Architecture School Earns National Recognition

When John G. Williams founded the architecture program at the University of Arkansas in 1946, it consisted of two courses offered through the College of Engineering. In 1958, it became the only accredited architecture program in the state.

The school now has over 2,200 alumni and about 400 students. The school graduates an average of 60 students each year and up until 2008, 100 percent of graduates achieved placement in jobs or graduate programs.

While the majority of students seek jobs in larger, urban areas, about 10 percent to 20 percent of graduates stay in Northwest Arkansas.  

Last year, the school was ranked as one of America’s best architecture and design schools.

Jeff Shannon, dean of the newly named Fay Jones School of Architecture, said the school is finally getting the recognition it deserves.

“It’s good to get some national recognition,” he said. “What it says as much as anything is that we now have faculty and students that are getting national and international recognition.”

Further enhancing its reputation, the architecture school is now named for one of its most famous graduates and professors.

Don and Ellen Edmondson of Forrest City announced in February 2008 their desire to contribute $10 million to the school and name it in honor of the late architect Fay Jones.

Jones was a graduate of the first class of architecture students and later returned to teach at the school for 35 years. He also served as the school’s first dean.

Don Edmondson, a 1958 graduate of the University of Arkansas College of Business, took a freshman arts appreciation course, part of which included an architecture lecture by Jones.

Edmondson was inspired by the architect and made it one of his goals to one day live in a Fay Jones home.

Edmondson and his wife did eventually commission Jones to design their home in Forrest City and as a result developed a close relationship with the architect and his wife Mary Elizabeth “Gus” Jones. The couple said they wanted to honor their friends by contributing to the school where Jones inspired Don Edmondson and so many other students.

Charlotte Taylor, director of development for the school of architecture, said Jones had a tremendous influence on the school and people often wondered over the years why the school wasn’t named for him.

“The Edmondsons made it a reality,” she said.

The University of Arkansas Board of Trustees voted on Jan. 16 to officially name the school the Fay Jones School of Architecture.

A weekend of events was held in April to formerly dedicate the school’s new name and celebrate the Jones legacy as an architect and professor.

Alumni came from as far as England to take part in the celebration, Taylor said.

“The graduates were thrilled,” she said. “A lot of them knew him very well and were glad that we were honoring him as a wonderful teacher, person and friend.”

Taylor said the name brings higher acclaim to the school and will help recruit more students and faculty from around the country.

Shannon, who knew Jones as a student, employee and friend, said naming the school for Jones was more than appropriate.

“I love the fact that the school now will be recognized in the same breath as the architect that was voted (by the American Institute of Architects in 1991) one of the top 10 best current living architects, who produced a building ranked as one of the top 10 buildings of the 20th century,” he said. “I don’t know a single person who doesn’t have a tremendous amount of respect for him and the quality of his work.”

Recognition
At the end of 2008, the school was ranked 20th in the nation in the 10th Annual Survey of America’s Best Architecture and Design Schools, a study conducted by the Design Futures Council and published in the November/December 2008 issue of Design Intelligence.

It was the first time the school has been included on the top 20 list.

Tim de Noble, head of the architecture department, said the school has often been overlooked because of its size and geographical location.

“Being ranked truly does reflect what we’ve known for a long time and that’s that we are the little engine that could,” he said. “We have an amazing school with very dedicated faculty members and students with incredible work ethic and attention to detail.”

De Noble said one of the distinctions the school has is a dedication to the craft aspect of architecture.

“The craft of drawing and modeling is prevalent here,” he said. “That kind of mentality, that attention to detail is what the students are able to show in their design work.”

The school also has two highly acclaimed international programs, which students are required to participate in.

Since 1994, the school has provided students with the opportunity to study in Mexico City.

“It’s a great opportunity to expose students to the rich tradition of design in Mexico,” De Noble said.

The school has had a presence in Rome since 1986. The Rome Center for Architecture and Humanities offers fourth-year architecture students and opportunity to take courses in architectural design, architectural and urban history and Italian Cultural History.

The school has also been recognized for its Community Design Center. The center, since its establishment in 1995, has won more than 25 regional, national and international design and planning awards.

De Noble said the school also stands out for its design/build efforts. Design/Build is an outreach program of the school that takes students through the entire process of a project from sketching to building.

“It gives students the opportunity for critical hands on experience,” he said.

It also provides students with a way to contribute to the community.

The school’s design/build efforts include an outdoor classroom project at Washington Elementary School in Fayetteville and a tree house for Camp Aldersgate, a Little Rock camp for children with special needs.

All of those things have helped put the school on the map, De Noble said.

The ranking just confirms what everyone has long known.

“Hopefully, in terms of the university culture itself, this will increase support for some of our programs,” he said. “In the larger community, it does help in terms of recruiting even more prepared or qualified students.

“Being recognized also helps us in terms of recruiting faculty, speakers and guests.”

Future Plans
The next step for the school is an upgrade to the facilities. The department of architecture is housed in Vol Walker Hall, which was built as the campus library in 1935. The department of landscape architecture is located in Memorial Hall, which was built in 1940.

Taylor said the buildings have many structural issues that need to be dealt with.

“Here we have this incredible school that has won all these awards, that’s just been named after this incredible alumni, we need a facility that is befitting the Fay Jones School of Architecture,” she said.

Taylor said the school plans to use the Edmondson’s endowment as a challenge to others to raise the funds necessary to make renovations to the facilities as well as build an addition to Vol Walker Hall in order to expand the program.

Beyond that, the school is working toward eventually establishing a graduate program in architecture.

Although budget constraints may be an issue for the next couple of years, Shannon said, faculty from both departments are studying the options for graduate programs.

“Graduate education is an important part of our future,” he said.