NEWSLETTER - December 19, 2025

Final Reviews & Commencement for Fall 2025

Students from HCOA campuses in Lubbock and El Paso successfully completed their final reviews for the Fall 2025 semester. Final projects were on display at the First Friday Art Trail on December 5^th. 

Congratulations to our students and faculty for their exceptional commitment and hard work this term. We are also deeply grateful to our guest reviewers for joining us at this significant event to give insightful guidance.

On the following weekend, Texas Tech University held its Fall 2025 Commencement Ceremonies with the largest fall graduating class in Texas Tech's history. A total of 19 HCOA students received degrees this semester, including 14 graduate degrees and five undergraduate degrees from Lubbock and El Paso campuses.

Thank you to the dedicated faculty and staff whose unwavering support plays a vital role in guiding students throughout their academic journeys!

Congratulations to all our graduates on this incredible accomplishment!

Conferences & Presentations

Dr. Mehan Presents Research on Architects in Iran at "Women Architects under State Socialism"

Assistant Professor Dr. Asma Mehan presented her paper “Petro-Modern Housing: Women Architects in Iran’s Socialist Urban Projects,” during the "Women Architects under State Socialism" online symposium on October 9–10, 2025. The presentation examined the role of women architects in state-led housing developments during Iran’s late Pahlavi period, situating their work within petro-modernization and socialist urban policies and highlighting how gender, labor, and collective living were negotiated through modern housing typologies. The paper drew on archival research and feminist urban theory to address questions of authorship, agency, visibility, and omission in architectural history.

The symposium was organized by the European Architectural History Network (EAHN) Special Interest Group Women and Gender in Architecture, Landscape and Urban Design. The event brought together researchers and practitioners to engage with the histories, practices, and the broader historical contributions of women architects across different regions in state-socialist contexts, featuring thematic sessions focused on alternative archives, media, and institutions.

Full details of the symposium program and structure are available on the official event page here.

Exhibitions & Publications

Dr. Mehan Co-authors Chapter on Public Space in City, Public Space, and Body

Assistant Professor Dr. Asma Mehan, along with co-authors Dr. Krzysztof Nawratek from the University of Sheffield and Dr. Ahmadreza Hakiminejad from Leeds Beckett University, have published the book chapter “Infrastructural Spaces: The (Anti)Public Space Manifesto,” in the edited Routledge 2025 volume City, Public Space, and Body: The Embodied Experience of Urban Life.

This chapter examines how elements such as buildings, our physical presence, and social and political issues shape what we think of as public space, especially during global crises and the rise of mixed physical and digital, engaging collaboration and critical dialogue across theory, cities, and public life.

View the chapter here. 

The full book can be accessed here.

Conferences & Presentations

ADRI Dr. Nicole Porter Delivers Guest Lecture On Observational Drawing

Professor Dr. Nicole Porter, Associate Dean for Research and Innovation at the HCOA, gave an invited guest lecture about observational drawing to launch the 2025–2026 Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) ‘Foundation in Architecture’ course on December 10th, 2025, in partnership with Oxford Brookes University.

In the online session, Nicole shared her own drawing practice from the book Drawing Well-being and the Exploration of Everyday Place; 228 Sketches of Clifton Street. The presentation encouraged students to experiment with various drawing techniques as they begin their architectural education, and to take advantage of observational drawing as a valuable practice for new and established designers alike, enabling designers to see and learn from the built and natural environment with greater sensitivity.

The RIBA Foundation course is a nine-month pre-degree program designed for students from diverse backgrounds. It provides an introduction to architectural study, including the development of conceptual and creative skills, portfolio preparation, and a period of paid work experience within an architectural practice.

Exhibitions & Publications

Dr. David Turturo Presents Paper on “Façade City” Pedagogy at ACSA Annual Meeting

Assistant Professor Dr. David Turturo, AIA, LEED AP, authored and presented the paper “Façade City: The Courthouse Town as Pedagogical Device” at the 113th Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) Annual Meeting, Repair, in New Orleans, Louisiana earlier this year. The paper combines a historical analysis of Texas vernacular urbanism with a collaborative pedagogy developed for Huckabee College of Architecture students. Each February, approximately 120 students travel to courthouse towns and to Austin as part of the “Façade City” design studio, coordinated by Turturo, to fulfill the “Building in the City” segment of the HCOA undergraduate curriculum.

Conferences & Presentations

Dr. David Turturo Presents Paper on Architectural Media History at SAH International Conference

Assistant Professor Dr. David Turturo presented the paper “Skylines and Bylines: Re-reading an Architectural Tabloid,” co-authored with Assistant Professors Lauren McQuistion from the University of New Mexico and Alex Maymind from the University of Minnesota, at the Society of Architectural Historians International Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, in May 2025.

Between 1978 and 1983, Skyline was published as a monthly tabloid newspaper by the New York City–based Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies (IAUS). The paper explores Skyline’s initial reputation as a “central record of events” in the academic and professional landscape, and later as a “substantive newsmagazine,” alongside other magazines, which contributed to an emerging media and publishing landscape with many online newsletters, critical blogs, design calendars, and newspapers that continue to shape design discourse today. Rereading the tabloid as an amplifier of pluralistic design culture in the 1970s and '80s, the paper reconsiders Skyline as an index of architecture’s ambivalent embrace of the culture industry, and as an effort to reanimate publishing as a discursive means to promote an “understanding of architecture as a way of thinking.”

Awards & Distinctions

Jann Engel to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award for Her Work in Hollywood

Jann Engel, class of 1988, will receive the 2026 Art Directors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Set Design and Art Direction, presented by the Art Directors Guild (ADG). The award recognizes her sustained contributions to the fields of set design and art direction in film.

Jann's first project following graduation was working with former HCOA Emeritus Faculty John White, documenting Scotty’s Castle as part of the Historic American Building Survey. She has since worked on over 80 films, including Batman Returns, Memoirs of a Geisha, The Big Short, and The Avengers. Her career reflects a broad range of work across major studio productions and genres.

Read the Texas Tech Now story on Jann's path to this accomplishment here.

Photo Courtesy of Vic Rincon

Alumni

J. Carlos Jones

HCOA Alumnus J. Carlos Jones passed away on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, at the age of 95.

Carlos was born in Amarillo, Texas in 1930. He worked for Architect W.R. Kaufman during high school and graduated from the College of Architecture at Texas Technological College. After serving in the US Army, Charles worked at Nesmith, Lane & Kuykendall, Architects of El Paso, and at Charles Bartlett Cocke & Associates. He later became part-owner of the practice, which was renamed Jones & Kell, Architects & Planners.

Charles was an Emeritus member of the American Institute of Architects and was awarded the 1991 Distinguished Alumni Award in Architecture at Texas Tech University before retiring in 1995. He was also an active member of the Kiwanis Club of San Antonio-Bexar County which raised funds for children in need, and headed up Kiwanis Club’s mission that undertook weekend construction of wheelchair ramps for indigent and homebound persons.

Carlos is survived by his wife, Sybil, his son, Arthur, his daughter, Kara, and his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

The HCOA is saddened by Carlos's passing and offers its sincere sympathies to his family and loved ones.

Mr. Jones's full obituary can be found here.

Former Faculty

Charles Albert York

Charles Albert York, former Assistant Professor at the Huckabee College of Architecture, passed away on Saturday, November 22, 2025, at the age of 60.

Charles was born in Alabama in 1965. After earning a full scholarship to Auburn University and graduating magna cum laude, Charles completed his degree at Cornell University with honors. He later joined the Huckabee College of Architecture as an assistant professor, where he advanced to a leadership role in the undergraduate program and contributed to curriculum development for NCARB accreditation.

Charles later joined Heather H. McKinney Architects, which was eventually renamed McKinney York Architects. During his 31-year tenure, the firm received numerous design awards and professional distinctions, including the AIA Austin Firm Achievement Award in 2007 and the Texas Society of Architects Firm of the Year in 2013. As a firm principle, Charles was also committed to assisting underserved communities with projects such as the Austin Shelter for Women and Children and the Texas School for the Deaf Administration and Welcome Center. In 2014, Charles was recognized with the AIA Austin Design Citation for his project, Tree Fort #9, built with his sons at their house in Westlake, Texas.

Charles is survived by his wife, Sharon, and their three sons, Dylan, Anthony, and Ryan.

The HCOA is saddened to learn of Charles's passing and extends its sincere condolences to his family and loved ones.

Mr. York's full obituary can be found here.

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!

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.

If you're not already, follow us on Instagram, X, and Facebook for the latest updates from the HCOA and be sure to like and share our content within your own networks! Do you have news or updates to share? Email architecture.communications@ttu.edu for a possible feature in the next newsletter!