Maurice Jennings, a Northwest Arkansas architect whose chapels and other structures dot the region and prominent student of Fay Jones, has died at age 68, according to his family.
Jennings' work includes Hunt Chapel in Rogers and the Cooper Chapel in Bella Vista, structures showcasing his emphasis on repeated, almost crystalline designs inviting natural light, use a mix of stone, wood and steel, and complement the surrounding environment.
Maurice Jennings memorial
A ceremony honoring Maurice Jennings life is set for 2 p.m. Oct. 28 at the Hunt Chapel in Rogers. Online memorials may be signed at www.nelsonberna.com. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Maurice Jennings International Experience Honors Endowment to support international travel for honors students in the University of Arkansas’ Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design.
Source: Jennings family
He worked with his mentor Jones on the interlocking, 41-foot Fulbright Peace Fountain on the University of Arkansas campus.
"In my opinion, Maurice Jennings was Fay Jones' best student," said Marlon Blackwell, a Fayetteville architect who holds a position named for Jones at the university's Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design. He described Jennings as gentle and warm. "He's going to be missed, man, I tell you."
Jennings died Monday after a five-year struggle with cancer, said his son, Walter Jennings. The elder Jennings is also survived by his wife, Sissy, and his daughter, Marci Crosby.
Maurice Jennings was born Nov. 6, 1947, in the small town of Heber Springs in north-central Arkansas, according to an obituary from his family. He learned carpentry from his father and eventually graduated from the university's architecture school, absorbing lessons from Jones and the legendary Frank Lloyd Wright, who's known for his sharply geometric designs.
But Jennings' life was never constrained to architecture. After college, he went to work in Memphis as a draftsman during the daytime while playing guitar and banjo at a nightclub in the evening, Walter Jennings said.
"He would always joke that he made more money in tips playing guitar and banjo," the younger Jennings said Wednesday.
He served in the National Guard for four years and married Mildred "Sissy" Waits, who grew up in Mississippi, after "a blind date and a fateful trip to Mardi Gras," according to the obituary.
Jennings deeply loved the outdoors and showed it through horseback riding and his building designs, his son said. The young Marci picked up the horseback riding, while Walter favored architecture. When Walter as a boy wanted a tree house, Jennings agreed, but only if Walter drew it for him to build. They used scraps of wood and an old gate for the walls.
"He was a man that loved to build and loved to create," said Walter Jennings, who works at the Fayetteville architecture firm named for him and his father.
Maurice Jennings' designs favored what his son called "organic architecture," designing angular structures that fit within a site rather than being built on top of it. Blackwell said Jennings had a "wonderful sensibility with proportion and scale," with his buildings alternating between "cave-like" and "forest-like."
"You could basically see how it was built," Blackwell said, adding that doesn't mean Jennings' designs are easily imitated. "Personally I don't do that sort of work, but it has so much integrity and it's so principled that one can admire and respect it."
Blackwell suspected Jennings' principles -- focusing on the surroundings and material, welcoming light and others -- would be his most lasting impact on the area's architecture students.
"He'd never say, 'Hey, it should look like what I do,'" Blackwell said. "He just had a light touch on things."
NW News on 10/13/2016