Varied Publications Feature Design Work by Professor Marlon Blackwell

The design work of Marlon Blackwell and his Fayetteville-based firm has made its way into print and online publications around the globe in recent months.

Blackwell is a Distinguished Professor and head of the architecture department in the Fay Jones School of Architecture. He is a fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

The online edition of the Wall Street Journal quoted Blackwell in a story about design firms known for their regionally focused work. The story, “Top Architects Go Local,” was written by Nancy Keates and published Dec. 30.

In the story, Keates wrote, “The new regionalism isn’t a return to an area’s most familiar architecture: It doesn’t mean building Colonials in Connecticut or ranch houses in California. These houses are decidedly modern, incorporating open floor plans, integrated exterior and interior spaces and sliding glass walls. As a result, they can feel traditional and contemporary at the same time, fitting in with the local natural landscape yet often standing out dramatically from their neighbors.”

The story mentioned Blackwell’s Porchdog House, L-Stack House and Keenan Tower House. Also featured in this story were two former visiting professors in the school: Tom Kundig, the 2010 John G. Williams Distinguished Professor, and Larry Scarpa, the 2008-09 Fay Jones Chair in Architecture.

The Ruth Lilly Visitors Pavilion was included in the December issue of Architect, the official magazine of the American Institute of Architects. The project won a Bond Award in the magazine’s Annual Design Review. The article by Vernon Mays and a slideshow are available online.

The pavilion is part of 100 Acres: The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park, which opened in June 2010, at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. It was also mentioned in the January/February/March issue of American Builders Quarterly, in an article by Lisa Ryan featuring three projects that integrate structure with site.

Landscape Architect magazine in China, which includes content in Chinese and English, featured drawings, photographs and an article about the pavilion in its December issue.

The pavilion also received generous treatment, with photographs, drawings, maps and an article, in the winter 2011 issue of T18 magazine. The Spanish-English language, digital magazine focused on architecture, landscape and design started in July 2011 and can be read online or downloaded as a PDF for free.

The St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church in Springdale, Ark., was featured on the cover of the November issue of Architectural Record, under the theme “Made in America,” with a story written by Laura Raskin. Architectural Record’s story on the church is available online. A video tour of the project is also on the magazine’s website.

The church, which was recently named the World’s Best Civic and Community Building by the World Architecture Festival, was also included in the World Buildings Directory’s online database. Photographs of the project are featured on the American Architecture Awards website.