The Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design announces its fall 2021 lecture series, which builds on last year's series. Through these carefully selected presenters, the school continues to engage with the incredibly broad scope of issues, opportunities and challenges that society and the design disciplines confront today, and to include a diverse array of local, national and international voices.

Brian Holland, assistant professor of architecture and coordinator of the school's lecture series, said that this semester's presenters were chosen by considering how the design professions can address the ongoing pandemic and other pressing world events and conditions.

"We continue to spotlight distinguished designers, practitioners and researchers who are working to serve diverse constituencies, expand the boundaries of practice, and elevate prospects for equitable, inclusive and environmentally responsive design," he said.

One speaker, Jonathan Tate, is widely recognized for his innovative housing projects in New Orleans, and his talk dovetails with the new Housing Innovation Center being launched in the Fay Jones School. Another pair of speakers, Joel Sanders and Seb Choe, will address ways that designers can begin to better accommodate and design for "non-compliant bodies" in their work.

"Our hope is that the wide range of voices on offer, and the many approaches to design practice they represent, will inspire our students to reflect on their own ideas, values and commitments as they move through their design education and on into the early years of their careers," Holland said.

The Fay Jones School has again joined with Places Journal, an internationally respected online journal of architecture, landscape architecture and urbanism, and the U of A Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to present these seven speakers in the fall lecture series, which is fully accessible online.

"In our 75th year, the Fay Jones School's lecture series continues to build awareness among our community on the pressing issues of our society and culture — and how architecture and design can contribute to remediating and resolving these issues," said Peter MacKeith, dean of the Fay Jones School. "Our lecturers are innovators, transformers and explorers, of influence and impact in their work."

The Fay Jones School and its collaborators will present this hybrid lecture series over six Mondays and one Friday in September, October and November. Some speakers will present in person in Vol Walker Hall, and all lectures will be available online. These speakers come from diverse backgrounds and offer a wide range of expertise.

In addition to their public lecture, each speaker in the series also plans to either join a design studio — virtually or in person — as a guest critic or host an intimate post-lecture conversation with design students and faculty.

Places Journal, a series collaborator, is a respected resource regarding the future of architecture, landscape and urbanism, wielding the power of public scholarship to promote equitable cities and resilient landscapes.

"We are so pleased to be co-sponsoring the Fay Jones School lecture series once again," said Nancy Levinson, Places Journal editor and executive director. "The focus on how designers are addressing the ongoing pandemic, and related challenges of spatial and environmental justice, is timely and important. And once again, the school has assembled an impressive roster of speakers."

All lectures are scheduled for 4 p.m. (CST) and will be presented live online. To register for this fall lecture series, complete this registration form on Zoom.

The full slate of lecturers are:

Sept. 13 — Marlon Blackwell, FAIA

Blackwell is founder and principal of Marlon Blackwell Architects in Fayetteville, and he is a Distinguished Professor and the E. Fay Jones Chair in Architecture in the Fay Jones School. He is the 2020 recipient of the AIA Gold Medal, the 2020 SEC Professor of the Year, and a lifetime member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His firm is widely recognized for thoughtful built work that uses an "economy of means to deliver a maximum of meaning in places where architecture is often not expected to be found." His lecture is the 75th Anniversary Year Keynote Lecture for the school.

Sept. 27 — Kwendeche, FAIA

Kwendeche is owner and design director of Produksi Arymeus in Little Rock, Arkansas. His wide-ranging body of work includes historic preservation architecture, photography, wearable art, abstract painting, furniture, tribal masks and sculptures. Notable preservation work includes the Daisy Bates House National Historic Landmark and several Rosenwald Schools in south Arkansas.

Oct. 8 — Theodore Hoerr, RLA, ASLA

Hoerr is the founding principal of Terrain Work in New York, New York. He has led the design and implementation of projects in North and South America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. His work ranges from large-scale urban strategies that shape the future of cities to small-scale landscapes that emphasize the craft of building. His work explores how the temporal dynamics of landscape create new emergent forms and experiences, synthesizing culture, nature and the built environment. He is the 2021 Verna C. Garvan Distinguished Visiting Professor in Landscape Architecture for the Fay Jones School.

Oct. 18 — Joel Sanders, FAIA, and Seb Choe

Sanders is the founder and director of Joel Sanders Architect and MIXdesign, and Choe is associate director of MIXdesign, based in New York, New York. MIXdesign is a think tank and design consultancy dedicated to addressing the specific needs of "non-compliant bodies" — people of different ages, genders, races, cultures, religions and abilities whom architects, interior designers and clients have long overlooked.

Nov. 1 — Liz Ogbu

Ogbu is the founder and principal of Studio O in San Francisco, California. As a designer, urbanist and spatial justice advocate, Ogbu is an expert on engaging and transforming unjust urban environments. Her multidisciplinary design and innovation practice operates at the intersection of racial and spatial justice. She collaborates with communities in need to leverage design to catalyze sustained social impact. 

Nov. 8 — Jonathan Tate

Tate is the founder and principal of the Office of Jonathan Tate in New Orleans, Louisiana. Tate's architecture and urban design practice engages in large-scale urban research and strategic planning initiatives, client-based architectural commissions for a range of building types (commercial, residential, cultural) and self-developed projects informed by ongoing research efforts. In 2020, Tate received the Arts and Letters Award in Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His lecture is the Ernie Jacks Lecture, sponsored by Marlon Blackwell Architects.

Nov. 15 — Jane Mah Hutton, OALA, CSLA

Hutton is a landscape architect and associate professor at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Her research considers the social, political and ecological entanglements of material practice. Her recent book, Reciprocal Landscapes: Stories of Material Movements, traces five everyday landscape construction materials — fertilizer, stone, steel, trees and wood — from seminal public landscapes in New York City back to where they came from. 

More information about each of the speakers in this hybrid lecture series and details on how to access the lectures online can be found on the Fay Jones School website. Registration for the entire series is available on Zoom.