Radical Practice The Work of Marlon Blackwell Architects

Radical Practice celebrates the extraordinary, award-winning designs of Marlon Blackwell Architects, an Arkansas-based firm with a focus on public and civic projects that are located outside of the established centers of architectural culture.

The distinct and original work of Marlon Blackwell Architects has produced iconic and award-winning designs across building types, scales, and budgets. Located in Arkansas, the firm merges the universal language of architecture and the particulars of place, a process that has resulted in a distinguished body of work, from schools to parks and beyond.

Celebrating thirty years of practice by the 2020 AIA Gold Medal-winning architect Marlon Blackwell, this survey of more than a dozen buildings pairs detailed drawings and the vivid photographs of renowned photographer Timothy Hursley with essays by leading designers, planners, and artists. Contributors include Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, architects of the Obama Presidential Center; Maurice Cox, Chicago's city planning director; Pritzker Prize-winning architect Thom Mayne, James Corner, landscape architect of the High Line, and environmental artist Mary Miss among many others—all of whom attest to Blackwell's reputation as a leading voice of his generation.

Peter MacKeith is dean of the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. He was named a Design Intelligence design educator of the year in 2017 and 2019.

Jonathan Boelkins is a teaching assistant professor at the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas. A former studio director of Marlon Blackwell Architects, is principal of his own firm.