As a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Oklahoma City architect Jason Holuby is more than familiar with the importance of ceremonial fires among Native Americans. His and other tribes’ annual Green Corn Ceremony, for one, symbolizes the renewal of the harvest — and of the spirit and tribal traditions.
Choosing the name “New Fire Native Design Group” for his months-old architectural and engineering affiliate of Frankfurt-Short-Bruza FSB Associates was a natural for Holuby, who is president of the new five-member force.
“Just like when a tribal town was formed, we are lighting a new fire — a fire that reflects our passion and drive for what we do,” he said. “We’re founded on the idea of new beginnings, the emergence of a new direction and focus on supporting Native American clients.”
Native American projects represent 30 percent of FSB revenues, Holuby said. “It’s become a big piece of what we do, especially over the past three years,” he said.
New Fire Native has the backing of FSB, a nearly 75-year-old firm that employs 165, including engineers, architects and interior designers.
From his fifth-floor offices at 5801 Broadway Extension, Holuby, 41, sat down with The Oklahoman on Monday to talk about his life and career. This is an edited transcript:
Q: Tell us about your roots.
A: I grew up in Eufaula, the heart of the Muscogee Creek Nation. My dad’s dad was full-blooded Creek, and left the family when my dad was young. His mom moved around, to Oklahoma City and elsewhere, to try to make ends meet. My dad eventually moved in with a friend in Eufaula and started working in a pharmacy owned by who would become my maternal grandfather. That’s how my parents met, and what influenced my father, after serving in the Air Force, to pursue a pharmacy degree at Southwestern Oklahoma State University. I’m the youngest of their three children. My older brother works as a pharmacist in California, and my older sister is a former teacher and now stay-at-home mom in Lafayette. My parents are retired and still live in Eufaula. When I was growing up, my mom was a homemaker, until I turned 12 or 13, when she started running the five-and-dime store adjacent to my father’s pharmacy of 15 years. When I was at OU, she went back to complete the education degree she all but finished. We graduated the same year, and she taught in Henryetta. After selling his business, my father worked 15 years as a pharmacist for the Creek Nation. It was important for him to give back to his culture. I see myself as doing the same thing today — giving back to my culture.
Q: What was your thing growing up?
A: Of course, living near Lake Eufaula, we did a lot of fishing, boating and skiing. I started playing piano when I was 8, and picked up the guitar when I was 12. In high school, I played in the orchestra pit for musicals. I was exposed to my Native American culture, including area stomp dances and Creek language classes. I was always into art, including pencil, watercolor, and oil. One of the regional competitions I won included a partial scholarship to Bacone College in Muskogee, which I didn’t end up taking.
Q: Where did you go to college?
A: I was awarded several scholarships to OU, where I started as a chemical engineering/pre-med major. But I wasn’t passionate about my studies until I serendipitously switched to architecture. After a year at OU, I was talking with an architecture major on my dorm floor who was complaining that he’d never been artistic, but had to draw for hours in a program he considered too technical. Intrigued, I bought my friend’s architectural supplies for half of what he’d paid for them. From the second I entered the architecture school, I knew it was what I was meant to do. FSB Principal Glenn Short was a college friend of my parents, and allowed me to intern at FSB after my freshman and sophomore years, so I could be surer about the path I’d chosen.
Q: Tell us about your early career and how you came to join FSB.
A: Following graduation, I worked three and a half years for McFarland Architects in Tulsa, specializing in architecture for rural hospitals. I reached back out to FSB 14 years ago, when I was ready to work for a bigger firm and to handle more diverse projects that involved fewer codes and regulations, and included interesting interior and exterior, as well as functional, designs. For the first eight years with FSB, I focused on projects at Cameron University in Lawton, including its master plan, new business school, student union and journalism school. For Oklahoma City University, I helped design the nursing school and its downtown law school.
Q: Tell us about a few of FSB’s Native American projects?
A: We’ve handled more than 30 projects for the Chickasaws. We started out with the Chickasaw Cultural Center in Sulphur, as the owner’s representative, overseeing the process. Then, we took on a stronger role during construction, and subsequently designed the Chickasaw Visitors Center across from the Artisan Hotel in Sulphur. We also handled the $220 million, 500,000-square-foot Choctaw headquarters in Durant. Of the 39 tribes in Oklahoma, we so far have worked for eight, including handling the Shawnee Tribe Heritage Center and Muscogee (Creek) Nation master plan.
Q: Certain patterns and designs are important to Native American tribes. How did you incorporate those emphases?
A: The diamond pattern — the personification of the rattlesnake — is important to the Chickasaws. Like rattlesnakes, they stick to themselves and don’t go looking for conflict, but if you step on, or irritate, them, they’re ready to strike back. In the Chickasaw projects, we incorporated the diamond pattern on the outside of the buildings, in the woodworks, wall fabric and glazing and lighting. Meanwhile, a circle with a cross in it is important to the Choctaws. It represents the four stages of life, four cardinal directions and more. There’s even more emphasis on the four seasons for the Creek Nation.