Fay Jones School Recognizes Alumni Design Work, Awards for Distinction

The Perot Museum of Science and Nature’s roof is a landscape composition – an abstract desert caprock to upland grasses to prairie. (Photo by James Wilson Photography)

Indoor/outdoor lines are blurred for a holistic expression of the museum’s architecture, landscape architecture and exhibits. (Photo by James Wilson Photography)

This stream in the abstracted forest/wetland area invites museum visitors to walk through the water and climb on the frog exhibit. (Photo by James Wilson Photography)

A view of the science skywalk and treehouse icon from the creek below at the Mid America Science Museum at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. (Photo by Dero Sanford)

A view of the treehouse icon from the “decision point” platform. (Photo by Dero Sanford)

A view of the circular cargo net and science skywalk from the upper platform. (Photo by Dero Sanford)

A diagonal view of Dorough Residence from the front. (Photo by Paul Burk Photography)

The view to the court area from the living room at Dorough Residence. (Photo by Paul Burk Photography)

The court view to the studio (at left) at Dorough Residence. (Photo by Paul Burk Photography)

The gift shop at the new Dyess Welcome Center. (Photo by Ken West Photography)

The façade of the 1950s Dyess Theatre before it was restored. (Photo by Aaron Ruby)

Behind this restored façade is a new community center, welcome center and gift shop for Dyess. (Photo by Ken West Photography)

The revitalized Friedman-Mincer building at the Texas Corner intersection in downtown Fort Smith once faced demolition. (Photo by Tim Hursley)

A view of the Friedman-Mincer building at the Texas Corner intersection in the 1920s. (Photo courtesy University of Arkansas Libraries)

Reclaimed pine floor joists were used for the pergola in the lobby of Texas Corner. (Photo by Tim Hursley)

Light Weight House features a large front porch and has a finely corrugated metal shell. (Rendering by Jonathan Boelkins)

The kitchen and dining areas of Light Weight House. (Rendering by Jonathan Boelkins)

This wall of Light Weight House doubles as a projection screen for outdoor movies. (Rendering by Jonathan Boelkins)

Photo by Bob Coleman Photography

Roger Boothe, Bill Eubanks, June Freeman, Judy Brittenum, Tim Hursley and Davide Vitali all received various Awards for Distinction from the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design during an Oct. 13 ceremony at the Inn at Carnall Hall.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Coy Talley of Dallas, Texas, has received an Honor Award for Landscape Architecture, the highest award in this year’s Fay Jones Alumni Design Awards from the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design. Talley was among several alumni recognized for their design work during the school’s Fay Jones Alumni Design Awards and Awards for Distinction event, held Oct. 13 at the Inn at Carnall Hall on the University of Arkansas campus.

In addition, the school honored several individuals who have made contributions to the school, university and culture of design. They were collectively lauded in a stand-alone event held as part of the school’s 70th anniversary celebration.

For the second year, alumni of the Fay Jones School were part of the design awards jury. One alumnus, Mark Weaver, served as awards jury chair. He is principal and lead designer at Hnedak Bobo Group in Memphis, Tennessee, and is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

Designs for residential, educational, religious, cultural, commercial, medical, retail, office, historic, recreational and public urban spaces, as well as jewelry, were among 37 projects vying for recognition in this year’s alumni design awards competition. Entries came from Fay Jones School alumni practicing in cities around the state of Arkansas, as well as in Texas, Missouri, Tennessee, California, Florida, Maryland, Washington, D.C., and New York. A seven-member jury chose six projects for accolades – resulting in one Honor Award for Landscape Architecture, two Merit Awards for Architecture, and Honorable Mentions for Historic Preservation and Interior Design, Historic Preservation, and Unbuilt Projects.

Talley won his Honor Award for Landscape Architecture for Perot Museum of Nature and Science, located in Dallas, Texas. The project’s 4.7-acre site is on a former industrial brownfield north of downtown and west of the arts district. The site design used an abstraction of several native Texas landscape environments that integrate seamlessly with the building’s architecture. Talley, who graduated from the U of A in 1984 with a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture, is with Talley Associates in Dallas.

“The landscape and the building are very much tied together and it seems one cannot exist without the other. The building seems to erupt out of the earth, and the landscape responds,” the jury members stated.

Chad Young won a Merit Award for Architecture for the Mid America Museum at the Donald W. Reynolds Center, a project in Hot Springs. Young, of Wittenberg, Delony & Davidson, Inc., in Little Rock, received a Bachelor of Architecture in 1995. The project renovated the original 1979 museum, an interactive science center, and added a science skywalk and treehouse icon elevated above a creek and nature trail.

“This design creates a beautiful and exciting new way to experience the forest and its canopy and encourage an interest in science,” the jury noted.

Gregory Uekman received a Merit Award for Architecture for the Dorough Residence, a private residence in Bethesda, Maryland. Uekman, who received a Bachelor of Architecture in 1980, is with Uekman Architects, in Bethesda, Maryland. This project renovated a modest 1950s house in a neighborhood threatened by new, large homes and diminished diversity.

The jury called it a “transformation of an old home with light-filled forms and contrasting materials that encourages an alternative to spec houses.”

Aaron Ruby won an Honorable Mention for Historic Preservation and Interior Design for Dyess Welcome Center and Gift Shop. Ruby, of Allison Architects Inc. in Little Rock, received a Bachelor of Architecture in 1997. “A modest budget inspired a creative, careful restoration, playing on existing forms to update the facade, and using simple, modern materials to create a contrasting addition,” the jury noted.

Timothy Maddox, Ben Cruce, Kara Pegg McElyea and Mitch Woods won an Honorable Mention for Historic Preservation for Texas Corner, a 104-year-old Fort Smith building that once faced demolition. Maddox, McElyea and Cruce each received a Bachelor of Architecture in 2002, 2007 and 2011, respectively, and Woods received a Bachelor of Science in architectural studies in 2012. This design team is with deMx architecture in Fayetteville. The jury called the project a “significant rehabilitation of a historic building with a juxtaposed modern interior utilizing materials harvested from the old wood structure.” They also said that the renovation “brings a great street corner back to life.”

Jonathan Boelkins won an Honorable Mention for Unbuilt Projects for Light Weight House, a design proposed for downtown Bentonville. The jury called the work “an interesting contextual solution to the variety of factors impacting this house. The choice of materials and the organization of the plan are reminiscent of the mid-century modern houses.” Boelkins, who received his Bachelor of Architecture in 2004, is with Jonathan Boelkins Architect, in Fayetteville, and is also an instructor in the Fay Jones School.

Jury members for the awards competition included three faculty members of the Fay Jones School: Ken McCown, professor and head of the Department of Landscape Architecture; Arian Korkuti, visiting assistant professor in interior design; and Christopher Meyer, visiting assistant professor in architecture. Three additional alumni jury members were Kelly Walsh (interior design); Allison Thurmond Quinlan, principal at Flintlock Architecture and Landscape; and Lori Santa-Rita, principal at Maurice Jennings and Walter Jennings Architects.

In addition to the alumni design awards, the Fay Jones School also presented several Awards for Distinction, with some of the categories awarded for the first time. Distinguished Service Awards were given to Judy Brittenum, an associate professor of landscape architecture who retired earlier this year, and Davide Vitali, a professor of architecture and director of the University of Arkansas Rome Center. Brittenum resides in Fayetteville, while Vitali lives in Rome. This award is given annually in recognition of a recipient’s significant contributions to the students and resources of the Fay Jones School, the University of Arkansas and the community.

Distinguished Alumni Awards, handed out for the first time this year, went to Roger Boothe, who received a Bachelor of Architecture in 1971, Bill Eubanks, who received a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture in 1981, and the late Catherina Kik Taylor, who received a Bachelor of Architecture in 1951. Boothe had a successful, 35-year career as director of urban design for Cambridge, Massachusetts. Eubanks is creative director at Urban Edge Studio in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, and is the first graduate of the Fay Jones School to be named a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects. Taylor was the first female graduate of the Fay Jones School. This award will be given annually in recognition of an alumnus or alumna for significant contributions to the architecture and design culture locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.

Also new this year, Dean’s Medals were given to Timothy Hursley, an accomplished architectural photographer who has helped promote design in the state, and June Freeman, a longtime advocate of sharing design with the public and founder of the Architecture and Design Network. Both are residents of Little Rock. This award will be given annually in recognition of a recipient’s significant contributions to the architecture and design culture of the State of Arkansas, and to our students and their education at the Fay Jones School.

About the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design: The Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas houses professional design programs of architecture, landscape architecture and interior design together with liberal studies programs. All of these programs combine studio design education with innovative teaching in history, theory, technology and urban design. A broad range of course offerings equips graduates with the knowledge and critical agility required to meet the challenges of designing for a changing world. Their training prepares students with critical frameworks for design thinking that also equip them to assume leadership roles in the profession and in their communities. The school’s architecture program was ranked 26th in the nation, and the 12th best program among public, land-grant universities, in the 16th Annual Survey of America’s Best Architecture and Design Schools, a study conducted in 2015 by the Design Futures Council and published in DesignIntelligence. For more information visit fayjones.uark.edu.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs.

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