UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS FACULTY EARN ARCHITECTURAL AWARDS

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The Arkansas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) awarded several honor and merit awards to local architects at its annual state convention in Fayetteville, Nov. 2-4.

Marlon Blackwell, Yume Rudzinski and Ati Johari Blackwell were presented a merit award for Mason’s on the Square, a boutique in downtown Fayetteville. Their design team, Y.A.M. Designs, which stands for Yume, Ati and Marlon, created a butterfly motif for Mason Hiba's third store. Fifty-four blue Morpho butterflies aligned in a Cartesian grid decorate the glass storefront, and inside stands a pair of dressing rooms shaped like a butterfly wing and wrapped in red and gold velvet.

The butterfly metaphor started with customer service, according to Hiba. He said he wanted his employees to treat his customers the same way that butterflies land on flowers, "gentle, not shaking them too much."

"Butterflies are very gentle and very beautiful," Hiba said. He compared them to his clothing, which he described as "very fashionable and very beautiful."

Jeff Shannon, interim dean of the University of Arkansas, said, "The butterflies seem to symbolize the continuing metamorphosis of the square particularly the west side, as well as to capture an essence of shopping for clothing, entering in one condition and emerging transformed. The fantasy of shopping is both directly reflected and enhanced through their design."

If customers experience fantasy inside Mason's, however, their fantasy is juxtaposed against the permanent and fixed.

"We played off the existing. We took things that are moveable, and more transitional, like these wardrobe units which have wheels, and we made something more flexible against a wall that's more rigid like the existing brick," Rudzinski said.

Y.A.M. Designs began haphazardly in January when Hiba came to Marlon Blackwell, associate professor of architecture at the U of A and principal of Marlon Blackwell Architects. Hiba asked him to design Mason's, but according to Blackwell's wife Ati, he was hesistant to accept the project because of his upcoming trip to MIT. Marlon said that he couldn't turn down the job, however, because of Ati's enthusiasm and experience with interior work and boutiques.

Ati grew up in Malaysia where she also practiced as an elite architect on interiors, including British India, an Asian counterpart to Banana Republic. In January, Ati was pregnant—she said she knew that she couldn't finish the project alone, so she asked Yume Rudzinski to join the team. Yume moved to Fayetteville in August 2000 with her husband Russell Rudzinski, an assistant professor of architecture at the U of A, where Ati also teaches part time. Ati said Yume already gained many years of experience in architecture firms and was eager to practice.

Yume is currently working with Marlon on Zen Space for Lynne and James Spellman and is designing an accessory store with both Marlon and Ati for Mason's on the Creek in Rogers, scheduled to open in July.

Yume said, "It was nice to be able to work with a colleague, Marlon, who really pushes the client and me. He takes the time to educate, and he has fifteen more years of practice, so I'm learning as I practice, which is what you want to do; work with people you respect like Ati and Marlon."

AIA also celebrated Marlon’s work with an honor award for Keenan TowerHouse and a merit award for an unbuilt design for loft/retail building on 16 West Center St. The Keenan TowerHouse, a steel structure similar to a fire tower, stands 82 feet tall and is visible above the tree line heading north on Old Wire Road near Old Missouri Road. The structure was built using local resources like white oak, creek and river stones and pecan shells along with locally fabricated steel.

Marlon was born in Germany, grew up in Florida and the Philippines and worked as a bible salesman while he earned his bachelor's in architecture at Auburn University. He came to the U of A in 1992, and since then has received numerous awards and features for the Keenan TowerHouse, including the 2001 Gulf States Regional AIA Design Honor Award and a cover story in the February issue of Architectural Record.

"I think only one other Arkansas building besides the Keenan TowerHouse has received such a high honor - E. Fay Jones’ Thorncrown Chapel," Shannon said.

The Keenan TowerHouse also appeared in "House: American Houses for the New Century" (Universe/Rizzoli, 2001) and in 2002 will be featured on the entertainment show "Extra" and the Scribbs’ network "Fine Living."