Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design

The conversation "Designing for Health and Wellness with Architects Marlon Blackwell and Wesley Walls" will take place at 6 p.m. Oct. 28 at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville. This event is presented in partnership with the?Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas. Architects Marlon Blackwell, FAIA, and Wesley Walls, AIA, will discuss designing the?Heartland Whole Health Institute building and the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine. The discussion will explore the influences of nature, community and wellness in the architectural designs on the Crystal Bridges campus and give a first look at what’s to come when these two buildings open in 2025. Blackwell is Distinguished Professor and the E. Fay Jones Chair in Architecture at the U of A, and is founder of the Fayetteville-based firm Marlon Blackwell Architects. Walls, a native Arkansan, is an alumnus of the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design and is a design principal with Polk Stanley Wilcox in Little Rock. More details and tickets ?? https://lnkd.in/gGF5FxbD

Randal Dickinson joined the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design as the digital fabrication specialist in February 2017. Prior to joining the school, he was a career and technical education instructor at Fayetteville High School from 2011 to 2017. Dickinson also taught in Korea. Throughout the semester, Dickinson helps nearly every student in the school with design, fabrication and woodworking equipment. The fabrication lab in Vol Walker Hall houses 3D printers, laser cutters, vacuum form machines and a CNC router. While students independently use some of the equipment, most require a consultation where Dickinson helps refine the work. "Every semester, we do the same thing differently," Dickinson said. "There are always special projects that come down the pike that are interesting. There are always challenges that a building full of design students brings." Read more of his story here ?? https://lnkd.in/g46V3UZM Read the full Q & A here ?? https://lnkd.in/gv-_jwrP

Here's a fantastic spotlight on Carl Smith FLI FRGS FRSA AFAAR Int. ASLA Assoc. AIA from the Royal Society of Arts (RSA US). Cheers to Carl!

Dana Cuff will present a lecture at 4:30 p.m. Monday, October 7, in Ken and Linda Sue Shollmier Hall, Room 250 of Vol Walker Hall, on the University of Arkansas campus, as part of the fall lecture series in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design. Cuff is a professor of architecture, urban design and urban planning, as well as founding director of cityLAB at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). In her lecture, “Abundant Housing: Architectures of Spatial Justice,” Cuff will discuss how “architecture has never been more relevant to the pressing problems of contemporary life,” the opening sentence of her recent book, “Architectures of Spatial Justice” (MIT Press, 2023). Case studies from architectural practices around the world demonstrate that designing housing from a spatial justice perspective leads to abundance rather than scarcity. Cuff will show how the role of the architect shifts from designing individual projects to advancing initiatives that proliferate, generate policy and lift goals of equity, all while relying on the profession’s creative capacities. This lecture is the June Biber Freeman Lecture in Architecture. ? More details ?? https://lnkd.in/dZ5c5WFv

Laura Terry is associate professor of architecture in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design, where she has taught since 1998. Teaching primarily in the beginning design studios, she endeavors to foster curiosity in her students through iterative drawing and making practices. Becoming a designer takes a lot of practice, and the ability to practice is part of what Terry teaches in her beginning design courses. While some people may assume that early design is the easiest area to teach, Terry said that’s not always the case. This is partially because the first two semesters are spent correcting assumptions and creating a solid foundation for students as they move through the program. “Part of the responsibility of beginning design is to foster these students’ curiosity, confidence and skills,” Terry said. “It can't only be about the skills; it has to be about the bigger picture. I strive to instill that competence in students. While they're moving through the program, they need to believe they can do this if they're willing to put in the work.” Read more of her story here ?? https://lnkd.in/gAE-BWWX Read the full Q & A here ?? https://lnkd.in/gNYu5Ep5

Javier Sánchez Corral will present a lecture at 4:30 p.m. Monday, September 30, in Ken and Linda Sue Shollmier Hall, Room 250 of Vol Walker Hall, on the University of Arkansas campus, as part of the fall lecture series in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design. Sánchez, Honorary FAIA, is a founding partner and director of JSa Arquitectura, in Mexico City, Mexico. In his lecture, “JSa – Architecture as Micro-Urbanism,” Sánchez will discuss the work of JSa Arquitectura. The firm was founded in 1996 with a vision to use micro-urbanism to conceive comprehensive architectural interventions that contribute toward the continuous rehabilitation of the urban fabric. Stemming from the French tradition of the atelier, Sánchez, along with his partners Aisha Ballesteros and Benedikt Fahlbusch, approach design as a collective process, immersed in a continuous cycle of research, urban approximation, architectural project and adaptability to the ever-evolving social, urban and environmental challenges. With this conviction as premise, the studio gained early recognition with a series of seminal projects that together prompted the renewal of downtown Mexico City at the turn of the century. This lecture is the Ernie Jacks Lecture, sponsored by Marlon Blackwell Architects. More details: ?? https://lnkd.in/gZ-Ki7Hq

Ellen Dunham-Jones will present a lecture at 4:30 p.m. Monday, September 23, in Ken and Linda Sue Shollmier Hall, Room 250 of Vol Walker Hall, on the University of Arkansas campus, as part of the fall lecture series in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design. Dunham-Jones is a professor of architecture and director of the MS in Urban Design at the Georgia Institute of Technology, in Atlanta, Georgia. In her lecture, “Retrofitting Suburbia,” Dunham-Jones will discuss how American suburbia was never as homogenous as the 1950s stereotype of white picket fences and white families. She’ll explain how, while aspects of that stereotype continue to sprawl out into farm fields, what is left behind is not what it used to be. The landscape where most Americans live is aging — as are its residents. An authority on sustainable suburban development, Dunham-Jones maintains a unique database of more than 2,500 suburban retrofits, hosts the “Redesigning Cities” podcast series, was Architectural Record’s 2018 Woman Educator of the Year, was recognized in 2023 and 2017 by Planetizen as one of the 100 most influential urbanists, and is a recipient of the 2025 Seaside Prize along with June Williamson. This lecture is a Martha Dellinger Memorial Lecture, given by Sharon and Jim Parker. More details??? https://lnkd.in/gK2neQCh

An applied research facility centered on Arkansas timber and wood products that will offer University of Arkansas students hands-on experience with innovative design and construction materials is another step closer to becoming reality. The Anthony Timberlands Center for Design and Materials Innovation marked a milestone in the construction process on Tuesday, Sept. 17, with a “topping out” ceremony. More than 120 people gathered at the site of the future center to celebrate this construction industry tradition, which, for this building and its cascading roof plane, recognizes the positioning of the highest point of the structure. Attendees also signed the wooden structural beam that will be the last piece to be installed in the overall structure next month. The Anthony Timberlands Center is part of the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design, the state’s only school of architecture and design. Directly supporting the university’s land-grant mission, this new facility will serve as the hub for the Fay Jones School's ongoing design-build and graduate programs, collaborative efforts with partners in the state's forest industries?and outreach programs that address critical issues including housing inequality. The Anthony Timberlands Center is designed by Grafton Architects of Dublin, Ireland, in partnership with Modus Studio of Fayetteville, the architect of record. Grafton Architects is led by co-founders Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, recipients of the 2020 Pritzker Architecture Prize and the 2020 Royal Gold Medal for Architecture. “The Anthony Timberlands Center represents the University of Arkansas’ ongoing commitment to research and innovation that directly serves the people of our state,” said Chancellor Charles Robinson. “As a land-grant institution, we invest in projects like this to drive economic growth, address critical issues such as affordable housing and sustainability, and prepare our students to lead in industries that are vital to the continued prosperity of our state and nation.” More details ?? https://lnkd.in/gyKj66i8

The new Interior Architecture and Design National Award Winners exhibition features design work from members of the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design that won top national honors over the last two years. The exhibition will be on display from Sept. 16 through Oct. 18 on the first floor of Vol Walker Hall, on the University of Arkansas campus.?This is part of the public exhibition series in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design. The exhibition will include work from the Interior Architecture and Design National Award Winners, materials from recent national grants by interior architecture and design faculty and recent student work across the curriculum using 3D printing and innovative weaving techniques. More details ?? https://lnkd.in/g-4pkAcQ

Imagine a world where pollinators design the cities. Imagine a place where birds and butterflies don't just inhabit the air, they control it. Imagine humanity's experience if homo sapiens weren't the dominant species. These imaginings acted as guiding principles for a recent garden installation by a team in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design. Scott Biehle, teaching associate professor of landscape architecture, along with landscape architecture and design students, created the garden "Ville des Pollinisateurs." Their installation won entry to this year's famed?Chaumont International Garden Festival?in France. The festival is held at the Domain of Chaumont-sur-Loire and runs until Nov. 3.?Over more than six months, the festival is expected to attract more than 550,000 visitors from around the world. More details ?? https://lnkd.in/gBMpAmAg