NEWSLETTER - February 27, 2026

Join us on Monday, March 9^th, for the final event of our 2025-2026 lecture series titled "Im/Material."

Im/Material explores architecture’s capacity to engage both the tangible—matter, construction, tectonics—and the intangible—atmosphere, perception, memory, and cultural resonance.

Our next lecture, titled "LAWS OF LOCALITIES", will be presented by ROBERT GAY and LUCY BEGG with THOUGHTBARN at 3:30 PM CT in the GALLERY on the ground floor of the HCOA.

ROBERT GAY and LUCY BEGG are Co-Directors of THOUGHTBARN, an architectural practice in Austin, Texas. Founded in 2007, the studio has worked on projects ranging from housing and workspaces, to retail and hospitality, to public art and the civic realm. In 2024, Thoughtbarn was a recipient of AIA Austin’s Firm Achievement Award, as well as a national Architects Newspaper Best of Practice Award. Read more on Thoughtbarn...

The lecture and Q&A will be held in the Gallery on the ground floor of the Huckabee College of Architecture. The event will also be streamed live via the Zoom information below:

You are invited to a Zoom webinar.

When: March 9, 2026 (3:30 PM CT)

Topic: Im/Material

Please click the link below to join the webinar:

https://texastech.zoom.us/j/98440030102?pwd=MlZhVHBIKzRMdkpEemdBZmI4RHdjUT09 

For any further inquiries, please contact Sr. Event Coordinator Rachel Roe at rachel.roe@ttu.edu.

Events

Career Fair 2026

Career Season at the Huckabee College of Architecture concluded on Thursday, February 19^th, following a week of interviews and mixers for Career Fair 2026.

Throughout the week, students met and connected with industry leaders and alumni to learn about opportunities at various firms and companies, building meaningful connections and exploring the future of their career in design.

We sincerely thank our Career Season sponsors, guest speakers, and the dedicated faculty and staff whose support made Career Fair 2026 possible!

THANK YOU TO OUR CAREER SEASON SPONSORS!

Awards & Distinctions

Javier Cardenas Selected to Participate in Leadership Development Program

Fourth-year Javier Serrano Cardenas has been selected to participate in the inaugural Emerging Service Leader Institute organized by the Office of Student Involvement.

The Emerging Service Leader Institute is a one-day leadership development program designed for students who demonstrate passion and potential in service, leadership, and community engagement. Taking place on March 7^th, 2026, the program will bring together a selective cohort of 25 students for interactive leadership training, including developing strategies for creating meaningful community impact and a hands-on service project with a local nonprofit organization.

Javier is the founding president of Studio Hacks, a student organization dedicated to supporting peers in studio-based learning within the Huckabee College of Architecture. Through this work, he has helped advance collaboration, mentorship, and resource sharing among students navigating the demands of design education. Javier’s selection for this program reflects his continued commitment to student leadership and community building.

Competitions & Conferences

HCOA Team Participates in 2026 AIA Health Design Charrette

A Texas Tech University Huckabee College of Architecture team including graduate students Emma McIntyre, Ian Medina, Mardia Rahman, and Eduardo Gonçalves Santana, joined by faculty advisor Assistant Professor Dr. Lingyi Qiu, participated in the 2026 AIA Houston Health SES Student Design Charrette in Houston, Texas, from February 5–7, 2026.

During the 12-hour charrette, HCOA students were integrated with peers from other institutions. Each student worked within a newly formed interdisciplinary team to develop a design proposal for a “Cancer Care Centre: Connecting Healing Paths.”

At the conclusion of the charrette, teams presented their proposals at the Architecture Center of Houston, where their work was reviewed by a professional jury composed of leaders from prominent healthcare design firms. The event provided students with meaningful exposure to the healthcare architecture industry, allowing them to engage directly with practitioners, receive professional feedback, and better understand real-world project constraints. Students had the opportunity to develop strong collaboration skills, critical thinking, and design rigor under pressure, encouraging thoughtful contributions to complex healthcare design challenges.

Exhibitions & Publications

Victoria McReynolds Exhibits Belt of Venus Drawing at Interior Provocation Symposium

Associate Professor Victoria McReynolds exhibited Venus Halo, a drawing that presents the Belt of Venus as a planetary halo encircling Earth, in the group show Meteorologic Imaginaries, which features thematically resonant contributions by leading architects, designers, and artists in the field. The exhibition is designed and curated by Ria Bravo, Clay Odom, and Igor Siddiqui, and was installed at the University of Texas at Austin as part of the Interior Provocations 2025: Weather Symposium. The exhibition will be available again at the Pratt Institute in NYC during Fall 2026.

Venus halo, an atmospheric phenomenon seen most prominently just after sunset in the Eastern or Western sky or before sunrise between golden and blue hours, is the Earth’s shadow projected onto its own atmosphere and appears as a soft band of violet pink colors above a wedge of deep blue. This shadow band has a geometric tether to the horizon when sunlight is near parallel to Earth’s surface. Extended to the planetary scale, the Venus Belt is an atmospheric halo encircling Earth along the seam of sunlight and the planet’s shadow. The drawing Venus Halo showcases the underlying geometric encounters with the Venus halo for a specific alignment allowing one to visualize their position on Earth’s surface as either inside or outside a Venus Belt experience.

To view the Meteorologic Imaginaries exhibition, click here.

In Memoriam

Arthur Garland Wade

Texas Tech architecture alumnus Arthur “Garland” Wade passed away on Sunday, February 15^th, 2026, at the age of 90.

Garland was born in Anson, Texas, in 1935 and attended Tulia High School, where he graduated in 1952.

Shortly after graduation, he moved to Lubbock to pursue a career in architecture and completed his degree from Texas Tech in 1958, beginning a family legacy of architecture graduates that would span three generations.

Garland is survived by his children, Darrick, Roxy, and Laurie Wade, as well as his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Our HCOA community is deeply saddened by his passing and we extend our sincere condolences to all who held him dear.

In lieu of flowers, the Wade family hopes to establish a future scholarship in Garland’s name and requests that those who are interested in making a memorial donation in his honor contact Darrick.Wade@ttu.edu for more information.

Publications

Share your Stories: 100 Years of Architecture at Texas Tech

CALLING ALL STUDENTS, ALUMNI, FACULTY, FORMER DEANS, AND STAFF: As we look forward to celebrating the 100^th anniversary of Texas Tech’s architecture program in 2027, we’re calling on the HCOA community to share their memories and experiences with the program.

YOUR STORIES are a vital part of the shared history of our College. Our upcoming book, Limitless Horizons: The First 100 Years of Texas Tech’s Architecture Program, will highlight this rich legacy.

We invite YOU to help us fully capture the impact and influence of Texas Tech’s architecture program with stories that reflect the experiences we all remember, share, and celebrate! Be sure to submit your story before the deadline on March 31^st!

All contributors will be recognized in the book.

To share your stories or make a contribution to the publication, please reach out to Noel Barrick and Gary Lindsey at architecture.limitlesshorizons@ttu.edu.

Donations are critical to the advancement of our program. With your contributions, we can fund our merit-based scholarships, recruit extraordinary faculty, fund research endeavors and improve our facilities. No gift is too small to make an impact on our students, faculty, and staff. If you're interested in giving, the Texas Tech University Office of Institutional Advancement has a convenient web portal for making secure, online donations to one of the established Huckabee College of Architecture funds. Click here to donate.

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