Architecture Student Creates a Digital Blueprint, Turning NWA Into a Living Minecraft Map

When T.J. Williams talks about Northwest Arkansas, he doesn't just describe it. He can navigate it from memory. He knows where buildings sit in relation to one another, how the land slopes beneath Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and which corners of the University of Arkansas campus catch the light at night. He knows these places so well, in fact, that he has rebuilt them, block by block, inside Minecraft.

Williams, a second-year architecture student in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design, is the creator of an expansive Minecraft project, @NWA_in_Minecraft on Instagram, that recreates major landmarks across the U of A campus and Northwest Arkansas, including Fayetteville, Bentonville and Rogers. Minecraft is a sandbox video game where players build and modify a block-based digital world, often using it as a creative tool rather than a traditional game.

What began as a small experiment has grown into an ever-expanding digital landscape that blends architecture, research, design and storytelling that may never be truly finished.

"I don't think this project will ever end," Williams said. "That's kind of the cool part."

Where It All Started

Originally from Elk Grove, California, Williams moved to Bentonville in 2018. While he doesn't consider himself "Californian" anymore, the move was transformative for him. In California, he said that buildings felt repetitive, like they were copied and pasted from one place to another. Northwest Arkansas, on the other hand, left Williams feeling inspired.

"Seeing the development sprout up in the area is what really got me," Williams said. "Everything was just so different; it was like I couldn't ignore it."

For Williams, architecture wasn't always the plan. He initially gravitated toward coding and digital work, but an introductory architecture course at Bentonville High School changed the way he thought about his future. Hands-on projects, such as building a small-scale model of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai — the world's tallest building — sparked an interest that led him to the Fay Jones School. While his interest in architecture grew, another skill was quietly developing.

Williams' relationship with Minecraft goes back years. Around 2017, he joined an online group recreating Disneyland in Minecraft at a one-to-one scale. He started in guest relations before transitioning to the "imagineering" side of the project, working on backend development and ride technology. When the project shut down due to lack of participation, Williams shifted his focus closer to home.

From BHS to NWA

His new project was a full recreation of Bentonville High School, which was a slow process, but gained considerable attention online before the account was unexpectedly shut down. This disappointing action stalled his momentum, but not for long. By the time Williams arrived at the university, new tools and software updates had changed what was possible, opening the door for a renewed and more refined approach.

When the Bentonville High School project first began, Williams was still relatively new to building at scale. The project became a crash course in nearly every foundational skill: learning how to properly outline large structures, using Google Earth Pro for reference and figuring out how to build and detail environments in a way that felt accurate and believable.

"It was a huge learning curve for me, and I had to figure out how outlining worked, how to use Google Earth Pro and, most importantly, how to build and detail everything properly," Williams said.

Alongside the building process, Williams also had to develop a strategy for sharing the project. He launched a simple Instagram account under the straightforward name "BHS in Minecraft," posting weekly documentation of the project process. That same formula has carried over into his project now, with only a little more professionalism and the new "reels" addition to Instagram.

"The very casual side of the account still remains so it can appeal to a younger audience rather than it all being sort of robotic," Williams said. "People, including myself, sometimes think it's funny, too."

Behind the Project

During his first year in design school, Williams began an outline of Yocum Hall on a whim one day to show his friends, who lived in the building. This quick development and new level of ease led Williams to think even bigger.

"I was like, you know what? I'm seeing all of these new updates and stuff with the programs. What if I just do the U of A?" Williams said. "And then it turned into… well, why not all of it?"

What began as a small section of campus near a friend's dorm quickly spread outward. Fayetteville became Rogers; Rogers became Bentonville. Eventually, Williams committed to recreating the broader Northwest Arkansas region, focusing first on prominent landmarks like Crystal Bridges, the Bentonville Square, Dickson Street and prominent U of A buildings and spaces.

The project is far more advanced than casual gameplay. Williams approaches each building as an architectural study. Using Google Earth Pro, he establishes reference points, such as the circular path in front of Old Main, and measures precise distances to building corners. With the help of specialized plugins, those measurements are translated directly into Minecraft coordinates at a one-to-one scale.

Elevations are calculated manually. Williams converts real-world feet into metric measurements and adjusts each structure to its accurate height in-game. He plots outlines first, since that can be one of the most time-consuming steps, before building vertically and refining details as he goes.

For complex elements that can't realistically be constructed with standard blocks, Williams uses 3D modeling software like Blockbench. These models are imported into Minecraft through custom resource packs, allowing him to scale and place them precisely where they belong.

The process requires constant research. While Fayetteville's Google Earth imagery is relatively current, Bentonville and Rogers are not. Some maps date back to 2017, forcing Williams to rely on site visits, memory and hundreds of reference photos he's taken himself.

The Online World's Real-World Impact

The familiarity has translated directly to his studio work. When classmates visit Crystal Bridges or the Fayetteville Public Library for site research, Williams often arrives already knowing the layout because he's built it.

Beyond the technicalities, the project has reshaped how Williams thinks about design. In Minecraft, the standard player character is 1.8 blocks tall, which corresponds to roughly 5 feet 11 inches in the real world. With this knowledge, Williams has a constant sense of scale, helping him understand how large or small buildings truly are. He's begun noticing architectural features like sun-shading fins and spatial transitions that now help inform his studio work.

While the builds may look time-intensive, Williams says they're surprisingly fast. With practice, he can complete major structures in an hour or less. The outlines take the longest; once those are finished, the rest comes quickly.

The public's response has been wide-ranging. His work has been featured by KNWA, shared by architecture firms and noticed by organizations across Northwest Arkansas. On campus, architecture students were among the first to take notice.

Despite the attention, Williams says the project isn't meant to impress — at least not primarily. He sees it as a tool, a resource and an evolving archive.

Looking ahead, Williams plans to finish remaining campus areas, return to partially completed projects in Rogers and Bentonville, and continue expanding outward. As for his career path, the answer remains open. This project has introduced him to social media strategy, digital storytelling and marketing, alongside architecture and design.

Ultimately, Williams hopes others see his work as proof that doing something differently matters.

For Williams, Northwest Arkansas isn't just a place in which he lives and studies. It's a world he's rebuilding one block at a time.