Archinect - News

Herb Greene’s Prairie House seeks landmark status

2022-04-15T11:49:00-04:00

Those involved with the house and the Prairie House Preservation Society expect it to be a big draw to the area for tourists, artists and the Norman community. Late last year, the Prairie House Trust bought the unusual two-bedroom, 2,100-square-foot home surrounded by open land and turned the management of it over to the nonprofit society.

Greene’s sculptural creation will be turned into a museum under the scheme after being in the hands of private owners for many years. Greene’s longtime colleague at OU, and another pioneer of the highly experimental American School movement, Bruce Goff, is now also being used as a bit of a draw for architecture lovers, with the inaugural Goff Fest festival taking place in Tulsa last November. Those associated with the preservation effort hope the recently renovated house will further add another tourist trap to a state with quite a bit to offer in its growing artistic community.

“I believe that with cultivation and time this can be a real reason that people are going to want to come to Norman,” Norman Arts Council executive director Erinn Gavaghan told the local paper. “It’s incredibly important to the history of architecture at OU. We knew we didn’t want to lose this place.”

Oklahoma University Architecture Dean dies of heart complications

2016-02-15T13:50:00-05:00

The dean of the OU College of Architecture died Friday morning of heart complications, OU President David Boren announced.

OU College of Architecture faculty and staff were informed of Dean Graham's passing in an email from university President, David Boren (source oudaily.com):

Dear College of Architecture Family,

I am so sorry to report that we lost our beloved Dean Charles Graham this morning. He will be greatly missed by all of us and we will never forget his true love for the College and the many contributions he made to it. As soon as we know more about memorials to him we will let you know.

Please remember M’Liss and her family in your thoughts and prayers.

Sincerely,

David Boren

Graham, who was just recently named one of 25 Top Educators in America by DesignIntelligence and had served as OU Architecture Dean since 2008, caused a bit of a stir up at Oklahoma University last August when he publicly apologized for wearing clothing "associated with Islam" at a back-to-school meeting.

Oklahoma University Architecture Dean apologizes for wearing clothing "associated with Islam"

2015-08-25T13:09:00-04:00

The dean of OU's College of Architecture issued an apology Monday for wearing clothing associated with Islam at a back-to-school meeting. A photo on the College of Architecture's Facebook page that has since been deleted showed Dean Charles Graham wearing a white thawb and a red keffiyeh on his head at the meeting on Aug. 20.

In his apology (posted below), Dean Graham wrote, "I asked a number of my Muslim friends around the campus and in Norman to see if my wearing the attire would be offensive in any religious way, and the answers were all resoundingly 'no.'" Still, his sartorial choice was controversial enough to generate three or four complaints to the president's office.

The University of Oklahoma maintains a study abroad program in Dubai focusing on building design and construction. In his apology, Dean Graham states he purchased the clothing during a visit there.

As Dean Graham correctly notes in his letter, the keffiyeh and thawb are not specifically religious, but rather everyday attire in much of the Middle East, particularly the Arabia peninsula and the Levant. He compares the use of this clothing to "what my Scottish ancestors and family who wear kilts currently do," and to Texans wearing cowboy boots and hats.

Dean Graham contends he "tried to use the time I wore the attire as an educational exe...