Fay Jones School Faculty and Alumni Recognized By State AIA

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The Ruth Lilly Visitors Pavilion, designed by Marlon Blackwell Architect,(Courtesy of the Indianapolis Museum of Art.)

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Faculty and alumni of the Fay Jones School of Architecture were recognized with awards recently handed out by the Arkansas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

Design awards and other awards were given during the annual AIA Arkansas State Convention, held Sept. 15-17 at the Hot Springs Convention Center. School faculty won three of six design awards.

Marlon Blackwell Architect, won the only Honor Award handed out, for the Ruth Lilly Visitors Pavilion at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Blackwell, a fellow of the American Institute of Architects, is a Distinguished Professor and head of the architecture department in the Fay Jones School. Sited in the woods of 100 Acres: The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art and Nature Park, the pavilion features a steel-framed exoskeleton and a deck made from ipe, a Brazilian hardwood. The project team included Blackwell, Meryati Johari Blackwell, Mark Bukamathu, Matt Griffith, Mark Wise, Stephen Reyenga and Bradford Payne, as well as school alumni Jonathan Boelkins, Chris Baribeau, Gail Shepherd, Michael Pope, David Tanner, Angela Carpenter and Ignacio Gonzalez.

Blackwell’s firm also won a Citation Award for the Green River Community Center, which is in design development. The project addresses the social and economic needs for an impoverished community of 900 people in Green River, Utah. A large cantilevered canopy will provide protection from intense western sun, and the ground floor, wrapped in glass on three sides, will inspire transparency and connectivity.

Bradley Edwards, an adjunct professor and alumnus of the school, received a Merit Award for his project, The Polypod. The Fayetteville project is a simple outbuilding, designed with a polycarbonate shell and exposed wooden frame, with myriad possible uses.

Several school alumni served on the design teams of other projects recognized by the jury.

Amirmoez Foster Hailey Johnson, a Fayetteville firm, won a Merit Award for the Garland Center project, a mixed-use gateway to the University of Arkansas. It houses a six-level parking garage, along with a facade featuring the University Bookstore, a campus Wal-Mart store and several other retail spaces. The project team included Jim Foster, John Krug and Phil Hadfield – all school alumni – along with Bill Browner, Kirk V. Blunck, Khalid Khan, Brent Jackson, Kerry Weig and Mark Schmid.

Modus Studio, a Fayetteville firm, won a Merit Award for the Green Forest Middle School in Green Forest. The design of this two-story building uses a modern articulation of metal panel and concrete block to re-imagine these durable, low-maintenance and cost-effective materials often used in school construction. The project team included Chris M. Baribeau, Josh Siebert, Chris Lankford, Austin Chatelain and Leanne Baribeau – all school alumni – as well as Julie Chambers.

Cromwell Architects Engineers won a Merit Award for the University of Arkansas Leflar Law School Addition in Fayetteville. The 72,000-square-foot addition to the Leflar Law Center houses the library reading room, archival space, classroom and seminar rooms, a 200-seat auditorium and courtroom, a new entry lobby, and faculty and staff offices. The project team included Daniel K. Fowler, Charles J. Penix and Thad Kelly – all school alumni – as well as Brent Hamling, Jordan Lane, Hrand DuValian and Scott Martin.

Chris M. Baribeau, principal architect at Modus Studio, received the 2011 Emerging Professional Award at the ceremony. He is a 2003 graduate of the architecture school. He was a project architect for Marlon Blackwell Architect for five years before co-founding Modus Studio in 2008. He was the school architectural liaison in 2009 and a convention speaker for AIA Arkansas in 2010-11. His works have been featured in CitiScapes, At Home in Arkansas, the Northwest Arkansas Times, AY magazine, Harvard Design, Residential Architect and Architectural Record.

A jury of practicing architects from Seattle selected the 2011 AIA Arkansas Design Awards. Jurors were David E. Miller, partner, The Miller Hull Partnership; Kirsten R. Murray, principal/owner, Olson Kundig Architects; and Prentis Hale, principal, SHED Architecture & Design.