Architecture dean talks of UA projects

Peter MacKeith, dean of the University of Arkansas Fay Jones School of Architecture, spoke on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, sharing information about projects that are underway in Fayetteville.

The gathering also featured a speech by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.

MacKeith appeared on a panel organized by members of the Working Forests Caucus titled: “Role of Innovation and Applied Research In Expanding Forest Products Markets.”

“I was actually indicating to everyone there what we are doing specifically at the University of Arkansas to, I guess, further those ambitions. I really presented what we’re doing at the university as case studies, so to speak, of what can happen when you begin to turn your energies and ambitions in this direction,” he said.

Engineered timber or mass timber is lighter and stronger than alternative building materials and better for the environment, advocates say.

“I was presenting the projects that are currently underway and are projected at the university’s campus at Fayetteville. The library storage building, which is really just completed. The new stadium drive residence halls, which are under construction now, and then a new project that will be a center for design and materials innovation, which is primarily funded by Anthony Timberlands. All of those are demonstrations in real terms and in real time of these renewed technologies,” he said.

U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, a Republican from Hot Springs and a member of the caucus, said MacKeith and the other panelists are “leaders in agriculture and forestry with a commanding knowledge on new wood products.”