Kiosk exhibit explores work of renowned architect

SPRINGDALE — Learn about renowned Arkansas architect Fay Jones through an interactive kiosk exhibit that opened April 12 at the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History.

Housing the Human and the Sacred: A Digital Experience of the Architecture of Fay Jones features gaming technology using a touch screen, which enables the exploration of Jones’ architecture in three dimensions. The kiosk is a project by a team of

University of Arkansas students and faculty from the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design and the Tesseract Center for Immersive Environments and Game Design in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.

An Arkansas native, Jones is a University of Arkansas alumnus and longtime Fayetteville resident. His buildings typically utilized simple elements, such as stone, wood and glass. One of his most famous designs, Thorncrown Chapel near Eureka Springs, is listed by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) as one of the most significant buildings of the 20th century. Jones is the recipient of the AIA Gold Medal, the institute's highest award. He was also a longtime architecture professor and the first dean of what is now the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design. Jones died in 2004 at the age of 83.

Supported by a Chancellor’s Innovation and Collaboration Fund grant from the University of Arkansas and a Digital Projects for the Public Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the project was led by Greg Herman, associate professor of architecture with the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design, and David Fredrick, associate professor of classical studies at the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences and director of the Tesseract Center.

The exhibit will be on display through Dec. 31.