Blackwell, Marlon

Marlon Blackwell is associated in Columbus, Indiana, with the new air traffic control tower at Columbus Municipal Airport, for which Marlon Blackwell Architects was selected in 2023. City of Columbus and project materials identify his Fayetteville, Arkansas–based firm as the design architect for the replacement tower, developed in collaboration with the Federal Aviation Administration and Woolpert. The project extends Columbus’s long tradition of commissioning distinguished contemporary designers for civic work, while applying that ambition to airport infrastructure. Blackwell is widely known for a regional modernism that combines strong, memorable forms with close attention to materials, landscape, and the character of place. He also had a long teaching career at the University of Arkansas and is especially notable nationally as the recipient of the AIA Gold Medal.

Columbus, Indiana projects
• Columbus Municipal Airport Air Traffic Control Tower, 4770 Ray Boll Boulevard, selected 2023; design unveiled 2024; under construction.

Honors
• AIA Gold Medal, 2020.