The architect Eddie Jones moved to Phoenix 52 years ago, and immediately fell in love with the desert. He began designing HUD housing at the Lescher and Mahoney firm, but quickly made a name for himself as an innovative designer of what we now call sustainable architecture.
A new book about Jones’s work has recently been published, documenting his world-renowned Jones Studio, one of the Valley’s more notable architecture firms. KJZZ contributor Robrt Pela visited Jones there to talk about the building and what it’s like to see his work and career summarized between the covers of a book.
The first thing you notice at Jones' architecture studio is the cluster of Cosanti Bells in his conference room.
"You see how it's, it's, it's cracked so that one doesn't have much of a sound," Jones said.
Jones' studio looks less like a traditional office building and more like an artist's enclave where a lot of people happen to be seated at desks and drawing tables in the center of a wide open room.
There are no framed renderings of Jones' notable work, like the concrete, steel and glass Mariposa Land port of entry structure in Nogales or his renovation of Harold Wagner's sanctuary at Valley Presbyterian Church. Instead, the walls are covered with art made by other famous architects and gifted to Jones.
The skylights are positioned just so the ceiling fans are sculptural. The ceiling of that conference room is covered in tiny metal leaves.
I asked Jones whether all these details were meant to inspire his employees.
“Architecture is, is more than a building, it's more than shelter. Architecture is emotional. You know, it's one thing to keep the rain off of your head and to keep the air conditioning inside. Buildings do that all the time. That's just like the least they, they can do,” Jones said.
“But to, to be in a space that, that to use your word inspires you. That's wonderful. I might use the word uplifting, joyful, interesting. You know, every day this changes. Look at the beautiful light patterns on that wall. That's coming from a linear skylight up there and it's reflecting off of the brass leaves, what we call those brass leaves,” he added.
A new book titled "Strive: Jones Studio Adventures in Architecture" explores the architect's four decades of work here. It documents how Jones and his brother Neil along with partners Brian Farling and Jacob Benyi have emphasized nature and the value of water in commercial and residential buildings all over the world.
Jones arrived in Phoenix 52 years ago with a degree from Oklahoma State University and a love of the desert.
“I had wanderlust throughout my childhood, but I, I literally was stuck in Oklahoma. All my heroes were somewhere else. Frank Lloyd Wright had been in Arizona, Paolo Soleri was building Arcosanti in Arizona. And then I got a hold of an Arizona Highways magazine and I saw the photographs of the sunsets and the saguaros and, and these weird plants that, you know, I, that don't grow anywhere else. And I thought, that's where I need to go, you know, not California, not New Mexico or New York. I need to go to Arizona,” Jones said.
“And so my son was 2 years old at the time and we had this Volkswagen Beetle and my then-wife, Mary, and I packed it up and, and drove here in August,” he added.
Inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright Jones wanted to create desert dwellings that addressed the realities of our harsh climate. He wondered if he couldn't do that while also forwarding his own ideas about environmentally conscious building designs, designs that predate the green movement that now is a standard of his industry.
It turned out that he could. I noticed as we toured the grounds of Jones studio that many of these ideas are evident there on the property.
“All of the rain that hits our roof drains towards this edge of the silver fascia that you see up there. Behind that metal panel is a concealed gutter, the gutter takes the water to the canopy down there and it takes the water to the canopy here. And as we turn the corner, you'll see how the shape of the steel canopy channels the water to a cistern, which pipes it to the underground storage, which then in turn irrigates our landscape,” Jones said.
“Look at the parking lot. It's you, do you see stripes? No. Do you see ADA signage? No. Do you, do you see asphalt? No, if you look over the fence, you will see all of that. And that's somebody else's problem. But I told the city of Tempe, you know, you do, we really need more heat, absorbing black asphalt? Do we really need more hard surfaces that, that none of the rainwater can penetrate and then it goes to the street and goes to the sewer?” Jones added.
Jones purchased this lot for next to nothing in part because it's centered beneath an especially noisy flight path to and from Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport.
“And since we built, there has been a lot of investment. I don't, I'm not going to take credit for it, but I like it that people are starting to notice that this leftover neighborhood in Tempe has, has potential. But one way I could afford this site was, it's in the flight path of Sky Harbor. And, but, you know, it's, sometimes people build buildings by railroad tracks and, or freeways and it's just, it's just part of the experience and we, we've kind of, you know, have this great relationship with the sound of 747s coming in every 30 seconds,” Jones said.
This new book about Jones feels like farewell stuff, but he swears he's not going anywhere. Instead, he says he's protecting his legacy by turning over the company to his partners. Next year at this time, Farling and Benyi will become the new owners of Jones’ studio, but Jones will still be here at his drawing table thinking up new ways to use water and shade while noisy airplanes zip past overhead.
“But Eddie Jones will become an employee of Jones' studio, and I will keep my same desk. And, but, and and Brian and Jacob will be completely in charge in a way that the building sells the commitment of Jones’ studio. I don't just consider this my house. I think everybody considers it, you know, their other home. And that's a result of thoughtful design, which can be called architecture,” Jones said.
