Johnpaul Jones (born July 24, 1941) is an
American architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
and
landscape architect
A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manage ...
, partner in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
-based architecture firm
Jones & Jones Architects and Landscape Architects, best known for innovative
habitat immersion method design of
zoo
A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes.
The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, ...
exhibits. A person who
self-identifies as Native American, he has also executed many projects for various Native American organizations, and was lead design consultant for the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...
's
National Museum of the American Indian
The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers.
The museum has three ...
, completed 2004 in
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
[. Accessed 2017-10-19.] He was the first architect ever to receive the
National Humanities Medal
The National Humanities Medal is an American award that annually recognizes several individuals, groups, or institutions for work that has "deepened the nation's understanding of the humanities, broadened our citizens' engagement with the humani ...
.
[Marc Stiles]
Seattle architect Johnpaul Jones wins National Humanities Medal
''Puget Sound Business Journal'', 2014-07-29. Accessed online 2017-10-19.
Education and early career
Jones was born in
Okmulgee, Oklahoma
Okmulgee is a city in the Tulsa metropolitan area and the county seat of Okmulgee County, Oklahoma, Okmulgee County in Oklahoma, United States. The name is from the Muskogee language, Muskogee word ''okimulgi,'' which means "boiling waters".Bambu ...
to
Welsh-American
Welsh Americans () are an American ethnic group whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in Wales, United Kingdom. In the 2008 U.S. Census community survey, an estimated 1.98 million Americans had Welsh ancestry, 0.6% of the total U.S. popu ...
father Johnpaul Jones and
Choctaw
The Choctaw ( ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States, originally based in what is now Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choct ...
/
Cherokee
The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...
mother Dolores. His maternal grandfather was Choctaw and his maternal grandmother Pearl Gurley was Choctaw/Cherokee. Neither parent had more than a grade school education. His parents marriage had largely ended by the time he was 9 years old, and he and his mother moved to
Manteca, California
Manteca is a city in San Joaquin County, California. The city had a population of 83,498 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census. It is part of the Stockton-Lodi, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
Manteca is a city in the Ce ...
under an Indian relocation program. In Oklahoma, he had been instructed in Native American traditions by his maternal grandmother Pearl; in California (Manteca and later
Stockton) he lived in a largely Hispanic environment and at times did farm work, which was his mother's occupation.
Although he did poorly in school other than excelling in art classes and physical education, he managed to graduate from high school in 1959, and attended
San Jose City College
San José City College (SJCC) is a public community college in San Jose, California. It was founded in 1921, and is one of the oldest colleges in the California Community College System.
History
The college was founded in 1921, opening its doo ...
. A job as an office boy at architecture firm Higgins & Root in
San Jose, combined with his drawing skills set him on the first steps of his career. With help from his boss Chester Root he entered the
University of Oregon
The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...
in
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...
, where for the first time he became a serious student, and where he began his interest in Native American architecture, more neglected in the U. of O. curriculum of the time than not. He continued to work summers at Higgins & Root.
After graduating in 1967, he moved in Seattle, working briefly for
Paul Thiry, then at Dersham & Dimmick, before opening a practice on
Bainbridge Island. He became increasingly involve in Native American matters, joining the Urban Indian Committee, where he first came to know Native activist
Bernie Whitebear
Bernie Whitebear (September 27, 1937 – July 16, 2000), birth name Bernard Reyes, was an American Indian activist in Seattle, Washington, a co-founder of the Seattle Indian Health Board (SIHB), the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, an ...
. In the early 1970s, he met landscape architect
Grant Richard Jones (no relation), who was studying the
Native American burial mounds of the Midwest. In 1973, he joined Grant Jones and Grant's then-wife Ilze Jones at Jones & Jones, based in the Globe Building in Seattle's
Pioneer Square neighborhood.
Work at Jones and Jones
Zoo projects
Although his colleague Grant Jones led the pioneering
immersion exhibit work on the Gorilla exhibit and the African Savannah exhibit at Seattle's
Woodland Park Zoo, Johnpaul Jones has led numerous zoo projects since that time. Among these are:
* Tiger River Trail,
San Diego Zoo
The San Diego Zoo is a zoo in San Diego, California, United States, located in Balboa Park (San Diego), Balboa Park. It began with a collection of animals left over from the 1915 Panama–California Exposition that were brought together by its ...
* Asian elephant house, Woodland Park Zoo
* Polar bear habitat,
Point Defiance Zoo,
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...
*
Honolulu Zoo
The Honolulu Zoo is a zoo in Queen Kapiʻolani Park in Honolulu, Hawaii. It is the only zoo in the United States to be established by grants made by a sovereign monarch and is built on part of the royal Queen Kapiʻolani Park. The Honolulu ...
master plan
* Plans and exhibits,
Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum
* African Savannah master plan and exhibits,
Perth Zoo
Perth Zoo is a zoological park in South Perth, Western Australia, South Perth, Western Australia. The zoo first opened in 1898 and by 2011 housed 1258 animals of 164 species and an extensive botanical collection.
It is a full institutional me ...
,
Perth
Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
, Australia
* Jake L. Mamon Gorilla Conservation Research Center,
Dallas Zoo
*
National Zoo of Belize master plan
Source for list:
Heritage and visitors' center projects
He has also done numerous heritage and visitors' center projects. Prominent among these have been:
*
Gene Coulon Beach Park,
Renton, Washington
Renton is a city in King County, Washington, United States, and an inner-ring suburb of Seattle. Situated southeast of downtown Seattle, Renton straddles the southeast shore of Lake Washington, at the mouth of the Cedar River. As of the 202 ...
*
Newcastle Beach Park Buildings,
Bellevue, Washington
Bellevue ( ) is a city in the Eastside (King County, Washington), Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, located across Lake Washington from Seattle. It is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan area, and the f ...
*
Southeast Alaska Discovery Center,
Ketchikan, Alaska
Ketchikan ( ; ) is a city in and the borough seat of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough on Revillagigedo Island of Alaska. It is the state's southeasternmost major settlement. Downtown Ketchikan is a National Historic Landmark District.
With a p ...
(with Charles Beattisworth and Company, Inc.).
*
Sleeping Lady Mountain Retreat and Conference Center,
Leavenworth, Washington
Leavenworth is a city in Chelan County, Washington, Chelan County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. It is part of the Wenatchee, Washington, Wenatchee−East Wenatchee, Washington, East Wenatchee Wenatchee-East Wenatchee metropolit ...
*
Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial Phase II,
Bainbridge, Washington
Source for list:
Native American projects
Another focus has been projects related to his self-identified Native American heritage. Among these are:
*
Daybreak Star Cultural Center
The Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center is a Native Americans in the United States, Native American cultural center in Seattle, Washington, described by its parent organization United Indians of All Tribes as "an urban base for Native Amer ...
(with Arai/Jackson and
Lawney Reyes) and People's Lodge expansion,
Discovery Park (Seattle)
Discovery Park is a park on the shores of Puget Sound in the Magnolia, Seattle, Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. As the city's largest public park, it contains of walking trails. The Discovery Park Loop Trail, designated a Natio ...
* Longhouse Project,
The Evergreen State College
The Evergreen State College is a public liberal arts college in Olympia, Washington. Founded in 1967, it offers a non-traditional undergraduate curriculum in which students have the option to design their own study towards a degree or follow a ...
,
Olympia, Washington
Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington. It had a population of 55,605 at the 2020 census, making it the state of Washington's 23rd-most populous city. Olympia is the county seat of Thurston County, and the central city ...
* The
Agua Caliente Cultural Museum,
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...
* The Aquinnah Cultural Center Master Plan for the
Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head
The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) (Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project – "Fun with words" https://www.wlrp.org/fun-with-words) is a federally recognized tribe of Wampanoag people based in the town of Aquinnah on the southwest tip ...
,
Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts
Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, lying just south of Cape Cod. It is known for being a popular, affluent summer colony, and includes the smaller peninsula Chappaquiddick Isl ...
* The
Colville Confederated Tribes Museum Master Plan,
Colville, Washington
Colville is a city in Stevens County, Washington, United States. The population was 4,917 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Stevens County.
History
John Work, an agent for The Hudson's Bay Company, established Fort Colvile near ...
* The De'aht Tribal Elders Longhouse center for
Makah
The Makah (; Makah: ') are an Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast living in Washington, in the northwestern part of the continental United States. They are enrolled in the federally recognized Makah Indian Tribe of the Makah I ...
Indian Tribe,
Neah Bay, Washington
Neah Bay is a census-designated place (CDP) on the Makah Reservation in Clallam County, Washington, United States. The population was 935 at the 2020 census. It is across the Canada–US border from British Columbia. Europeans originally call ...
* The
Southern Ute Museum and Cultural Center for the
Southern Ute Indian Tribe,
Ignacio, Colorado
The Town of Ignacio (Ute dialect: Piinuu) is a Statutory Town in La Plata County, Colorado, United States. The population was 852 at the 2020 United States census. Ignacio is the headquarters of the Southern Ute Indian Reservation.
History
...
[Awards & Honors: 2013 National Humanities Medalist Johnpaul Jones](_blank)
National Endowment for the Humanities. Accessed online 2017-10-19.
* The Spokane Tribal Cultural Center Master Plan for the
Spokane Tribe
The Spokan or Spokane people are a Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau, Native American Plateau tribe who inhabit the eastern portion of present-day Washington (state), Washington state and parts of northern Idaho in the United States o ...
Planning Department,
Wellpinit, Washington
* The Tiwyekinwes Cultural Center Master Plan for the Chief Joseph Band of the
Nez Perce Indians,
Nespelem, Washington
Nespelem is a town in Okanogan County, Washington, United States. The population was 180 at the 2020 census. The town is located on the Colville Indian Reservation. The name Nespelem is derived from a local Native American term meaning "large ...
*
Institute of American Indian Arts
The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) is a public tribal land-grant college in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States. The college focuses on Native American art. It operates the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA), which is housed ...
,
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe ( ; , literal translation, lit. "Holy Faith") is the capital city, capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Santa Fe County. With over 89,000 residents, Santa Fe is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, fourt ...
* Intellectual House,
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
, Seattle
Santa Ynez Chumash Museum and Cultural Centerfor the
Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians in
Santa Ynez, California
Santa Ynez ( ; Spanish for "St. Agnes", originally spelled ''Santa Inés'') is an unincorporated community in the Santa Ynez Valley of Santa Barbara County, California, United States.
The population was 4,505 at the 2020 census, up from 4,418 ...
Main source for list:
His
Vancouver Land Bridge in
Vancouver, Washington
Vancouver ( ) is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, located in Clark County, Washington, Clark County. Founded in 1825 and incorporated in 1857, Vancouver had a population of 190, ...
was designed in conjunction with
Maya Lin
Maya Ying Lin (Chinese: 林瓔; born October 5, 1959) is an American architect, designer and sculptor. Born in Athens, Ohio to Chinese immigrants, she attended Yale University to study architecture. In 1981, while still an undergraduate at Yal ...
as part of her
Confluence Project. The bridge, "retracing part of the ancient Klickitat Trail Indian path with a curving, commemorative walkway above
State Route 14" provides pedestrian access from
Fort Vancouver
Fort Vancouver was a 19th-century fur trading post built in the winter of 1824–1825. It was the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department, located in the Pacific Northwest. Named for Captain George Vancouver, the fort was ...
to the
Columbia River
The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...
waterfront for the first time in decades.
Jones was lead design consultant for the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...
's
National Museum of the American Indian
The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers.
The museum has three ...
.
(Canadian architect
Douglas Cardinal
Douglas Joseph Cardinal (born 7 March 1934) is a Canadian architect based in Ottawa, Ontario. His architecture is influenced by his Indigenous heritage, as well as European Expressionist architecture. led the early phases of the project, but left.) Jones's involvement began when
Heye Foundation was looking to house some of the collections that eventually became part of this museum. At that time, it looked like
Ross Perot
Henry Ross Perot ( ; June 27, 1930 – July 9, 2019) was an American businessman, politician, and philanthropist. He was the founder and chief executive officer of Electronic Data Systems and Perot Systems. He ran an Independent politician ...
might acquire the collections for a new museum in
Dallas, Texas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
, and Jones was involved on a consulting basis.
According to Jones, the resulting museum "doesn't have a straight line in it... It centers around something very organic, that which is common to Indian communities around the nation. It centers around the four worlds: the natural world, the animal world, the human world and the spirit world... Within each one of those worlds is something that helped us in the design of this building, the site
ndthe interiors."
[''Seattle Times'' interview quoted in .]
Diversity work
Since the 1980s, Jones has been involved in increasing diversity in the architectural and design professions. With David Fukui, Tom Kubota, Mel Streeter, and Marga Rose Hancock he co-founded the
AIA AIA or A.I.A. or Aia may refer to:
Aia
* Aia, a small town in the province of Gipuzkoa, Spain
* Peñas de Aya, small mountain range in Oiartzun, Gipuzkoa
* Aia, current Kutaisi, ancient capital of Colchis
* Aia, another name for Aea (Malis), an ...
Seattle Diversity Roundtable. Among other things, the Roundtable organized school outreach and established scholarships at the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
. He has also worked on diversity initiatives at the University of Oregon, and is involved in the
American Indian Council of Architects and Engineers
The American Indian Council of Architects and Engineers (AICAE) is a non-profit organization that promotes the development of American Indian professionals in the fields of architecture and engineering. The AICAE encourages the training, licensure ...
and the
National Association of Indian Architects and Engineers.
Personal life
Jones married fellow University of Oregon student Hannah Stratton in 1965. They had two children, Sequoia and Ingrid, and divorced in 1990. Jones married for a second time to Marjorie Sheldon on September 21, 1997.
Notes
External links
Jones & Jones official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Johnpaul
1941 births
Living people
Architects from Seattle
20th-century American architects
21st-century American architects
American people of Choctaw descent
American people of Cherokee descent
San Jose City College alumni
University of Oregon alumni
People from Okmulgee, Oklahoma
National Humanities Medal recipients