Frank Harmon Sees Third Green, Regional Project Open in Six Weeks
November 13, 2009 at 8:46 pm | In architecture, education, environmentalism, green architecture, land planning, landscape architecture, modern architecture, news | Leave a CommentTags: Gatesville NC, green architecture, green design, Merchants Millpond, sustainable design, visitors centers
November 13, 2009 (RALEIGH, NC) – The new Merchants Millpond Visitors Center 
and Open Air Classroom Building in Gatesville, NC, has opened to the public, marking the third thoroughly “green” project serving the public that award-winning Raleigh design firm Frank Harmon Architect PA has completed within the past six weeks.
The 7,500 square-foot Visitor Center and 600 square-foot Open Air Classroom, owned by the North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation, is located in Merchants Millpond State Park. A Registered Natural Heritage Area that covers 1900 acres, the park includes the millpond and part of Lassiter Swamp. Parks & Recreation is charged with preserving the park’s diverse biological, scenic, archaeological, geological and recreational values and providing park experiences that promote pride in and understanding of North Carolina’s natural heritage.
The Visitor Center is situated uphill from the pond and parallel to the bank so that every 
space along the southeast side of the building has a view of the natural surroundings. A porch is also located along that elevation so visitors can easily step from the building into the outdoors. Clerestory windows on the northwest face of the building allow the exhibit space, auditorium, classroom, reception area and offices to enjoy natural lighting from two sides of the spaces.
The auditorium and classroom were designed to be as flexible as possible to accommodate a variety of functions. From the classroom, a trail leads to the detached, Open Air Classroom Building at the edge of the pond. This is also the point of arrival and departure for canoeing in the Millpond.
According to Erin Sterling, AIA, of Frank Harmon Architect PA, Parks and Recreation wanted the Visitor Center to be as sustainable as possible since it is Parks and Recreation’s first LEED rated building. As a result, the project features a sensitively designed parking lot that maintains trees for shade, geothermal heating and cooling, recycled materials, locally harvested materials, rainwater cisterns for landscape irrigation, low voc paints and adhesives, daylighting and natural ventilation. The project is currently pursuing LEED Gold Certification.
Construction materials and devices include recycled steel structural members, concrete block with high fly ash content, exterior cypress wood siding harvested from felled trees as a result of hurricane Isabel, standing seam metal roof which allows for high solar reflectivity, daylight sensors that contribute to energy savings by only allowing certain lights to come on when needed, low flow plumbing fixtures in restrooms.
“The design of the building was inspired by photographs of the old wooden mill building 
that once had a magnificent presence on the pond. The new Visitor Center’s most important space is the entry lobby located under a dramatically sloping roof supported by exposed wood beams and columns. A two story window at the end of the lobby captures a view of the millpond beyond. The floor material in this space is 100 year old reclaimed heart pine. Our client’s goal was to give visitors a welcoming feeling by using a similar language to the materials and construction of the old mill.” said Sterling, who served as Project Manager for the project.
The opening of the Merchants Millpond Visitor Center and Open Air Classroom Building comes on the heels of the openings of both the NC Botanical Garden new Visitor Education Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the Walnut Creek Urban Wetlands Education Center in Southeast Raleigh – both public-serving and thoroughly sustainable projects. The Botanical Garden is slated for LEED Platinum certification, the “greenest” certification a building can receive.
For more information on Merchants Millpond, go to www.stateparks.com/merchants_millpond.html.
For more information on Frank Harmon Architect PA, 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 and education about natural resources, including the recently completed Walnut Creek Urban Wetlands Park Educational Center in Raleigh, Duke University’s Ocean Science Teaching Center in Beaufort, NC, the Walter B. Jones Center for the Sounds, Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Columbia, NC, and the NC Museum of Natural Sciences’ Prairie Ridge Eco-Station in Raleigh. The firm is currently anticipating the opening of the NC Botanical Garden’s new Visitors Center in Chapel Hill and Merchants Millpond Outdoor Educational building in Gatesville, N.C. For more information, go to www.frankharmon.com
Triangle Modernist Houses.com Announces Architecture Film Series
November 12, 2009 at 2:59 am | In Film, architecture, mid-century architecture, modern architecture, news | Leave a CommentTags: cinema, Film, film series, film series NC, Galaxy Cinema
– Stunning modernist architecture is the star –
November 11, 2009 (RALEIGH, NC) – George Smart, founder and executive director of Triangle Modernist Houses.com (TMH), has announced the first TMH Architecture Movie Series, four monthly Thursday night events at the Galaxy Cinema in Cary, N.C.
The first film is Thursday, December 10 — “Visual Acoustics,” a documentary on Julius Shulman, arguably the most important architectural photographer of the 20th century. Narrated by Dustin Hoffman and directed by Eric Bricker, “Visual Acoustics” chronicles Shulman’s life and work as he shaped the careers of influential architects including Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra,and John Lautner.
On Thursday, January 14, TMH will screen Ayn Rand’s 1949 classic “The Fountainhead,” based on philosopher Rand’s seminal novel by the same name. “Protagonist Howard Roark
Ayn Rand
is a fiercely individualistic young, modernist architect who chooses to struggle in obscurity rather than compromise his artistic and personal vision,” Smart said. “Roark is the embodiment of the human spirit and his struggle represents the triumph of individualism over collectivism.”
“The Lake House,” a 2006 romantic drama starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, is TMH’s choice for Valentine’s Day week, February 18. Alex Wyler (Reeves) is an architect living in 2004. Kate Forster (Bullock) is a doctor living in 2006. They share correspondence by leaving letters in a lake house mailbox that somehow transcends time. “A great love story, but the real star of the movie is the house,” Smart says, “and prior to the screening, moviegoers will learn how it was constructed and destroyed just after completion.”
On March 18, the final movie is “Infinite Space,” a new documentary that traces California
From "Infinite Space"
architect John Lautner’s lifelong quest to create “architecture that has no beginning and no end.” Lautner is known for the Sheats-Goldstein Chemosphere and other bold houses that have appeared in movies and on TV. “‘Infinite Space’ is the story of brilliance and a complicated life,” said Smart, “and some of the most sensual architecture of the 20th century.”
“TMH’s ongoing mission is “to draw attention to and to celebrate modernist residential design,” Smart noted. “These four films, besides being entertaining, feature terrific houses from across the country.”
Smart is an unabashed fan of the Galaxy Cinema. “They have the area’s best popcorn, popped fresh right there, not in a factory somewhere,” he said. “Food prices are reasonable, and besides popcorn, sodas, and candy, the theater offers beer, wine, mineral water, coffee and teas, and specialty organic chocolates.”
Galaxy Cinema is located at 770 Cary Towne Boulevard, across the street from Cary Towne Center. All movies in the series start at 7 p.m.
Sponsors include: Nowells Contemporary Furniture, Foundation, LightTech, Tonic Design & Construction, Kontek Systems, Alphin Design Build, Frank Bowman Design Inc., and blueplate pr. Advance tickets are $7.95 each, $23.95 for all four movies, or $9 at the door. There will be door prizes donated by sponsors and gift certificates from the Galaxy Cinema.
For more information on the THM Architecture Movies Series, to buy advance tickets, and to see trailers for each of the featured 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.
Triangle Modernist Houses To Host “ModStock ‘09″
October 19, 2009 at 5:12 pm | In architecture, historic preservation, leisure activity, mid-century architecture, modern architecture, news | Leave a CommentTags: modern architecture, modern houses, preserving modern houses, modern furniture, Young Architects Forum
October 19, 2009 (RALEIGH, NC) – Triangle Modernist Houses, a non-profit organization dedicated to restoring and growing modernist architecture in the Triangle, is throwing a party. On Thursday, November 5, from 6-8 p.m. the non-profit and the AIA/Triangle’s Young Architects Forum (YAF) will present “ModStock ‘09” at Nowell’s Contemporary Furniture Gallery in Cary, and the public is invited.
ModStock is the brainchild of TMH founder and director George Smart, who sees the party as a way to introduce more people to modernist architecture while introducing the area’s brightest young architects to the community.
“The Triangle has rediscovered cool architecture through our website,” says Smart, “and now it’s time to bring that community together. Many people who love Modernist design feel they are alone, but we’re tapping into hundreds if not thousands of kindred spirits. If you have a coffee table book on Modernist architecture, we’re your tribe. Come join us!”
George Smart
Nowell’s Contemporary Furniture Gallery is one of the state’s largest modern furniture showrooms. The event will include free beer, wine, sodas and snacks, and door prizes from TMH and Nowell’s, including tickets to TMH’s next Modernist House Tour to be held in West Raleigh on November 7.
Smart will also debut a portion of a new presentation during ModStock spotlighting award-winning architects and Modernist residences from 1951 to today.
“During 2010, city agencies, historical societies, realtors, design schools, or any group interested in learning about North Carolina’s rich Modernist heritage can engage me to speak. This presentation will be part of those speaking engagements.”
Only 250 tickets are available to ModStock, so Smart suggests anyone interested should go to www.trianglemodernisthouses.com/register soon to make reservations.
Nowell’s is located at 900 East Chatham Street in Cary.
For more information on Triangle Modernist Houses, 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. Its primary public service is the website www.trianglemodernisthouses.com. 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.
About Young Architects Forum:
The Young Architects Forum (YAF), a program of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the College of Fellows (COF), is organized to address issues of particular importance to recently licensed architects.
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Triangle Modernist Houses’ Raleigh Tour To Spotlight Architects’ Personal Residences
October 1, 2009 at 6:34 pm | In architecture, historic preservation, mid-century architecture, modern architecture | Leave a CommentTags: modernist homes tour, Raleigh modernism, Triangle Modernist Houses
The Crowder residence
October 1, 2009 (RALEIGH, NC) – Three Modernist houses that architects designed for their own families in West Raleigh will be the focus of Triangle Modernist Houses’ (TMH) Homes Tour to be held Saturday, November 7, from 1-4 p.m.
The tour will spotlight the private residences of architects Thomas Crowder, Raymond Sawyer and Brian Shawcroft.
Thomas Crowder is founder and principal of ARCHITEKTUR and currently serves as a Raleigh City Councilman. His 2400-square-foot residence at 1409 Ashburton Road was completed in 2000, replacing an earlier, more traditional ranch home that burned in 1998. A prime example of fitting modernist design into an established community, it was given an AIA Honor Award in 2004.
“It was almost therapy for me to deal with the loss by absorbing myself in the rebuilding and starting over,” says Crowder.
The house basically doubled in size with an addition on the back, and includes an art gallery at the front to display pieces that have replaced those that were lost. The house has a Japanese-inspired feel and includes large clerestory windows that provide ample light throughout the day.
The Sawyer house.
Raymond Sawyer, the first recipient of the American Society of Beaux Arts medal, designed his house at 1300 Lorimer Road in 1958. Exemplary of mid-century Modernist design, it features extensive glazing that blurs the line between indoors and out. Retired now and living in Brevard, NC, Sawyer lived in the house with his family until 2006. The current owner, Adrienne Joergensen, has done some renovation work, and the house’s Modernist “bones” remain very much intact.
One of Raleigh’s true “deans” of Modern architecture, Brian Shawcroft,
The Shawcroft residence
FAIA, designed almost all of the Modernist home inventory in the Triangle area from the 1970s through the late 1990s. He completed his current 2215-square-foot residence at 5215 Melbourne Road in 2002. In 1991, Shawcroft was awarded the prestigious Henry Kamphoefner Prize for achievement in Modernist architecture.
The November tour will begin at the Western Boulevard Presbyterian Church, 4900 Kaplan Drive, where a free shuttle service will take participants to the three houses.
Advance tickets are $9.95 and are on sale now via the TMH website: www.trianglemodernisthouses.com. TMH director George Smart recommends securing tickets early since TMH homes tours typically sell out quickly. Proceeds benefit future tours, TMH’s cataloging program and research grants, and provide infrastructure as the non-profit organization works to create public awareness for the preservation of modernist design.
Sponsors for the November tour include Element Lighting, Rock & Shop, Humphrey Homes, Bowman Designs, Alphin Design/Build, and Nowell’s Contemporary Furniture.
For more information on Triangle Modernist Houses, 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. Its primary public service is the website www.trianglemodernisthouses.com. 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.
posted by blueplate pr
Local Advocate Hopes Good News for Housing Market Means Good News for Modernist Houses
August 25, 2009 at 8:31 pm | In architecture, business, historic preservation, mid-century architecture, modern architecture, news | Leave a CommentTags: modernist houses NC, NC real estate, Triangle housing, Triangle real estate
August 25, 2009 (DURHAM, NC) — After the Associated Press reported last week that “the U.S. housing market is rebounding faster than expected” (News & Observer), George Smart of Durham, NC, the founder and director of Triangle Modernist Archives Inc, (TMA) is hoping some of that momentum will help preserve some of the modern houses currently on the market in the Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill region of North Carolina.
Smart is the founder and director of Triangle Modernist Archives, Inc., a non-profit entity that archives and advocates modernist residential design. It’s website, www.trianglemodernisthouses.com, includes a free “For Sale” section that spotlights modernist houses on the market solely for the purpose of helping them find new owners. TMA does not receive a percentage of the sale.
At present, the list includes 45 residences, from a 1949 house in Chapel Hill designed by Jim Webb to Dwell Magazine’s “Next House” in Hillsborough, designed by Joel Turkel and completed in 2007.
“Any Triangle modernist homeowner or real estate agent can participate,” Smart explained. “All they have to do is send an email with the house address, city, owner’s name, year built, square feet, and architect, if known; photos of the front, back, kitchen, and living room; and a link to where readers can get more information. Typically this is a real estate company website or MLS. Submissions, if approved, are generally reviewed, edited, and posted within 48 hours.”
(MLS, or the Multiple Listing Service, is a real estate service that combines listings for all available properties in an area, except For-Sale-By-Owner properties, in one directory or database.)
TriangleModernistHouses.com has helped many homeowners and realtors sell new and mid-century modern residences in the Triangle area and, in some cases, as far away as Charlotte to the west and Rocky Mount to the east, thanks to a growing data base of modernist enthusiasts who sign up for Smart’s email updates or visit the site frequently.
“Our historical content and detail is unrivaled,” Smart said, “which is why devoted modernist-oriented visitors return again and again.”
According to Raleigh realtor Ann-Cabell Baum Anderson, the website listing and tour sponsored of the dramatically modern, 3900-square-foot home overlooking Lake Boone Trail in Raleigh helped her sell that property. The house was designed by Jessica Johnson Moore.
TMH.com helped drive interest in the Johnson House overlooking Lake Boone Trial in Raleigh.
“From a realtor’s standpoint, TMH absolutely drives more eyes toward, and more conversation around, the modernist houses we list,” she said. “It is extremely helpful, and George and his board are just dynamic people. I applaud them for their advocacy and thank them for their efforts.”
Smart noted that he frequently receives calls from modern home enthusiasts as far away as California and Maine who have found his website online and seek out his help in matching them with an existing home or connecting them with a local architect who can design one for them. The website also maintains information on modern architects working in the Triangle today as well as an archive of past modernists who contributed to the area’s built environment.
A Raleigh native and the son of an architect, George Smart loves to point out a little known fact: that the Triangle area “is the third largest concentration of modernist houses in America. We have more than anywhere except LA and Chicago,” he said.
He’s hoping the part of that concentration that’s currently for sale will find enthusiastic new owners as buyers return to the housing market.
For more information on Triangle Modernist Houses and to view the list of homes for sale, go to www.trianglemodernisthouses.com and click on “For Sale.”
About Triangle Modernist Houses:
Triangle Modernist Archive, Inc. (TMA) is a North Carolina nonprofit organization. Established in 2007 by George Smart, the organization became a formal nonprofit in 2009. TMA is committed to restoring and growing modernist architecture in the Triangle. Our primary public service is managing Triangle Modernist Houses.com (TMH), an award-winning nonprofit educational archive for cataloguing, preserving, and advocating modernist residential design. 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.
Durham Modernist House Tour: Jewel In The Woods
August 8, 2009 at 10:09 pm | In architecture, green architecture, historic preservation, modern architecture | Leave a CommentTags: mid-century houses NC, modern architecture, modernism, Triangle Modernist Houses
August 7, 2009 (DURHAM, NC) – Triangle Modernist Houses.com (TMH), the educational archive for modernist residential design in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area of NC, will host tours of the Christine and Michael Coates residence in Rougemont, NC, on Saturday, October 3, from 1-3:30 p.m.
Tucked away on a 10-acre site just north of Durham, the house was designed by Michael Coates, AIA, who serves as director of design for Little Diversified Architectural Consulting in Charlotte, NC. He graduated in 1994 from UNC-Charlotte. From 1994 to 1999, he worked for the firm Blake & Vagone in Charlotte.
Clearly modern in line and volume, the house’s floor plan is actually based on the 
foursquare pattern prevalent in early 20th century houses: main living spaces (kitchen, living, dining, study) are on the first floor, sans hallways, with bedrooms directly above. Unlike the traditional foursquare, Michael Coates removed the walls between the kitchen and dining room to create an openness that makes the 2500-square-foot house feel larger. A steel and wood stair rises to the second floor where the landing becomes a library/reading room.
The owners designed and built the house’s maple cabinetry themselves to complement the hardwood floor and living room ceiling.
The exterior of the Coates house features Corten steel panels, cedar siding and abundant glazing for natural lighting. A “light chimney” in the center of the three-bedroom, three-bath residence brings more light into the core of the house and even moonlight on clear evenings. The house was completed in 2007.
Advance tickets for the October 3 tour are $5.95 and are available on the website: www.trianglemodernisthouses.com. Tickets are not mailed but are picked up onsite at the event. TMH tours sell out quickly, so those interested in attending should secure tickets and time slots as soon as possible. Tours are conducted at 15-minute intervals.
Hampstead Lighting (www.earplighting.com) is a sponsor. For more information on the Coates house and the tour, go to www.trianglemodernisthouses.com/register.htm.
About Triangle Modernist Houses:
Triangle Modernist Archive, Inc. (TMA) is a North Carolina nonprofit organization. Established in 2007 by George Smart, the organization became a formal nonprofit in 2009. TMA is committed to restoring and growing modernist architecture in the Triangle. Our primary public service is managing Triangle Modernist Houses.com (TMH), an award-winning nonprofit educational archive for cataloguing, preserving, and advocating modernist residential design. 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.
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Exemplary Mid-Century Home Endangered In Durham
August 3, 2009 at 7:12 pm | In architecture, mid-century architecture, modern architecture, news | 2 CommentsTags: George Matsumoto, Kenneth Scott AIA, Lewis Clarke, mid-century architecture, mid-century houses for sale, mid-century houses NC, Milton Small
Carr residence's hidden terrace
August 3, 2009 (DURHAM, NC) – A 1950’s house going on the market isn’t news. When that house is exemplary of its style and period and in danger of demolition, it is.
The 1958 John and Binford Carr residence in Durham, NC, overlooking Hope Valley Golf Course is for sale. Triangle Modernist Houses, an archiving and advocacy organization for mid-century homes in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill “Triangle” area of North Carolina, considers it the most endangered house among its listings of modern homes for sale.
As seen from the golf course
“We’re putting out a national alert to find a loving owner for this exquisite, Kenneth Scott-designed home,” said George Smart, executive director. “Its location on a golf course coupled with an available lot next door makes this a prime teardown target.”
Kenneth McCoy Scott, AIA, a member of the first graduating class at the School of Design at North Carolina State University, designed the 2337-square-foot Carr residence. His design recalls a group of middle-income family residences designed by Frank Lloyd Wright’s called “Usonian Homes.” They were relatively small, single-story houses with carports (a term FLW coined) rather than garages and L-shaped footprints that create an inner garden/terrace. Environmentally conscious before the concept entered the general lexicon, Usonian houses featured native materials and flat roofs with large cantilevered overhangs to protect an abundance of windows. The windows accommodated natural ventilation and lighting and blurred the line between indoors and outdoors. Clerestory windows added more natural lighting.
The Carr residence appears to be straight from Wright’s Usonian playbook. From the carport, a door opens onto an enclosed, private terrace and garden. This space as well as the surrounding property features the work of master landscape architect Lewis Clarke, FASLA, who taught at the NCSU School of Design under Dean Henry Kamphoefner.
From the hidden terrace, sliding glass doors open to the interior where large windows at the back of the living space overlooks the golf course. A hall leading to the bedrooms also features a glass wall with exterior views. Natural wood and brick walls that exemplify contractor Frank Walser’s work add warmth to the modern lines and volumes of the interior. Walser (1924-1996) was well-known for his craftsmanship and attention to detail, and as such executed the design concepts of many of the area’s best architects, including George Matsumoto and Milton Small. 
The Carrs have been the only owners of the two-bedroom two-bath house that is listed for $665,000 and has been meticulously maintained. Smart is hoping a buyer who appreciates the beauty and historic importance of Kenneth Scott’s design comes forward before a developer grabs the land and discards the house.
Adds Smart, “By getting the word out now, rather than wait, we dramatically increase the chances of preserving one of the finest examples of Mid-Century modern.”
The house is listed with Susan Peak of Peak, Swirles & Cavallito of Durham (919-612-3221. To see more photos of the house, including a collection of black-and-white images from the late 1950’s, go to www.trianglemodernisthouses.com/scott.htm.
About Triangle Modernist Houses:
Triangle Modernist Archive, Inc. (TMA) is a North Carolina nonprofit organization. Established in 2007 by George Smart, the organization became a formal nonprofit in 2009. TMA is committed to restoring and growing modernist architecture in the Triangle. Our primary public service is managing Triangle Modernist Houses (TMH), an award-winning nonprofit educational archive for cataloguing, preserving, and advocating modernist residential design in the Triangle area of North Carolina. 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.
1950s photos by Lewis Clarke, FASLA, courtesy of Triangle Modernist Houses.com
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Triangle Modernist Houses’ Summer Doubleheader Tour Sells Out Quickly
July 22, 2009 at 9:25 pm | In architecture, modern architecture | Leave a CommentTags: modern architecture, Triangle architecture, Triangle Modernist Archives, Triangle Modernist Houses
Durham Performing Arts Center
July 22, 2009 (DURHAM, NC) – Triangle Modernist Houses has sold out its first August tour, a “Behind-The-Scenes” look at the Durham Performing Arts Center in downtown Durham and architect Phil Szostak residence in Orange County. The tour will be held on Saturday, August 1, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
Phil Szostak, FAIA, principal of Philip Szostak Associates in Chapel Hill, designed both structures and will be on hand to conduct the tour.
“It’s an honor to have people want to come see our work,” Szostak said. “I have always enjoyed sharing stories about the projects and how they developed versus just showing the end product. In this case, I think it offers a more rounded understanding of the DPAC and our home.”
The Durham Performing Arts Center is a 2800-seat proscenium theater, designed to accommodate touring stage shows, concerts, and locally produced performances. A dramatic, multi-level public lobby greets patrons. Two grand staircases wrap the building’s perimeter. The building’s façade is a thin curtain wall that focuses attention on prominent interior features and frames views of the downtown cityscape.
The Szostak residence is a thoroughly Modern composition nestled into a 3.5 acre property in Orange County. Living spaces are arranged along a gallery concourse that creates an exterior courtyard where a gridded bosque of ornamental trees surround a reflecting pool. The character of the home, though intentionally understated, emphasizes elegance and simplicity.
Szostak Residence
“I hope the visitors take a way a stronger appreciation of the art of architecture and the role of North Carolina architects,” the architect said, “and that high budgets are not required for good architecture.”
Triangle Modernist Houses.com is the website for Triangle Modernist Archive, Inc., an award-winning nonprofit which preserves, advocates, and builds community around modernist residential design in the Triangle area of North Carolina. Through its online archive and frequent tours of modernist houses in the area, TMA spotlights the beauty and value of modernist residential design and the need for celebrating and preserving the area’s finest examples.
Proceeds from tour ticket sales benefit TMH’s tours, continuing archives, and cataloguing work as America’s largest website for modernist houses. For more information on future tours, visit www.trianglemodernisthouses.com/register.
posted by blueplate pr
Putting The Ease in Easements: How To Save Modernist Houses From Future Bulldozers
July 22, 2009 at 9:15 pm | In architecture, education, historic preservation, mid-century architecture, modern architecture, news | Leave a CommentTags: historic preservation, mid-century houses NC, modern architecture, Preservation NC, Triangle Modernist Archives
July 22, 2009 (RALEIGH, NC) — Property easements aren’t sexy, but they are important, especially when they concern property with historic value. Easements protect historic structures by assuring that the property’s intrinsic values will be preserved through subsequent ownership.
To help the general public understand how easements work, what they protect, their advantages and disadvantages, Triangle Modernist Houses.com (TMH) will present a workshop and panel discussion in the new addition to Pullen Memorial Church, 1801 Hillsborough Street in downtown Raleigh, on Saturday, August 15, from 10-11:30 a.m.
Members of the panel will include TMH founder and executive director George Smart; Elizabeth Sappenfield, director of Urban Issues for Preservation North Carolina and the National Trust for Historic Preservation; J. Myrick Howard, executive director, Preservation North Carolina; and Sig Hutchinson, a Wake County insurance agent who is best known for his work in protecting and preserving open space and expanding Raleigh’s greenway system.
TMH’s George Smart is particularly interested in how preservation easements can save mid-century Modernist houses from being razed in the Triangle.
“Many people have a deep personal connection to their house or property,” he said. “It is a part of their family legacy or the cherished result of a life’s work. A preservation easement assures a beloved property will be preserved forever.”
Panelist Elizabeth Sappenfield explained that a preservation easement is “a legal agreement filed with the county register of deeds that protects buildings. Easements are flexible tools and can be custom-designed to meet the personal and financial needs of the property owner. In some cases, the owner may choose only to protect the exterior of the building, but a preservation easement may also protect a building’s interior and important landscape elements.”
Through the panel discussion, Smart hope to make “easements easier!” he said. The group will discuss the role of easements in local historic districts and the National Register of Historic Places, along with the length of easement protection, parties involved and costs required.
"Green" addition, Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, Raleigh.
Special guest Ellen Weinstein of the architectural firm Dixon Weinstein Friedlein in Chapel Hill will also be on hand to discuss her firm’s design of the new modern hall at the historic Pullen Memorial Church, which was built using recycled materials and features a “green” roof, rainwater cistern, geothermal heating/cooling, and natural lighting. The church campus is located at the corner of Hillsborough Street and Cox Avenue.
Advance tickets are $5.95 per person and can be obtained at www.trianglemodernisthouses.com/register.htm.
About Elizabeth Sappenfield:
A Raleigh native, Elizabeth Sappenfield is working on preservation issues in the City of Raleigh, including protecting historic neighborhoods, advocating for preservation in city planning, and working directly to preserve historic properties. She is particularly interested in the preservation of Raleigh’s Modernist architecture, working with owners of Modern homes on their preservation options, including easements, and educating the public on Raleigh’s Modernist architecture legacy.
About J. Myrick Howard:
Myrick Howard and Preservation North Carolina’s revolving fund has protected more than 270 historic properties in 60 counties since 1977. Howard has written numerous articles, including a chapter for an international book on American preservation. Each year he teaches a course on historic preservation planning at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is the 2006 winner of the AIA Triangle Isosceles Award.
About Sig Hutchinson:
Sig Hutchingson has worked to promote not only Raleigh’s world-class greenway sytem but also multi-modal transportation options such as connecting sidewalks, bike lanes and greenways to an expanded bus and light rail system. Hutchinson successfully led four bond referendums totaling more than $140 million in Wake County for open space and in the City of Raleigh for parks and greenways.
About Triangle Modernist Houses:
TMH is the website for Triangle Modernist Archives, Inc., an award-winning nonprofit founded by George Smart in 2007 that preserves, advocates, and builds community around modernist residential design in the Triangle area of North Carolina. Through its online archive and frequent tours of modernist houses in the area, TMA spotlights the beauty and value of modernist residential design and the need for celebrating and preserving the area’s finest examples. www.trianglemodernisthouses.com.
Blueplate PR Goes Modern with Triangle Modernist Houses.com
July 8, 2009 at 1:45 am | In architecture, green architecture, historic preservation, mid-century architecture, modern architecture, news, public relations | Leave a CommentTags: Raleigh public relations agency
July 7, 2009 (RALEIGH, NC) - The Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill “Triangle” region of North Carolina has the third-largest concentration of modernist houses in the nation, bested only by Los Angeles and Chicago. This fact surprises most people, even those who live in the Triangle. But not TriangleModernistHouses.com (TMH), an award-winning nonprofit which
preserves, advocates, and builds community around modernist residential
design in the Triangle area of North Carolina, from mid-century to the
present. To leverage the area’s uniqueness regionally and nationally, TMH has contracted with Blueplate PR in downtown Raleigh.
Blueplate PR is a boutique public relations agency owned and operated by
award-winning journalist Kim Weiss. Blueplate specializes in message
development, media relations, communications, online presence, and website
text development.
Weiss is also a modern architecture enthusiast. For nearly two decades, she
wrote about architecture and historic preservation for the former Spectator
Magazine and North Carolina Architect magazine, and founded the Triangle
Architecture Awards Program through Spectator.
“So I couldn’t have been happier when TMH founder George Smart asked me if I’d be interested in working with TMH,” Weiss said. “Modern architecture is a passion of mine, from Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s groundbreaking work in Scotland in the late 19th century, through the ‘heroic’ period of the 1920s and ’30s, to what we now call mid-century, and on to the cutting-edge “green” architecture of today. And I intend to bring every bit of that
passion to bear on my work with TMH.”
George Smart launched TMH in 2007 to catalog, preserve, and advocate
modernist residential design in the Triangle area. The TMH website maintains
a vast gallery of images and biographies of modernist architects who have
had an impact on residential design in the area, both in the past and
currently. TMH also keeps an up-to-date listing of modernist houses for sale
and sponsors frequent tours of modernist houses throughout the Triangle.
Says Smart, “Kim is the most knowledgeable design marketing professional in
North Carolina. With her drive and expertise, we’re going to put the
Triangle’s extraordinary design on the national radar, right up there with
basketball, barbecue,and Clay Aiken.”
For more information on blueplate pr, visit www.blueplatepr.com.
Triangle Modernist Houses is also available on Facebook and Twitter.
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