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An Architecture of the Ozarks

March, 2009

A mobile home, a candy-colored silo and lush Ozark vistas grace the first pages of the new book by architecture professor Marlon Blackwell, "An Architecture of the Ozarks," recently published by Princeton Architectural Press. In his work and now in his book, Blackwell celebrates both the natural beauty and what he describes as "the good, the bad and the ugly" buildings of northwest Arkansas.

Blackwell has built an international reputation by transforming the ordinary into something entirely new. One can trace the influence of Springdale's chicken feed elevators on the Keenan TowerHouse, an 80-foot-tall private aerie in Fayetteville. Blackwell's response to the environment is guided by the passions of his clients, resulting in highly personalized, idiosyncratic architecture.

The book features nine projects ranging from Blackwell's first residential design to recent, more public spaces such as the Fred and Mary Smith Razorback Golf Center, an austere form punctuated by bands of windows and enriched by dry stacked stone and copper cladding.

Blackwell also included a squat "bull frog house" and other fanciful house prototypes developed early in his career.

Three essays by David Buege, Dan Hoffman, and Juhani Pallasmaa explore the evolution of Blackwell's style and chronicle his personal mythology.

An Architecture of the Ozarks
Marlon Blackwell
Princeton Architectural Press