Jones, Euine Fay, 1921-2004

Euine Fay Jones was born in Pine Bluff, Jefferson County, Arkansas on January 31, 1921. He enrolled at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville in 1938. Jones left school to enlist in the United States Navy. In 1945, Jones returned to Little Rock, where he worked as a draftsman for an architectural engineering firm. He went back to the University of Arkansas in 1946 to enroll in the new architecture program. After graduating from UA in 1950, Jones was accepted into the graduate program at Rice University, where he finished his Master of Architecture degree in 1951. From 1951 to 1953, he held his first teaching job at the University of Oklahoma, working with the noted architect Bruce Goff. In 1953, Jones came back to Arkansas to begin his twin careers of teaching and practice. In 1966, he became the first chair of the architecture department, and in 1974, he was named the first dean of the School of Architecture. Fay Jones met Frank Lloyd Wright in 1949. Wright invited Jones to apprentice at Taliesin East in Wisconsin. Jones and his wife became members of the Taliesin Fellowship, returning annually for ten years. Wright's most lasting influence on Jones would be in the application of the principles of organic architecture: simplicity of construction, use of native materials, attention to crafted details, and seamless integration of building to site. Since the 1960s, Jones's firm received over twenty national design awards. In 2000, the AIA recognized Thorncrown Chapel as the fourth most significant structure of the twentieth century. In 2006, Thorncrown was named to the AIA's exclusive list of Twenty-five Year Award buildings. In 2000, he was named by the AIA as "one of the ten most influential architects of the twentieth century." Fay Jones died in Fayetteville on August 30, 2004.

From the description of Fay Jones collection, 1935-2005 (University of Arkansas - Fayetteville). WorldCat record id: 318927741