NEW ORLEANS – EskewDumezRipple, a New Orleans-based architecture firm, has announced that Thaden School—a 30-acre independent middle and high school campus located in Bentonville, Arkansas—has been awarded the 2025 Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize (MCHAP). Designed by EskewDumezRipple, Marlon Blackwell Architects, and Andropogon Associates, Thaden School was selected from a field of outstanding projects spanning the Americas.
Awarded biennially by the Illinois Institute of Technology’s College of Architecture, MCHAP recognizes architectural works that advance excellence in design while addressing the integration of natural, built, and human ecologies. The prize announcement took place on May 5 during a symposium and celebration at S.R. Crown Hall in Chicago.
At the heart of the campus is Thaden School’s unique “learning by doing” curriculum—centered around the themes of Wheels, Meals, and Reels—which blends film, food, and fabrication into daily educational life. The site includes science and fabrication labs, gardens, kitchens, and open-air classrooms that bring learning outdoors and into the landscape.
Framing their decision, the MCHAP Cycle 5 jury shared:
“The rural context of Arkansas has inspired the design team to create a uniquely American spatial form that is simultaneously centered on the Thaden School academic community while remaining completely open to the surrounding community. The building’s character shapes a campus steeped in the rural culture of its place—the barn, the porch, and the long and low farm buildings are artfully assembled into a new academical village that powerfully interprets the pedagogical mission of ‘youth learning by doing.’ No singular space dominates the campus composition, but instead a series of distinctly public landscapes and gardens of different scales and character invites pedestrians, cyclists and even wildlife and weather to meander through. The collaborative effort of the design teams read through this powerful composition.”
Sustainability was a key driver of the design. The campus incorporates geothermal systems, stormwater management, native plantings, and reclaimed materials—resulting in an energy performance reportedly 70% higher than that of similar schools. The buildings and landscape work together to foster wellness, accessibility, and resilience.
Reflecting on the award, Steve Dumez, FAIA, Principal and Director of Design at EskewDumezRipple and Principal-in-Charge of the Master Plan, noted:
“It’s incredibly meaningful to see Thaden School honored on the international stage through a prize as respected as MCHAP. From the outset, our goal was to create a campus that could serve as a bridge—between students and nature, tradition and innovation, school and community. This recognition affirms that thoughtful, grounded design can shape how a community connects with its young people—and how they connect back to the world around them.”
This recognition places Thaden School among a select group of internationally celebrated projects and reinforces the role of architecture in advancing community, education, and ecological stewardship. EskewDumezRipple is honored to be part of this collaborative effort and proud to see the values of place-based, inclusive design recognized through the MCHAP prize.
About EskewDumezRipple
Established in 1989, EskewDumezRipple has transformed from a local firm doing nationally recognized work to a national firm that has retained its local roots. Built from an ethos of critical engagement with their surroundings, the firm is known for its collaborative pursuit of civic solutions which are at once environmentally responsible, and deeply context driven. Problem-solvers and pragmatists that simultaneously know no boundaries of convention, the firm was named the 2014 AIA Firm Award recipient—in part, a recognition of their sustained dedication to a city rebuilding and an extraordinary body of work.
With offices in New Orleans and Washington, DC, and projects in over 20 states and on two continents, the firm’s work spans typology, from institutional, civic and cultural, and higher education work to mixed-use, commercial, and hospitality projects. Visit their website here.
About Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize
The Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize (MCHAP) is a biennial prize that acknowledges the best built works of architecture in the Americas. MCHAP was conceived by Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture in 2013. Visit here for more information.
About Illinois Tech
Based in the global metropolis of Chicago, Illinois Tech was born to liberate the collective power of difference to advance technology and progress for all. It is the only tech-focused university in the city, and it stands at the crossroads of exploration and invention, advancing the future of Chicago and the world. It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering, computing, architecture, business, design, science and human sciences, and law. Illinois Tech students are guaranteed hands-on experiences, personalized mentorship, and job readiness through the university’s one-of-a-kind Elevate program. Its graduates lead the state and much of the nation in economic prosperity. Its faculty and alumni built the Chicago skyline. And every day in the living lab of the city, Illinois Tech fuels breakthroughs that change lives.
Illinois Tech is ranked in the top 25 on the Wall Street Journal’s 2024 list of the 400 best colleges in America and is ranked #1 Illinois universities focused on career outcomes. Visit iit.edu for information on all available academic programs.
College of Architecture at Illinois Institute of Technology
The College of Architecture at Illinois Institute of Technology builds on a legacy of disciplined experimentation in materials and technologies to educate and inspire the next generation of architects and landscape architects. From its landmark campus and home at S. R. Crown Hall, IIT Architecture champions an interdisciplinary approach to education and research that is simultaneously local and global in its impact. IIT Architecture students are educated to address complex, contemporary challenges of designing and constructing across all scales. Both faculty and students enjoy a longstanding relationship with professional practice in Chicago, a city with a vibrant history of innovation in architecture, design, landscape architecture, and urbanism. Visit here for more information.
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