FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Most designers break the rules sometimes; William Conway rewrites them. A Minneapolis-based architect and planner well known for his efforts to redefine the public realm, Conway is leading one of three University of Arkansas School of Architecture studios exploring how a light rail system might reshape development in Northwest Arkansas.

Conway will discuss his projects for public spaces at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 13, in room 103 of Vol Walker Hall on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville and at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14, at the Arkansas Arts Center lecture hall in Little Rock.

“Bill Conway merges planning policy with a profound understanding of social processes in the design act,” said Steve Luoni, director of the UA Community Design Center. “His firm, Conway + Schulte, resourcefully addresses design problems in various scales and contexts, from the first ring suburb, transportation systems and landscapes to the intimacy of the house. It is a great pleasure having his help as our school addresses complex regional design issues.”

Conway began his career in the construction industry, but his planning approach extends beyond bricks and mortar, embracing legislation and zoning changes to effect lively public spaces. Conway and his partner, Marcy Schulte, are best known for a project to revitalize Central Avenue in downtown Atlanta in preparation for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games. Their award-winning proposal revised city zoning ordinances to redefine sidewalks and setbacks as places for gardens, seating, video screens to project the day’s Olympic events, historical narrative and other amenities. More recently, their firm won a 2002 Graham Foundation Grant for a research project and Web site that explores sustainable home and landscape design and ecological planning practices for suburban homes and neighborhoods. Conway + Schulte’s designs have won numerous awards, including a Progressive Architecture Honor Award, Iowa American Institute of Architects Honor Award, Iowa American Society of Landscape Architects Honor Award and an AIA Regional Urban Design Committee Design Award.

Ann Campbell Transit Station, Iowa State University. Courtesy Conway + Schulte Architects

William Conway brings a broad range of experience to his architecture and planning practice. As a partner in a construction company from 1977-1982 he supervised residential, commercial and light industrial building, and he later managed the construction of natural gas processing plants as a construction superintendent in western North Dakota. He earned a bachelor of arts in architecture from North Dakota State University and a master of architecture degree from Yale University. He was a visiting artist at the American Academy in Rome in 1989, and then became a professor of architecture at Iowa State University for nine years. Since 1999 Conway has taught at the University of Minnesota department of architecture, where he was department head for five years and currently serves as the director of graduate theses. He worked in the office of Cesar Pelli and Associates in 1988 and 1989 and also has worked in architectural offices in Fargo, N.D., Boston, Mass., and Rome, Italy.

Conway’s Little Rock lecture is part of an ongoing series cosponsored by the UA School of Architecture, the Arkansas Arts Center and the central Arkansas section of the American Institute of Architects. A 6 p.m. reception will precede the Little Rock lecture. Both lectures are free and open to the public. Continuing Education Units will be awarded to design professionals.