Designs for the new Many Nations Longhouse
| After an exhaustive selection process, the Longhouse
user group unanimously chose 1967 University of Oregon architecture
graduate Johnpaul Jones to design the new Longhouse. Jones,
one of the foremost architects in the world, is a partner in the Seattle
firm Jones & Jones. A Native American
born in Oklahoma, he was selected by the Smithsonian Institution to
help design the $106 million National Museum of the American
Indian to open in 2001 on the National Mall
in Washington, D.C. His firm has also designed
the Makah Tribal Elder Center in Neah
Bay, Washington; the Longhouse Education and Cultural Center at
Evergreen State College in Washington; and the Institute
of American Indian Art in New Mexico. Click on image to enlarge. |
Johnpaul Jones designed the new Many Nations Longhouse as an expression of the essential cultural values of welcome, community, and learning for Native American students and peoples. The building will serve as a gathering place for students and tribal groups and a place where Native Americans and non-natives can interact and learn from each other.
© Johnpaul Jones
Modeled after a traditional Longhouse of the Kalapuya Indians— the first
people known to live at the junction of the McKenzie and Willamette Rivers—the
all-wood building will be centered by a Great Room for large gatherings.
Other features include a resource library, a lounge, offices, a kitchen,
a children's play area, and an area for outdoor events.
© Johnpaul Jones
The house will be built in the southeast portion of the campus adjacent
to the University of Oregon Museum of Natural History.