CANCELED: Exploring Architecture with Robert Ivy, Peter MacKeith, and Marlon Blackwell

Join us for a conversation in the Great Hall by Former Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Institute of Architects Robert Ivy; Dean and Professor of Architecture at the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas Peter MacKeith; and practicing architect and E. Fay Jones Distinguished Professor at the Fay Jones School of Architecture + Design at the University of Arkansas Marlon Blackwell, FAIA, whose firm Marlon Blackwell Architects designed Crystal Bridges’ museum store and restaurant, Eleven.

The discussion will explore uniquely Arkansan and regional architecture and its influences, including the work of E. Fay Jones. Drawing from the speakers’ careers, expertise, and experiences, this presentation promises to shed new light on the museum’s own architecture and be informative, insightful, and just plain entertaining.

Tickets are $15 ($12 for members), reserve your spot online or with Guest Services at (479) 657-2335 today.

Robert Ivy is the former Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) 2011-2021.

Robert Ivy has the type of intellect that contributes to a stimulating conversation or debate. Whether the topic centers on the idea that architects and software programmers need to collaborate or on the historical aspects of urban planning in the United States, Robert Ivy has his own sagacious ideas to contribute.

Even though Robert Ivy’s career focuses on constructing and designing buildings, he believes that architects need to encompass other ideas into their architectural endeavors. For instance, he made a significant commitment during the 2012 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting. At the meeting, Robert Ivy and the AIA decided to use architectural designs as a way to improve public health. Another creative project involved promoting the concept that architects are responsible for events occurring in every person’s normal daily routine.

Before he joined the AIA, Robert Ivy worked at McGraw-Hill Construction in multiple roles where he was simultaneously the editor-in-chief of Architectural Record, editorial director, and vice president. In addition, he was in charge of more than a dozen publications. Robert Ivy has also been an advocate for understanding how architecture affects climate. Robert Ivy was the recipient of the coveted G.D. Crain, Jr. Award in 2009, which commemorated his contributions as an editor and entrepreneur.

Appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Institute of Architects in 2011, Ivy oversaw major changes within the organization: digital transformation across all its platforms; Board of Directors restructuring to encourage nimble debate and decision making; an ongoing public awareness campaign; a reconstituted philanthropic foundation; and a consistent, assertive public voice based on architects’ values. Rebounding from the challenging 2008 economy under his tenure, AIA achieved fiscal stability and growth and reached 95,500 members residing in over 200 chapters and components in the United States and around the world—its highest total membership level since the association’s founding more than 160 years ago.

Robert Ivy is a respected speaker known for his memorable speeches given in the United States and other countries. “Fay Jones: Architect,” was acclaimed for its high degree of scholarship. Robert Ivy studied at Tulane University where he earned his Master of Architecture degree. He also earned his Bachelor of Arts in English degree at Sewanee: The University of the South, located in Sewanee, Tennessee.

Marlon Blackwell, FAIA, is a practicing architect in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and serves as the E. Fay Jones Distinguished Professor at the Fay Jones School of Architecture + Design at the University of Arkansas. Marlon is integrally involved in every phase of the design process, from programming through construction administration, for every project Marlon Blackwell Architects pursues. He is involved on a daily basis, working to establish the design direction and works directly with client leadership on critical issues, ensuring a successful outcome and meaningful relationship. As our references will attest, Marlon is accessible and involved. His keen attention to detail and design rigor ensure the success of every project, evident in his acclaim as an architect and educator.

The office of Marlon Blackwell Architects received the 2016 Cooper Hewitt National Design Award in Architecture and ranked #1 in Design as part of the Architect 50, a national survey of architecture firms. In 2011, Marlon Blackwell Architects was recognized as the Firm of the Year by Residential Architect Magazine. The firm has earned an international design reputation through recognition of its work in many publications, including architectural design journals and books, and receiving more than 120 design awards including state, regional, national and international awards.

Marlon is the recipient of the 2020 AIA Gold Medal, the Institute’s highest honor, which recognizes those whose work has had an enduring impact on the theory and practice of architecture. He was a 2019 Resident Fellow of the American Academy in Rome, inducted into the 2018 National Academy of Design and received the E. Fay Jones Gold Medal from the Arkansas AIA in 2017. A monograph of his early work entitled An Architecture of the Ozarks: The Works of Marlon Blackwell was published by Princeton Architectural Press in 2005. Marlon was selected by The International Design Magazine in 2006 as one of the ID Forty: Undersung Heroes and as an “Emerging Voice” in 1998 by the Architectural League of New York.

Marlon was named the 2020 SEC Professor of The Year and as one of DesignIntelligence magazine’s “30 Most Admired Educators” for 2015. He has co-taught design studios with Peter Eisenman (1997 & 1998), Christopher Risher (2000), and Julie Snow (2003). Other visiting academic appointments include the McDermott Visiting Professor at the University of Texas at Austin (Spring 2016), the George Baird Professor at Cornell University (Fall 2012), the Thomas Jefferson Professor at the University of Virginia (Spring 2011), the Elliel Saarinen Visiting Professor at the University of Michigan (Fall 2009), the Ivan Smith Distinguished Professor at the University of Florida (Spring 2009), the Paul Rudolph Visiting Professor at Auburn University (Spring 2008), the Cameron Visiting Professor at Middlebury College (Fall 2007), the Ruth and Norman Moore Visiting Professor at Washington University in St. Louis (Spring 2003) and visiting graduate professor at MIT in Spring 2001 and 2002.

Peter MacKeith is dean and professor of architecture at the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas. Appointed in July 2014, he is the fifth dean of the school.

MacKeith is a nationally recognized design educator and administrator. From 1999 to 2014, he was associate dean, professor of architecture and adjunct associate curator for Architecture and Design at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. MacKeith was the director of the Master of Architecture – International Program at the Helsinki University of Technology Finland from 1995-1999, and he held previous academic appointments at the University of Virginia and Yale University. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Literature and International Relations as an Echols Scholar from the University of Virginia (1981) and his Master of Architecture from Yale University (1985).

MacKeith has been recognized twice by Design Intelligence as a “design educator of the year” (2017 and 2019) and twice by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture with national awards for “creative achievement in design education,” for his design studio teaching and curatorial work. He is the recipient of research and exhibition grants from the Graham Foundation of the Advancement of the Visual Arts, the National Science Foundation, The Museum of Modern Art, and The Finnish Cultural Foundation. He is the author or editor of 10 books and has served as editor of Perspecta, The Yale Architecture Journal (issue 24, “On Materiality”) and The SOM Journal, a journal of professional history, theory, and criticism (9: Collaboration/Teamwork and 10: Leadership/Authorship).

MacKeith serves as chair of the advisory committee for the Northwest Arkansas Design Excellence Program, a regional initiative of the Walton Family Foundation, and is a member of the editorial board of Places Journal for architecture, landscape architecture, and urbanism. He also serves as Special Advisor to the Chancellor for Campus Architecture and Design at the U of A. He is currently overseeing the design and construction of the Anthony Timberlands Center for Design and Materials Innovation, a regional center for research and development of new wood products and new approaches in sustainable construction materials.

Since receiving a Fulbright Fellowship to Finland in 1990, MacKeith has worked as a liaison between the architecture, art, and design cultures of the United States, Finland, and the Nordic region, through educational programs, teaching, exhibitions, and publications. He has written and lectured extensively on modern and contemporary Finnish and Nordic architecture. With support from the Finland 100 Centennial Fund, MacKeith conceived and curated the 2017-2018 exhibition for the Finnish Embassy in Washington, D.C., The Iconic and the Everyday: Creative Finland in the United States. From 2016 to 2019, he was the Centennial Lecturer in Architecture for the Finlandia Foundation. He was curator for Lighthouses: On Nordic Common Ground, the exhibition of The Nordic Pavilion in Venice, Italy, for the 13th Architecture Biennale in 2012, working with The Museum of Finnish Architecture, the Swedish Center for Architecture and Design and the Norwegian Museums of Art and Architecture. He has also led the organization of exhibitions and conferences in the United States with the National Building Museum; the Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum; the Brookings Institute; and the Kemper Art Museum at Washington University in St. Louis.

MacKeith served as Honorary Consul for Finland in the state of Missouri from 2012-2014, and as a member of the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York Advisory Board. In 2014, he was installed as a Knight, First Class, of the Order of the Lion of Finland in recognition of his contributions to the advancement of Finnish culture.