in 1994, Brian L. Freese has created places that are modern yet fitting to the context of Oklahoma and Midwest America. This presentation of his more notable homes maps the journey Freese chose early in his career, embodying his individual design approach he calls Midwest Modern.
Improving Nursing Home Dementia Care Outcomes Through Evidence-Based Building Design: Capturing Missed Opportunities (1 HSW)
presented by Shakil Ahmad Shimul, Julie Gordon and Dr. Hongwan Li
Acknowledging the importance of the connection between dementia patients and their built environment, an interdisciplinary team from the University of Oklahoma examined this relationship through a comprehensive framework. The team investigated three nursing homes in Oklahoma and proposed an effective method for highlighting critical subjects and recommending possible enhancements.
TOUR THE HARLOW: A Timeless Symbol of Style and Sophistication (1 HSW)
presented by the architecture team at Tradesman Architectural Studios
Confidently rooted in its modernist Art Deco identity, The Harlow reimagines the charisma, opulence, and elegance of the Roaring 20s and brings back to downtown Oklahoma City the electric, effervescent energy that defined the city in the early 20th century. Bearing the namesake of one of Hollywood’s quintessential cultural icons, Jean Harlow, The Harlow pays homage to her trailblazing legacy of refined poise and independence, offering Oklahomans a unique living experience that is the epitome of consummate luxury and unparalleled quality. Boasting 265 high-end, upscale apartments and over 4,300 sq ft of retail and restaurant space—including the reintroduction of access to the OKC Underground—The Harlow combines two historic buildings integral to the story of Oklahoma City. (This tour requires advance registration. Cost: $20)
2:40 p.m. Visit with our Industry Partners / Tradeshow Bingo
3:20 p.m. BREAKOUT SESSIONS
Winning Without a Fight: Design-led Collaboration with your Construction Team (1 LU)
presented by Jon Mindrup, AIA, DBIA, LEED AP, Chase Henninger and Sean Creque
This interactive session will quickly explore project cases studies in which the architect led a process for collaboration with a construction team that resulted in a better project outcome. Each study will also highlight a key project lesson and method for implementation so that each attendee can leave equipped to lead these techniques themselves on their own projects moving forward and earn a black belt in avoiding the fight.
Beyond the Blueprint: Small Practice Strategies for Resilient, Affordable, and Contextual Architecture (1 HSW)
presented by Adam Lanman, AIA
Explore how small firms can deliver resilient, affordable architecture through innovative design strategies. Learn real-world approaches to material selection, passive systems, adaptable planning, and cost-effective construction techniques that enhance health, safety, and welfare in the built environment.
4:30 p.m. CLOSING KEYNOTE
Beyond the Façade: Innovative Design in Historic Commercial Districts (1 HSW)
presented by Sarah Lembke, AIA
Explore the evolving role of architects in preservation-based revitalization, offering practical tools for rehabilitation projects, additions and new construction in historic districts. We’ll break down design fundamentals for existing buildings, discuss real-world development pressures and community issues, and explore how thoughtful, creative design can be the solution everyone is seeking.
6:00 -7:30 p.m. RECEPTION: The Vault at The National
Join us Wednesday evening for a reception at The Vault at The National, where we’ll gather for an evening of great food, refreshing drinks, and engaging conversation. All conference attendees, sponsors, and exhibitors are welcome—don’t miss this chance to connect, celebrate, and be inspired in one of Oklahoma City’s most iconic spaces.
Thursday, October 23
8:00 a.m. Registration
8:30 a.m. BREAKOUT SESSIONS
Competence = Confidence: Strategies and Tools for Staff Development (1 LU)
presented by Jared Zurn, AIA, NCARB, CAE
Use the NCARB Competency Framework to determine areas for staff development. As you help your team gain confidence in their skills and abilities, you’ll build a stronger, more resilient practice.
An Introduction to Conceptual Design Performance Analysis for Carbon Neutrality (1 HSW)
presented by Dr. Lee Fithian, AIA
Presentation of free software tools for conceptual design analysis to reduce energy usage and limit operational carbon. Based upon the author’s chapter in the book “Teaching Carbon Neutral Design in North America: Twenty Award-Winning Architectural Design Studio Methodologies.
9:40 a.m. OPENING KEYNOTE
Collaborative Intelligence: Speculating Unknown Territory
presented by Karl Daubmann, FAIA, FAAR and Sara Codarin
AI image generation challenges the premise of the design process through the creation of complex and finished images instantaneously. We no longer have to move from abstraction to reality through a drawn out process. These new tools offer efficiencies but can also challenge foundational approaches to amplify existing processes and produce transformative opportunities. We will share AI workflows to navigate 2D, 3D, and 4D through various case studies. By deploying AI as a new form of collaboration, architects are empowered to make critical decisions in new ways.
10:40 a.m. Visit with our Industry Partners / Tradeshow Bingo
11:15 a.m. BREAKOUT SESSIONS
Expanding housing through zoning reform, design thinking, and advocacy (1 HSW)
presented by Lisa Chronister, FAIA
Architects design infill housing for individual project sites all the time. But what if they designed zoning regulations that shape infill housing across an entire city? With so many communities facing a housing crisis, come learn how architects can help through design thinking as well as legislation and advocacy.
Say Hi to Hiawatha…and Suburban Home Design in Oklahoma
presented by Ronald H. Frantz, Jr., FAIA
At age 14, an aspiring architect checked out a handful of house plan booklets from the public library in Warr Acres, Oklahoma. Fifty-three years later, Ronald Frantz continues to research Hiawatha T. Estes, a prolific California-based house designer. The presentation will explore the surprising Oklahoma roots of this internationally-recognized designer.
Downtown Oklahoma City Architectural Walking Tour (1 LU)
presented by the Oklahoma City Foundation for Architecture
Take a step through time and design with our guided walking tour of significant architecture in downtown Oklahoma City. Beginning and ending at the storied Skirvin Hilton Hotel—a 1911 Renaissance Revival landmark—this tour explores the evolving architectural landscape of Oklahoma City’s urban core. As we wind through the streets of downtown, you’ll encounter some of the city’s most iconic and historically significant buildings. Along the way, you’ll learn about the architects and design movements that shaped these buildings—from Beaux-Arts to Art Deco to modern and contemporary styles. (This tour requires advance registration. Cost: $20)
12:15 p.m. LUNCH KEYNOTE + LEADERSHIP AIA GRADUATION
Sponsored by Southwestern Terrazzo Association
Keynote presentation (more information coming soon)
presented by Olivia Graf
1:45 p.m. Visit with our Industry Partners / Tradeshow Bingo
2:15 p.m. BREAKOUT SESSIONS
Purpose Driven Innovation: Behind the Scenes of Guernsey’s HQ (1 HSW)
presented by Mauro Dallabattista, AIA; Kasha Egan, PE, SE, CWI, PTI, ICCMSI and Eric Taylor, PE, LEED AP
Explore how Guernsey’s 63,000-square-foot headquarters redefined our approach toward design excellence using innovations from mass timber, weathering steel, advanced glazing, and other wellness-driven systems. This session reveals behind-the-scenes insights into the design, permitting, and construction process—highlighting how integrated innovation and purposeful decision-making can shape high-performance, human-centered environments and transform a firm’s design philosophy.
Build WELL and Build With Strength: A Design Vision for Dolese Bros. and its Community (1 HSW)
presented by Hans E. Butzer FAIA and Evan Sack, AIA
Discover how the emerging business model of Dolese Bros. leadership and the architect’s innovative approach to health design fused into the first WELL Building Institute’s “silver-certified” work of architecture in the State of Oklahoma. A design process inspired by rock quarries, shifting landscapes, and the chemistry of concrete will be illustrated alongside the latest highlights of evidence-based design that fosters better employee health, productivity, and well-being.
3:20 p.m. Tradeshow Bingo Door Prizes and ARCPAC Raffle
Thank you for coming!
