Vincent James and Jennifer Yoos will present a lecture titled “VJAA: Towards a Reflexive Practice” at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 12, at Hembree Auditorium (Agricultural, Food, and Life Sciences Building, Room 107E) on the University of Arkansas campus, as part of the Fay Jones School of Architecture lecture series.

James (FAIA) and Yoos (AIA) are principals of VJAA. Based in Minneapolis, the firm is known for its innovative approach to architectural practice, to environmental design, and to highly crafted buildings. VJAA is the recipient of the 2012 Architecture Firm Award from the American Institute of Architects. Over the past 15 years, VJAA has received 17 national design awards, including four national American Institute of Architects Honor Awards, six Progressive Architecture Awards, and two American Institute of Architects/Committee on the Environment Top 10 Green Building Awards.

Recently completed projects include the Hostler Student Center at the American University of Beirut and a Guesthouse, Chapterhouse and Chapel at Saint John’s Abbey and University. Current projects include the new Walker Library in Minneapolis, the Welland International Flatwater Center for the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games, a house prototype for Habitat for Humanity (Detroit)/Public Architecture (San Francisco) and the new African Art Galleries reinstallation at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

Educated at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, James was appointed adjunct professor at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design from 2000-2008. Prior to teaching at Harvard, he taught at Tulane University, where he was appointed the Favrot Visiting Chair in Architecture in 1998 and 1999. James is currently the Cass Gilbert Professor in Practice at the University of Minnesota School of Architecture. He founded the firm in 1995.

Yoos received her Graduate Diploma in Design from the Architectural Association in London and her professional degree in architecture from the University of Minnesota. During 2002-2003, Yoos was a Loeb Fellow at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. She is also a Professor-in-Practice at the University of Minnesota School of Architecture. She has practiced with VJAA since 1997 and has collaborated on the design of all the office’s projects over the past 15 years. 

The pair are also this year’s John G. Williams Distinguished Visiting Professors for the school.

The public is invited to attend this lecture. Admission is free, with limited seating.

An additional lecture will take place at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 13, at the Darragh Center at the Main Library, 100 Rock St., in Little Rock.