The University of Arkansas has awarded architect and author Frank Harmon, FAIA, the Fay Jones School Legacy Medal in Architecture. Harmon, founder and principal of Frank Harmon Architect in Raleigh, North Carolina, is the third recipient of the Legacy Medal.
To honor and extend the legacy of American architect E. Fay Jones, namesake of the School of Architecture and Design, the Legacy Medal is given to esteemed architects who convey Jones’s “spirit of generosity, a dedication to the place and people of his upbringing, deep relationships with his clients and their commissions, and a commitment to the practice and discipline of architecture.”
“I couldn’t hope for a greater honor,” Harmon said. “Fay Jones’s buildings fit their surroundings as comfortably as a bird’s nest in a thicket. He was as gentle and courteous in person as his buildings were in the landscape. I admired him immensely.”
Harmon, a fellow of the American Institute of Architects, has designed buildings across the southeast for 40 years. Recognized nationally as a leader in modern, sustainable, and regionally appropriate design, his work engages pressing contemporary issues such as placelessness, sustainability, and restoration of cities and nature.
From small sheds and houses to 70,000-square-foot corporate headquarters and LEED-certified environmental education facilities, his buildings are specific to their sites and use materials to connect them to their landscapes. Harmon’s projects embody the vernacular legacy of the south while maintaining a distinguished modernism. His buildings have been published often and have garnered over 200 design awards. In 2013, he received AIA North Carolina’s highest honor, the Gold Medal for Architectural Design.
Harmon received an inscribed medal and presented a public lecture at the Fay Jones School on January 27. His lecture emanated from his book Native Places: Drawing as a Way to See.