Keeping up with the Joneses: Jones studio balances sustainable design, architectural rigor, and...

Hey, bro." That's how Eddie Jones, AIA, answers his phone when his business partner calls. The two foster a casual, freewheeling atmosphere at their Phoenix-based architecture practice, but the informal greeting probably has more to do with the fact that the partner in question is Eddie's younger brother, Neal Jones, AIA. In keeping with plans they made while still in elementary school, the siblings have capitalized on their considerable differences and fused their disparate talents to create Jones Studio, one of the Southwest's preeminent design firms.

The brothers" sartorial choices neatly encapsulate their opposing personalities and strengths. Neal, who handles all business development and financial transactions, wears suits, ties, and monogrammed shirts. Eddie, the design engine of the company, favors T-shirts and jeans. "I would frequently ask them, jokingly of course, if they had the same parents," says Chuck Albanese, FAIA, dean of the University of Arizona's College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, a Jones Studio client. (Construction on the firm's design for the college's newly expanded building will be completed later this year.)

The Joneses did indeed come from the same Oklahoma family. Their petroleum engineer father and housewife mother both believed strongly in the power of education, buying all Encyclopedia Britannica set when Eddie was six years old and Neal was an infant. Eddie says he decided his future when he found the article on Frank Lloyd Wright in the "W" volume. "I saw a picture of a house--I've since learned it was Fallingwater--and said, "I want to do this," he says. By the eighth grade, he'd gotten third-grader Neal on board. "He wanted to be one, so I wanted to be one," Neal says.

He followed Eddie through Oklahoma State University, then obtained a dual master's degree in business and architecture from the University of Illinois. "I knew he was the better designer, so I knew I needed a business background," Neal explains. His brother, meanwhile, moved to Arizona, drawn to the landscape that had entranced Wright and Paolo Soleri. two of his heroes. The Joneses spent a few years practicing separately, learning their trade, and in 1986 they joined forces in Phoenix. "We didn't know what we were doing." Eddie says. "Computers weren't invented yet, so all [we] needed was a drawing board. Thanks to Neal, work started pouring in. It's a beautiful memory--we never knew we could fail."