A SOUTH FORTY: Contemporary Architecture and Design in the American South

A SOUTH FORTY: Contemporary Architecture and Design in the American South

Opens February 15, 2025 – Winter 2026 

A South Forty, an exhibition organized and curated by The Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design, University of Arkansas, is devoted to the vibrant, distinctive contemporary architecture and design practices of the American South. 

Modern architectural history in the regional context of the American South is conventionally framed by singular figures, from Paul Rudolph and the Saratoga School of Florida to Fay Jones and Bruce Go in the Ozarks and Oklahoma, or stereotypical typologies and appearances. In counterpoint, A SOUTH FORTY aims to provide an overview of the current vitality of contemporary architecture and design in the American South, through both illustrated profiles of buildings and practices, and statements of principles and observations by those in practice in the region. 

 The contemporary “story” centers on the development of architecture and design in the American South over the last generation (from 1990 forward) as the region undergoes rapid economic and population growth, withstands and recovers from multiple natural disasters, and discovers a more complex and diverse identity amidst the historical societal traditions and conventions. Such a mapping of the American South in these terms opens new and essential territories for work in architecture – more positive, empowering, engaged, sensitive and aware work altogether. 

The “story” of A SOUTH FORTY is also one of place-based design, attentive to the necessities of climate, materials, labor, and purpose, but also attentive to overlooked or undervalued typologies, constituencies, and locales. While there is the surge of new urban centers and suburban peripheries as conditions to address in the region, there also is a new appreciation for the smaller communities and rural or even wilderness landscapes as productive sites for distinctive work. As well, while design excellence has been achieved by many practices at the residential scale, the greater emphasis in the exhibition is to be seen at the public scale, in the civic realm, through the accomplishment of buildings and projects of strength, durability, and value for the communities in which they are situated. 

The exhibition implicitly proposes that the path towards that better “place” of the region leads through both recognition of a common inheritance embedded in the landscape of the American South, and a reconciliation with that physical, cultural, and phenomenal landscape. There is much work accomplished, but much still to be done, and as a project, A SOUTH FORTY is just beginning, and still becoming.

The mapping of A SOUTH FORTY geographically is organized along the armature of US Highway 40, running west from the North Carolina Atlantic seacoast through the southeastern states to an inflection point in Oklahoma. Approximately forty participating practices in the exhibition are drawn from the larger southeastern region along this latitude: 

Alterstudio ArchitecturearchimaniaARCHITECTUREFIRMAtelier MeyBrooks + Scarpa
Chambless King ArchitectsDake Wells Architecturede leon & primmer architecture workshopDEMX ArchitectureDuvall Decker
Ecological Design GroupEl Dorado / KSU Design + Make Studioemerymcclure architectureEskewDumezRippleEvoke Studio Architecture
Frank Harmon ArchitectFultz & Singh ArchitectsHelix Architecture + DesignHobgood ArchitectsRay Huff Architect
Hufftin situ studioJENNINGS + SANTA-RITA ARCHITECTSKatherine Hogan ArchitectsMarlon Blackwell Architects
modus studioOffice of Jonathan Tatepatterhn ivesPendulum StudioPolk Stanley Wilcox
Rural Studio, Auburn UniversitySanders Pace ArchitectureSILO AR+DSomewhere StudioSTUDIO A Architecture
Tall ArchitectsThe Raleigh Architecture Companyunabridged ArchitectureUniversity of Arkansas Community Design CenterUniversity of Arkansas Urban Design Build Studio
University of Florida Design/BuildVines ArchitectureVMDOW.G. Clark Architect

Curated by: Peter MacKeith, Dean and Professor, Fay Jones School of Architecture + Design Designed by: Jonathan Boelkins, Exhibition Designer and Assistant Professor 

About the Fay Jones School of Architecture + Design: The Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas houses professional design programs of architecture, landscape architecture and interior design together with liberal studies programs. All of these programs combine studio design education with innovative teaching in history, theory, technology and urban design. A broad range of course offerings equips graduates with the knowledge and critical agility required to meet the challenges of designing for a changing world. Their training prepares students with critical frameworks for design thinking that also equip them to assume leadership roles in the profession and in their communities. The DesignIntelligence 2019 School Rankings Survey listed the school among the most hired from architecture, landscape architecture and interior design schools, ranking 10th, 14th and eighth, respectively, as well as 28th among most admired architecture schools. 

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