SAVED: National Alert Saves Endangered NC Modernist House
February 8, 2010 at 2:36 am | In architecture, mid-century architecture, modern architecture | Leave a CommentTags: mid-century houses, modernist houses, recent past preservation
The Carr House, 1958.
February 7, 2010 (DURHAM, NC) – Triangle Modernist Houses (TMH), a non-profit organization dedicated to archiving and preserving modernist residential design, is pleased to announce that the endangered 1958 Carr House has been sold to new, appreciative owners. This masterpiece of mid-century modern architecture was originally designed by architect Kenneth Scott AIA, for John and Binford Carr.
When the 2337-square-foot house went on the market last fall, TMH founder and director George Smart issued a national alert to find a buyer who wouldn’t tear it down.
“Immediately I knew this house was a prime target for the bulldozer,” Smart said. “It was an older house on a large lot on a golf course, coupled with an empty lot next door – the perfect storm for a McMansion and a tragedy for a uniquely beautiful house in near-perfect shape.”
The hidden terrace
TMH issues alerts when a potentially endangered house goes on the market rather than wait while it sits empty – sometimes for months or years. “By doing so, we gain critical time,” Smart noted, “time that dramatically increases the chances of finding a buyer who wants the house, not just the property.”
Smart describes the house as “straight from Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian playbook. From the carport, a door opens onto an enclosed, private terrace and garden. Sliding glass doors open to the interior where large windows at the back of the living space overlook the golf course. A hall leading to the bedrooms also features a glass wall with exterior views.”
Natural wood and brick walls throughout the house “exemplify master builder Frank Walser’s work, adding warmth to the modern lines and volumes of the interior,” Smart said.
Besides its architectural significance, the house’s private garden and surrounding property still feature the work of master landscape architect Lewis Clarke, FASLA, who taught at the NCSU School of Design under Dean Henry Kamphoefner.
Interior view
The Carrs, the only owners of the house, listed the property with Susan Peak of Peak, Swirles & Cavallito of Durham last fall. Smart and Peak immediately collaborated on local publicity, held an open house for TMH supporters, linked the home’s MLS listing to TMH, and posted a collection of black-and-white images from the late 1950s. The next step was a national news release on the house’s availability, including to the Recent Past Preservation Network.
Smart hoped a buyer who truly appreciated the beauty and historic importance of Kenneth Scott’s design would come forward before a developer grabbed the land and discarded the house. Six months later, he got his wish.
“The new owners love what they’ve bought,” he said. “They split ownership of the adjacent empty lot with a neighbor, so that will never be built on. And they plan a small but respectful addition in the coming year. This preservation story couldn’t have ended better.”
Smart also noted that the new owners have expressed interest in getting the house listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
For more information on the Carr House and architect Kenneth Scott, go to www.trianglemodernisthouses.com/scott.htm.
For more information on TMH and to see other modernist houses for sale in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill region of North Carolina, visit www.trianglemodernisthouses.com.
About Triangle Modernist Houses
Triangle Modernist Houses (TMH) is a 501C3 nonprofit established in 2007 to restoring and growing modernist architecture in the Triangle. The award-winning website, now the largest educational and historical archive for modernist residential design in America, continues to catalog, preserve, and advocate for North Carolina modernism. TMH also hosts popular modernist house tours several times a year, giving the public access to the Triangle’s most exciting residential architecture, past and present. These tours raise awareness and help preserve these “works of art” for future generations. Visit the website at www.trianglemodernisthouses.com. TMH is also available on Facebook.
“Green” Charleston House Featured on “Architects + Artisans”
February 4, 2010 at 11:11 pm | In architecture, environmentalism, green architecture, modern architecture | Leave a CommentTags: Charleston architecture, sustainable design, sustainable living
Detail. © Richard Leon Johnson
February 4, 2010 (CHARLESTON, SC) – A modern, “green” house on Johns Island, designed by Charleston architect Whitney Powers, AIA, of Studio A, Inc., is featured on Architects + Artisans: Thoughtful Design for a Sustainable World, a new blog written and edited by J. Michael Welton.
The 5000-square-foot house rests along the edge of Penney Creek. Working with clients who wanted to make the house as “green” as possible, Powers specifies a host of “green” features, including a geothermal heating and cooling system, a vegetated roof, recycled materials wherever possible, and rain water collection cisterns to provide irrigation for the landscaping.
Architects + Artisans’ article primarily focuses on Powers’ use of “new and old materials, inside and out, in unexpected, innovative and subtly surprising ways,” Welton writes.
One of the new exterior materials is Eternit, rain-screen panels that, along with large expanses of glass, cover the creek-facing façade. The panels prevent moisture buildup – an important asset within Charleston’s humid coastal climate. Welton spoke with Powers about the material, which architects concerned with sustainability consider a high-performance envelope.
“It’s been used in Europe for years,” Powers told him. “It extends the life of the siding and everything behind it. It keeps things dry and allows the air space to breathe.”
An interior material that caught Welton’s attention is century-old white pine salvaged from the homeowners’ barns in Kentucky, which Powers says were milled specifically for this application.
Welton praises the architecture of the Charleston house as “a design that responds sensitively to its low-country site and reaches back gracefully to its bluegrass roots – while binding all together with materials meant to please the eye.”
To read the entire article, visit architectsandartisans.com and click on the headline “Kentucky Roots, South Carolina Charm.”
For more information on Studio A, Inc., go to www.studioa-architecture.com.
About Studio A, Inc.:
Founded in 1989 by Whitney Powers, AIA, Studio A, Inc. is an award-winning, full-service architecture firm located in downtown Charleston, South Carolina. The firm proposes that the responsibility of architecture is to cultivate a language of form that promotes a sustainable culture and landscape, and that touches the emotions of delight, surprise and wonder. From cutting-edge contemporary architecture to the preservation and restoration of historic homes, structures and sites, Studio A is committed to an interactive relationship between the natural and built environments, conservation of energy and natural resources, and an appreciation for a “sense of place” where living, working and playing are connected with the specific idiosyncrasies of culture, climate and natural landscape where they take place. The firm includes Heritage Strategy Group, a planning initiative that elaborates upon issues of the natural landscape through the lens of recreational resources and scenic byways.
About Architects+Artisans:
Architects + Artisans is a sophisticated, well-informed provider of content, images, and knowledge concerning excellent architecture, artisanship and sustainability for the 21st century. It is not just about designers – but about the people and products that make a well-designed place ring true. It is written and edited by J. Michael Welton, whose work on architecture, design and travel has appeared in The New York Times, Interior Design, Dwell, Green Source and Travel + Leisure. Visit http://architectsandartisans.com.
Leaving The Land Better Than We Find It: Frank Harmon Takes His Message To Idea Exchange
February 3, 2010 at 12:36 am | In architecture, education, environmentalism, green architecture | Leave a CommentTags: architecture, energy conservation, environmentalism, green architecture
Frank Harmon, FAIA
February 2, 2010 (RALEIGH, NC) — For three decades, Frank Harmon, FAIA, principal of Frank Harmon Architect PA in Raleigh, has insisted that architecture can and should do more than produce buildings, especially since conservation of energy and natural resources has become imperative. It should also make a didactic contribution, he says, demonstrating the best use of the land by responding to, respecting, and conserving the site; integrating building and landscape; and promoting both passive and technological sustainable design principles.
Harmon, a multi-award winning architect and frequent speaker at seminars and symposia on design, will again make his case for sustainable building and development at the Center for Design Innovation in Winston-Salem, NC, when he participates in the CDI’s Idea Exchange on Tuesday, February 16, from 5:30 to 7 p.m.
CDI is a multi-campus research center for the statewide University of North Carolina. According to its website, the Idea Exchange is “a public forum for considering creative processes, digital techniques, business strategies, and other interests related to developing the knowledge economy of North Carolina’s Piedmont region.”
Frank Harmon is well known nationally for his firm’s modern, innovative, “green” and regionally appropriate architecture. From September to November 2009, he saw the completion of three high-performance, or “green,” projects in North Carolina, including the NC Botanical Gardens Visitor Education Center at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill that is slated to be the state’s first LEED Platinum building – the highest level of certification given by the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green building rating system.
“It seems natural to me to design green buildings,” he said, “to catch the sun, accept the breeze and grown naturally out of the earth.”
In lectures and seminars, and as a Professor in Practice at NC State University’s College of Design, Harmon frequently asserts the necessity for modern buildings to be regionally appropriate – to address the specific context, materials, textures, colors and forms of a special region, using both traditional and non-traditional methods.
“The most sustainable – and liberating – thing we can do is acknowledge the places we are in,” he told Dwell magazine in January of 2008 when he was featured in the magazine’s “Conversations” section.
The CDI’s Idea Exchange is held in the Winston Tower, Suite 2105 (21st floor) at 301 North Main Street in downtown Winston-Salem.
Currently CDI’s constituent schools are the UNC School of the Arts and Winston-Salem State University, collaborating with Forsyth Technical Community College. Sessions are recorded and web-streamed for remote access. For more information, go to www.centerfordesigninnovation.org.
For more information on Frank Harmon, visit www.frankharmon.com.
About Frank Harmon Architect PA:
Frank Harmon Architect PA, a multi-award-winning firm headquartered in downtown Raleigh, has extensive experience with projects that blend architecture with enhancement of the environment, including the recently completed Walnut Creek Urban Wetlands Park Educational Center in Raleigh, Duke University’s Ocean Science Teaching Center in Beaufort, the NC Botanical Garden’s new Visitors Center in Chapel Hill, and Merchants Millpond Outdoor Educational building in Gatesville, N.C. His work has been featured in numerous books, journals and magazines on architecture, including Dwell, Architectural Record, and Residential Architect. For more information, go to www.frankharmon.com.
Frank Harmon To Deliver Special Lecture at NC State University
January 29, 2010 at 3:20 am | In architecture, education, mid-century architecture, modern architecture | Leave a CommentTags: Frank Harmon, Frank Lloyd Wright, Harwell Hamilton Harris, lecture series, NC State University, Richard Neutra
January 28, 2010 (RALEIGH, NC) — Frank Harmon, FAIA, will deliver the annual Harwell Hamilton Harris Lecture on February 15 at 7 p.m. in the Burns Auditorium of Kamphoefner Hall at North Carolina State University’s College of Design in Raleigh.
The Havens House by Harwell Hamilton Harris. Photo by Man Ray.
Sponsored by the College of Design and the Triangle section of the American Institute of Architects/North Carolina, the annual lecture is endowed by the estate of the renowned architect Harwell Hamilton Harris, FAIA (1903-1990) who served on the faculty of NC State’s College of Design from 1962 to 1973.
Frank Harmon is a fellow of the American Institute of Architecture and a Professor in Practice at the College of Design. He is the founder and principal of Frank Harmon Architect PA, a multi-award-winning, LEED AP, green architecture firm established in 1985. He was also a close friend of Harris for many years, and he credits Harris with steering his design sensibilities towards modern, innovative and regionally appropriate design.
In 2005, when Harmon’s firm was named Top Firm of the Year by Residential Architect magazine, he told writer Vernon Mays, “[Harwell Harris] taught me that every client and every situation is different and new. And it is the architect’s job to understand the needs of every situation and every client. He loved to say that the house is a portrait of the client.”
Harris also taught Harmon to infuse warmth and familiarity into modern architecture by embracing what Harris called the “sticks and stones” of the place: the landscape, materials, climate and culture specific to the region in which a building will be built.
“What people thought was cold and threatening modernism, he made warm and approachable,” Harmon says.
Harmon’s lecture will focus on “why Harwell Hamilton Harris is important today,” he said. “His work embraces the whole of the environment – from the living room to the city – and all the particulars that go into making a building. He was also the first architect to write about the importance of regionalism in modern architecture.”
Harmon will discuss specific Harris projects – including his personal home and office on Cox Avenue in downtown Raleigh and St. Giles Presbyterian Church in North Raleigh – that strongly influenced Harmon’s own work.
Originally from California, Harwell Hamilton Harris was a sculptor who changed careers after he visited Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House in Los Angeles. He worked with Richard Neutra from 1928 until 1932 then merged the ideals of modern and California regionalist architecture into his residential work of the ‘30s and ‘40s. He served as Dean for the University of Texas School of Architecture from 1952-1955 and practiced in Dallas until 1962 when he moved to Raleigh to teach at NC State. He retired from teaching in 1973 but continued to practice until shortly before his death. He was a professor emeritus at the university when he died at the age of 87.
The Harwell Hamilton Harris Lecture is free and open to the public. Parking is available in the Coliseum parking deck. Limited parking may also be found in the Riddick or Peele parking lots after 5 pm. Parking along campus streets is not permitted unless otherwise noted.
For more information on the lecture call 919.515.8350.
For more information on Frank Harmon, go to www.frankharmon.com.
About Frank Harmon Architect PA:
Frank Harmon Architect PA, a multi-award-winning firm headquartered in downtown Raleigh, has extensive experience with projects that blend architecture with enhancement of the environment, including the recently completed Walnut Creek Urban Wetlands Park Educational Center in Raleigh, Duke University’s Ocean Science Teaching Center in Beaufort, the NC Botanical Garden’s new Visitors Center in Chapel Hill, and Merchants Millpond Outdoor Educational building in Gatesville, N.C. His work has been featured in numerous books, journals and magazines on architecture, including Dwell, Architectural Record, and Residential Architect. For more information, go to www.frankharmon.com.
Future AIA NC Center for Architecture & Design Featured on “Architects + Artisans”
January 26, 2010 at 11:23 pm | In architecture, downtown Raleigh, environmentalism, green architecture, modern architecture | Leave a CommentTags: architects, architecture, downtown Raleigh, green architecture
Peace Street view, future AIA NC headquarters in downtown Raleigh.
January 26, 2010 (RALEIGH, NC) – Under the headline “David vs. Goliath in Downtown Raleigh,” the new design-oriented blog Architects+Artisans: Thoughtful Design for a Sustainable World looks at the future AIA NC Center for Architecture & Design in downtown Raleigh and its location near the state Government Complex.
The post includes a video of the building model as it transforms into a real structure in space via computer-generated imaging.
Writer and editor for the blog, J. Michael Welton, spoke with architect Frank Harmon, FAIA, principal of Frank Harmon Architect PA, the firm that won the project through a professional design competition in 2008. Harmon explained how he approached the “pork chop” shaped site (his description) and the context, which includes the monolithic Archdale building overshadowing Peace Street along which the Center will be built.
“Ours is a horizontal statement,” Harmon told Welton. “The real face of the building is to the south, looking toward the State Capitol.” He also notes: “It’s on less than an acre, and we placed it parallel to Peace Street. It’s a long, thin building with a porch on the south side. You’ll find that all over the South – at Mount Vernon, for example – so we knew that was a good pattern to follow.”
The new building, a thoroughly “green” structure that will embrace all the high-tech as well as low-tech principles of sustainable design, will serve as headquarters for the North Carolina chapter of the American Institute of Architects. According to the AIA NC website, it is also intended to serve as “an architectural example for the entire state.”
To read the entire post and to see the video of the future building, go to architectsandartisans.com and click on “David vs. Goliath in Downtown Raleigh.”
For more information on Frank Harmon and to view more images of the AIA NC Center for Architecture and Design, visit www.frankharmon.com and click on “current” projects.
About Frank Harmon Architect PA:
Frank Harmon Architect PA, a multi-award-winning firm headquartered in downtown Raleigh, has extensive experience with projects that blend architecture with enhancement of the environment, including the recently completed Walnut Creek Urban Wetlands Park Educational Center in Raleigh, Duke University’s Ocean Science Teaching Center in Beaufort, the NC Botanical Garden’s new Visitors Center in Chapel Hill, and Merchants Millpond Outdoor Educational building in Gatesville, N.C. His work has been featured in numerous books, journals and magazines on architecture, including Dwell, Architectural Record, and Residential Architect. For more information, go to www.frankharmon.com
About Architects+Artisans:
Architects + Artisans is a sophisticated, well-informed provider of content, images, and knowledge concerning excellent architecture, artisanship and sustainability for the 21st century. It is not just about designers – but about the people and products that make a well-designed place ring true. It is written and edited by J. Michael Welton, whose work on architecture, design and travel has appeared in The New York Times, Interior Design, Dwell, Green Source and Travel + Leisure. Visit http://architectsandartisans.com.
Triangle Modernist Houses Presents “The Lake House” at Galaxy Cinema
January 26, 2010 at 3:07 pm | In Film, architecture, modern architecture, news, non-profit | Leave a CommentTags: Triangle Modernist Houses
The house built specifically for the film.
January 26, 2010 (CARY, NC) – For Valentine’s week, Triangle Modernist Houses.com (TMH) and Nowell’s Contemporary Furniture present the romantic movie “The Lake House” (2006) on Thursday, February 18, at 7 p.m. at the Galaxy Cinema in Cary.
“The Lake House” stars Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves. It is the story of two people who communicate via the house’s unique time-traveling mailbox.
“But the real star,” according to TMH founder George Smart, “is the modern, glass and steel house designed by British architect/set designer Nathan Crowley.”
Crowley was hired for “The Lake House” in 2004, Smart notes on the TMH website at http://www.trianglemodernisthouses.com/lakehouse.htm. He wanted to build on a lake with nothing on it — no piers, no houses – but few of those locations exist. Through negotiations with a nature preserve, he took the project from sketches to completion in just 10 weeks with a construction crew of nearly 100 people. As part of the agreement to with the nature preserve, the house was destroyed afterwards.
Although the all-glass house would be subject to strong winds, Crowley vetoed diagonal bracing that would obstruct camera angles. Engineers McDonough Associates had to come up with “moment resisting frames” that minimized the kind of lateral movement that could crack the house’s all-glass walls, and the house won an Award of Merit from the Structural Engineers Association of Illinois.
After filming, Sandra Bullock expressed regret that the 2000-square-foot glass house was not fully functional and available for her to move to another location. “I loved it,” she admitted. “I was so disappointed that I couldn’t keep it, move it, and at least use it as a guest house somewhere.”
Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock in "The Lake House"
The Nowells Architecture Movie Series will continue on March 18 with “Infinite Space,” a documentary on California architect John Lautner and “Visual Acoustics” on April 22. The latter film documents the life of Julius Shulman, arguably the most important architectural photographer of the 20th century, who worked with such icons as Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra and John Lautner.
Sponsors for “The Lake House” include the bar Foundation in downtown Raleigh, Blueplate PR, Frank Bowman Designs, and Tonic Design and Construction.
Galaxy Cinema is located at 770 Cary Towne Boulevard, across the street from Cary Towne Center (www.mygalaxycinema.com). All movies in the series start at 7 p.m. Advance tickets are $7.95 in advance or $9 at the door.
For more information on the Nowells Architecture Movies Series, to buy advance tickets, to sponsor a film, and to see trailers for each of the films, visit www.trianglemodernisthouses.com/register.htm.
About Triangle Modernist Houses
Triangle Modernist Houses (TMH) is a 501C3 nonprofit established in 2007 to restoring and growing modernist architecture in the Triangle. The award-winning website, now the largest educational and historical archive for modernist residential design in America, continues to catalog, preserve, and advocate for North Carolina modernism. TMH also hosts popular modernist house tours several times a year, giving the public access to the Triangle’s most exciting residential architecture, past and present. These tours raise awareness and help preserve these “works of art” for future generations. Visit the website at www.trianglemodernisthouses.com. TMH is also available on Facebook.
Cohen Studios To Capture “After” Portrait for Make-over Contest Winner
January 21, 2010 at 7:56 pm | In beauty, news, photography | 1 CommentTags: photo studios, photography, Raleigh hair salons, Raleigh photographers, Raleigh photography
Max Cohen © Cohen Studios
January 21, 2010 (RALEIGH, NC) – Max Cohen of Cohen Studios in Raleigh has volunteered to provide a free photographic portrait of the results of a hair and makeup make-over for the winner of a Raleigh salon contest.
Lather Hair Salon recently announced its “Help Me, Lather! I Need A Make-Over!” Essay Contest. Contestants send the salon a 250-word essay, with photo, on why they or someone they nominate deserves a full, free make-over.
The winner will receive as many services as she wants: cut, color, styling and more, plus full make-up application. When the process is complete, Cohen Studios will capture the results in a free color portrait.
“It’s going to be interesting to see who wins,” Cohen said, “and how transformative the results will be. I’m really excited about documenting the ‘new look’ and that special moment for the winner.”
The contest is open now through February 28th.
Cohen has collaborated with Lather Hair Salon on other projects and is currently showing examples of his work in the salon, which is located off Glenwood Avenue/Highway 70W, near Carmax. (For more information on Lather Hair Salon and the “Help Me, Lather! I Need A Make-Over!” Essay Contest, go to www.latherhairsalonnc.com.)
Max Cohen has extensive experience with formal studio portrait photography and environmental portraiture in both black and white and color, on film and digitally. His website, www.cohenstudios.com., includes portrait galleries, as well as galleries of family portraits, wedding photography, and urban landscapes.
For more information on Cohen Studios, go to www.cohenstudios.com.
About Cohen Studios
A graduate of the Hallmark Institute of Photography in Turners Falls, Massachusetts, Max Cohen of Cohen Studios has been a professional photographer for five years, working in both digital photography and film. At H.I.P., he was exposed to a wide range of technical skills and studied under world-renown photographers as instructors and guest speakers. Describing himself as a “generalist,” he enjoys all types of subjects, from children and high school senior portraits to commercial and editorial assignments. For more information, visit www.cohenstudios.com. Cohen Studios is also available on Facebook and Citysearch.
Fifties Fun To Raise Funds for People with Disabilities
January 20, 2010 at 9:24 pm | In charity, kids' issues, leisure activity, non-profit, people with disabiliites, retro | Leave a CommentTags: Fifties dance, Fifties music, fundraisers Goldsboro, people with disabilities
January 20, 2010 (GOLDSBORO, NC) – “Memories of the 50’s,” a musical production and fundraiser for RHA Howell, Inc.’s Walnut Creek Center in Goldsboro, will be presented Saturday, January 30, at 7:30 p.m. at Wayne Community College. 
The entire cast of 10 singers and dancers, along with the “Sugarfoot Shag Club,” are donating their time free of charge to raise money to support the services provided at the Walnut Creek Center. They will be dressed in 1950s costumes — including Poodle skirts — and will perform on a vintage ‘50s “soda shop set.”
The Walnut Creek Center, owned and operated by RHA Howell, Inc., is an Intermediate Care Facilities for the Mentally Retarded (ICF/MR) serving children and adults with multiple disabilities.
Carlton and Renee Hinson of RJH Productions in Goldsboro produce several fundraising benefits throughout the year, including “Memories of the 50’s.”
“We just wanted to give back to our community,” said Renee Hinson, “so we came up with a way to have fun doing it.”
Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door. Seating is limited so strongly advance tickets are recommended. To reserve tickets, call Renee Hinson at 919-689-9726 or email her at jamrjh@bellsouth.net.
For more information on RJH Productions, visit www.rjhproductions.com.
For more information on the Walnut Creek Center and RHA Howell, Inc., visit www.rhahowell.org.
About RHA Howell, Inc.:
RHA Howell is a not-for-profit 501 (c) (3) organization that has been helping people with disabilities and special needs, and their families, make choices to live more independently for more than 35 years. Integrity, high standards for quality, hard work are at the core of every RHA Howell disability assistance program. Proven leaders in caring for people, RHA Howell, Inc. is a pioneering force in the field of human services, particularly supporting infants and children. For more information, go to www.rhahowell.org.
Raleigh Landscape Architect Joins NCSCC Advisory Committee
January 20, 2010 at 7:08 pm | In environmentalism, land planning, landscape architecture, news | Leave a CommentTags: environmentalism, Falls Lake, landscape architecture, sedimentation control, watersheds
Dennis Glazener, ASLA
January 20, 2010 (RALEIGH, NC) – Landscape architect Dennis Glazener, RLA, principal of Bell/Glazener Design Group, has been appointed to the Technical Advisory Committee for the North Carolina Sedimentation Control Commission (NCSCC).
The Advisory Committee’s first 2010 meeting will be held in February. Its first task will be to draft guidelines for the Falls Lake Watershed.
Dennis Glazener has practiced landscape architecture, land planning, environmental design and ecological stewardship since 1979. His range of experience includes recreation planning, educational environments, downtown redevelopment, commercial and residential design.
He will bring his knowledge of environmental stewardship to bear on the Technical Advisory Committee, which will assist the NCSCC as it administers the Sedimentation Control Program required by the N.C. Sedimentation Pollution Control Act of 1973 (SPCA). The Sedimentation Control Program is responsible for adopting rules, setting standards, and providing guidance for implementation of the Act.
“Land quality affects water quality,” Glazener explained. “The Falls Lake Watershed carries water that is literally ‘shed’ from the land after it rains. So erosion and sedimentation control is vital not only to the water quality of Falls Lake but also to public health and welfare and the future of the region.”
The Falls Lake assignment is especially poignant for Glazener who personally worked on the initial Master Plan Document for the Army Corps of Engineers over 30 years ago as one of his first projects with Bell Design Group, the former firm of master landscape architect Richard C. Bell, FASLA.
According to Glazener, the Falls Lake Project, encompassing 38,000 acres, was initially conceived of as a flood control reservoir in the 1920’s. It evolved into a multi-purpose resource of significant value as a water supply, recreation area and wildlife habitat. Bell Design Group created the master plan for the federal, state and local government agencies as a long-range planning and development document.
For more information on the NSCC, visit www.dlr.enr.state.nc.us/pages/ncsedcontrolcommission.html.
For more information on Dennis Glazener and Bell/Glazener Design Group, go to www.bgjdesign.com.
About Bell/Glazener Design Group:
For over 50 years, Bell/Glazener Design Group has provided design services to commercial, residential, and institutional clients in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Projects range from residential landscape architecture to extensive regional planning, urban design, campus planning, land use-master planning and sports-recreational planning. For more information visit www.bgjdesign.com or call 919-787-3515.
Frank Harmon To Moderate Atlanta Discussion, Present Lecture
January 15, 2010 at 9:50 pm | In architecture, education, environmentalism, green architecture, modern architecture | Leave a CommentTags: architects, architecture, green architecture, modern architecture
Frank Harmon, FAIA
January 15, 2010 (RALEIGH, NC) – Award-winning architect Frank Harmon, FAIA, principal of Frank Harmon Architect PA in Raleigh, NC, will serve as moderator for a panel discussion entitled “Architecturally Speaking: Discussions on Staying Current in Architecture Curricula” during the Winter Symposium presented by American Institute of Architects’ Atlanta, GA, chapter.
The symposium, including a question-and-answer session following the panel discussion, will be held at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s College of Architecture on Tuesday, January 19th, from 6-8 p.m.
Bringing together three schools of architecture in Georgia, the panelists include George Johnston, director of the Georgia Tech Graduate Program in Architecture; Brian Wishne, dean of the School of Building Arts at Savannah College of Art and Design; and Tony Rizzuto, associate professor of architect at Southern Polytechnic State University.
The following evening, January 20th, Harmon will present a lecture entitled “Grits, Glass and Steel: The Evolution of Modern Architecture in the South.”
Harmon, an award-winning architect recognized nationally as a leader in modern, innovative, sustainable design, has spent decades studying vernacular buildings – what he calls “buildings with a conscience” — and lecturing on the lessons he has learned from them across the nation.
“Buildings with a conscience have existed in Southern farmhouses and barns for as long as farmers have erected them,” Harmon says. “These are simple structures built of wholesome, vernacular materials, perched on stone piers so rainwater flows under them. They nestle lightly into the hillsides without disturbing the land. They are rooted in their region and embody the principles of livability. And they speak of the Southern culture as eloquently as bluegrass music or clay pots.”
His lecture will examine the elements and themes that inform contemporary Southern architecture — landscape; materials and construction (the “sticks and stones” of a place); weather and climate; roof forms that shelter or collect; and clients — and illustrate the importance of ‘place’ in the process of creating innovative, sustainable, and appropriate contemporary design.
Harmon, who also serves as Professor in Practice for North Carolina State University’s College of Design, notes frequently that these vernacular structures were always “green,” or sustainable, because they had to be.
“Farmers had an instinct for understanding their land,” he said during a radio interview on “The Story” with Dick Gordon. “They never built on the best part of their land; they saved that for their crops, because that was their sustenance. They typically built on a low-rise for good drainage. They knew exactly where the breezes came from to cool their houses and their barns… They knew how to plant trees to shade their houses in the summer… All of these things the farmers did quite naturally. But it was also for survival.”
The AIA Winter Symposium will be held in Georgia Tech’s Reinsch-Pierce Family Auditorium. For more information contact Brian Buckner at 404-688-4990, ext. 27.
For more information on Frank Harmon, visit www.frankharmon.com.
About Frank Harmon Architect PA:
Frank Harmon Architect PA is an award-winning architectural firm based in Raleigh, NC, that was ranked 26th among the top 50 firms in the nation in Architect Magazine’s “Architect 50” ranking for 2009. Frank Harmon, FAIA, founder and principal, is a frequent design awards jurist and a sought-after speaker on the subject of sustainable and regionally appropriate architecture across the nation. His work has been featured in numerous professional and shelter magazines and in international books on architecture. In 2008, a vacation home he designed in the Bahamas was included in a Wall Street Journal list of “the most influential and inspiring houses built during the past decade.” His firm has received more North Carolina design awards than any other firm in the state and recently won three national accolades: two Custom Homes Magazine’s 2009 Design Awards for residences in Raleigh, NC, and Charleston, SC; and an American Institute of Architect’s 2009 Housing Award for the Charleston home.
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