Architect honored for park structures

Marlon Blackwell Architects of Fayetteville and James Corner Field Operations of New York have been named as winners of a 2019 Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects for their work on structures in a Memphis park.

The award is the highest national award given for architecture and design.

The two firms collaborated on the design of seven structures within the 195-acre Heart of the Park section of Shelby Farms Park in Memphis.

Marlon Blackwell holds the E. Fay Jones Chair in Architecture at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville and is a distinguished professor in the Fay Jones School of Architecture.

“We used a holistic approach, both architecture and site design informing one another at the highest level,” Blackwell said. “The award is indicative of the collaboration.”

Shelby Farms Park is a 4,500-acre city park on the west side of Memphis. The park — more than five times the size of Central Park in New York — is located on the site of a former penal farm.