downtown Raleigh :: blueplate PR

Frank Harmon Wins Honor Award for AIA NC Center for Architecture & Design

Categories: Frank Harmon Architect PA
Comments (0)

November 28, 2012 (Raleigh, NC) – Frank Harmon Architect PA, a multi-award-winning firm in Raleigh, NC, has received an Honor Award from the North Carolina Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA NC) for the design of the new AIA NC Center for Architecture and Design in downtown Raleigh.

Already praised by the media as a “heroic gesture” (Metro Magazine), a building “that behaves like the skilled diplomat it was designed to be,” (News & Observer), and “an ode in zinc and cypress, and an inviting treatise on transparency,” (Huffington Post), the building is located on an oddly shaped, previously unused lot in downtown Raleigh near the State Capitol and Government Complex.

According to Frank Harmon, FAIA, the building and landscape were conceived of as “one interlocking system” with the help of Charlottesville, VA, landscape architect Gregg Bleam, FASLA. “The landscape is an extension of the building and the building is an extension of the landscape,” Harmon said. To underscore that concept, the native stone walls in the landscape extend inside the building.

The narrow building is sited snugly against an existing city sidewalk so that the majority of the triangular lot is a park-like green space in this urban context. Harmon and Bleam call the necessary parking space a “parking garden” because it is porously paved to dry quickly and to eliminate storm water runoff, and it can be used for a variety of outdoor functions by AIA NC and other community groups.

The building’s open floor plan features the lobby and multi-purpose room on the first floor, AIA NC’s offices on the second floor, and more offices on the third floor, including Frank Harmon’s own offices. A gallery space is located on a lower level, facing a city street. The open plan is intended to evoke a sense of community among occupants. It also makes temperature and lighting control more efficient.

Harmon designed the building to meet LEED Platinum standards, the highest LEED certification, as well as AIA Committee On The Environment (COTE) goals, which include regional appropriateness and the use of regionally available materials, land use and site ecology, sustainable materials and methods of construction, reduced water usage, and increased energy efficiency.

The siting, narrow footprint, and abundant glazing maximize natural ventilation and day light in every interior space. Other sustainability features include:

• Geothermal heating and cooling

• Rainwater collection for use on site

• 90 percent recycling of construction waste construction on site

• Deep roof overhangs and porches to shade the building in the summer but allow warming light in the winter

• A “green screen” where vines will shade the building in spring and summer

• A zinc roof (zinc being one of the most sustainable metals available)

• All locally available materials, including Cypress wood felled by a hurricane in the Great Dismal Swamp

• Low-flow bathroom fixtures and zero VOC paints and carpets

• Operable windows for cross-ventilation

“As we come out of the recession, we won’t be building in the same wasteful ways,” Harmon said. “With new emphasis on alternative energy and sustainable design, the AIA NC Center shows us a new way to build.”

The annual AIA NC Design Awards celebrate the achievements of architects across the state and recognize a select group of diverse projects that distinguish themselves both in response to their clients’ needs and design excellence. For more information, visit www.ncaia.org.

For more information on Frank Harmon Architect PA, visit www.frankharmon.com.

About Frank Harmon, FAIA:

Frank Harmon, FAIA, a Professor in Practice at NC State University, founded his firm in 1985. Since then, the firm has become nationally recognized for its modern, sustainable, and regionally appropriate designs, especially its environmental education projects. This year, the firm was ranked 17th out of the top 50 firms in the nation by Architect magazine. Last year, Frank Harmon was included in Residential Architect magazine’s “RA 50: The Short List of Architects We Love.” Harmon’s work has been featured in numerous books, magazines and journals on architecture. For more information, go to www.frankharmon.com.

Architect Dion Neutra To Bring His Famous Father’s Work To Raleigh

Categories: Triangle Modernist Houses
Comments (0)

Dion Neutra, AIA

Triangle Modernist Houses continues the 2012 TalkModern Lecture Series.

October 30, 2012 (Raleigh, NC) – In 1949, Time magazine named modern master Richard Neutra (1892-1970) the second most important architect in America, second only to Frank Lloyd Wright. On Tuesday, November 13, at 7 p.m., the master’s son, architect Dion Neutra, AIA, will discuss his father’s celebrated work and philosophy when he presents “Neutra Architecture: The View From Inside” at the AIA North Carolina Center for Architecture and Design in downtown Raleigh.

Dion’s lecture is the second half of Triangle Modernist Houses’ 2012 TalkModern Lecture Series this fall entitled “A Fistful of Neutras.” His brother Raymond spoke in October.

A partner in his father’s firm, Dion will share his personal and professional views of the sensitivity to the relationship of man and nature that he and his father called bio-realism.

“The Neutras sounded the environmental alarm in the 1950s many years before ecology, Green architecture, and Sustainable Design became buzz words for politicians and recently concerned organizations,” according to the Neutra Institute for Survival Through Design. “As far back as [Dion] can remember, his father was warning that ‘today’s man-made environment has become an irritating, increasing threat to the vitality and soundness of mind and body.’ ”

Charlotte landscape architect Ted Cleary will introduce Dion Neutra before his Raleigh lecture.

Advance tickets to the lectures are $12.50. Tickets per lecture at the door are $15. $5 for NCSU students and faculty with identification will be admitted for $5.

To purchase advance tickets and for more information, go to www.trianglemodernisthouses.com/lecture. Proceeds from this lecture will benefit TMH’s ongoing programs.

The AIANC Center for Architecture & Design is located at 14 East Peace Street, Raleigh, NC 27604. For directions: www.cfadnc.org.

For more information on Triangle Modernist Houses, visit www.trianglemodernisthouses.com.

Richard Neutra

About Richard Neutra: In 1929, Viennese-born architect Richard Neutra rose to prominence with his visionary design of the Lovell “Health House” in Los Angeles. In 1932, Neutra was included in the seminal MoMA exhibition on modern architecture, curated by Philip Johnson and Henry-Russell Hitchcock. The ensuing decades solidified his place as one of the giants of the Modernist movement. TMH features a nearly complete catalog of his residential works.

About Triangle Modernist Houses:

Triangle Modernist Houses (TMH) is a 501C3 nonprofit established in 2007 dedicated to documenting, preserving and promoting modernist architecture in the Triangle region. 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 “livable works of art” for future generations. Visit the website at www.trianglemodernisthouses.com. TMH also has an active community on Facebook.

Back To The Future: Sunlight and Gathering Space Return To A Historic Church

Categories: Frank Harmon, Frank Harmon Architect PA
Comments (0)

Frank Harmon Architect PA completes the renovation and expansion of First Presbyterian Church

Rendering, First Presbyterian Church campus

September 14, 2012 (Raleigh, NC) — On Sunday, September 30, members of First Presbyterian Church in downtown Raleigh will participate in a dedication ceremony for their newly renovated, 194-year-old sanctuary and brand-new fellowship hall.

And the congregation is already singing the praises of the design work by Frank Harmon Architect PA in Raleigh, specifically Frank Harmon, FAIA; John Caliendo, AIA; and Courtney Evans, architectural intern.

“It just has this heavenly feeling to it,” church member Mary Martin told the Raleigh News & Observer when the first services were held on September 9 after 17 months of construction. “It just has this peace.”

Since 1818, First Presbyterian Church has been a part of Raleigh’s urban fabric. It went through several renovations, however, the most recent, and perhaps the most destructive, occurring in the 1950s. The result was a dark, dreary interior and a collection of architecturally unrelated structures around a parking lot.

According to Harmon, the congregation wanted to update the entire church campus to become more modern, practical and united. The members also wanted the campus to be more welcoming to the public and to contribute to downtown revitalization by reusing rainwater, minimizing energy consumption, and incorporating open green space.

“We selected Frank and his team for many reasons,” said Jim Nichols, co-chair of the building committee, “creative abilities, experience, attention to details that mattered and passion and care for the project. From the beginning, they took time to know and care about the history of our church and it’s on-going mission. They listened to members of our Committee and to members of the congregation. And over time they helped us shape the guiding principles, which helped us throughout the project. Those guiding principles were:

To create more beautiful spaces for worship, music, education and fellowship
To provide a unified, well-connected, safer and more accessible campus
To design a more welcoming environment for members and visitors alike
To craft a design which was respectful of place and which helped us look forward to the future.”

The project included renovating the existing Sanctuary and adjacent spaces, and replacing the existing 18,000-square-foot Education Building with a new 24,000-square-foot Education Building that houses classrooms, a library, archives, a common gathering space (or fellowship hall), an atrium, reception area, bathrooms, and offices. The existing parking lot has become a landscaped link that connects the two sides of the campus. Embracing sustainable architecture, the design includes natural ventilation and lighting and the use of locally available materials.

However, “one of the most sustainable aspects of the church renovation was the recovery of the original 1900 building fabric, which had been covered over in subsequent renovations,” Harmon noted.

When he and his team began work on the structure, they discovered clerestory windows and huge, terra cotta and brick arches that connected the sanctuary to what was originally a sunlit fellowship hall – all of which had been covered over.

To bring sunlight back into the sanctuary and adjacent fellowship hall, Harmon ripped out sheetrock and an old dropped ceiling. Those elegant arches now feature glass infill and a series of doors that can be flung open to welcome parishioners back to the bright fellowship hall where they can gather after Sunday services. Before the renovations, church members exited onto the street or into a dark corridor.

Harmon’s team also uncovered two round, stained-glass windows on the sanctuary’s north wall that were reportedly covered to accommodate an air conditioning system – a move that the Rev. Edward McLeod Jr. called “an utter waste of beauty.” (News & Observer)

First Presbyterian is Harmon’s third liturgical project, all of which have included historic structures. In 1999 he designed the Parish House for the 1826 St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Hillsborough, NC. In 2008 he completed a modern, thoroughly “green” Sunday school addition for Circular Congregational Church, the oldest church in Charleston, South Carolina. In 2010 the Sunday school addition received a design award from the American Institute of Architects’ Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art and Architecture (IFRAA) and Faith & Form magazine.

For more information on Frank Harmon Architect PA, visit www.frankharmon.com.

For more information on First Presbyterian Church, visit www.fpcraleigh.org.

About Frank Harmon Architect PA:

Frank Harmon, FAIA, principal of Frank Harmon Architect PA in Raleigh, NC, is also a Professor in Practice at the NC State University College of Design. In 2011, his firm was ranked 21st out of the top 50 firms in the nation by Architect magazine and Harmon was included in Residential Architect’s recent “RA 50: The short list of architects we love.” His firm’s work has been featured in numerous books, magazines, journals and online magazines on architecture, including ArchDaily.com, Dwell, Architectural Record, Architect, and Residential Architect. For more information, go to www.frankharmon.com.

Raleigh Architecture Firm To Host TMH’s Thirst4Architecture

Categories: Triangle Modernist Houses
Comments (0)

Louis Cherry, Ratio welcome networking happy hour.

June 11, 2012 (Raleigh, NC) – Triangle Modernist Houses (TMH), the award-winning non-profit organization dedicated documenting, preserving and promoting Modernist residential design, will continue its 2012 Thirst4Architecture (T4A) happy hour networking events this month on Thursday, June 20, from 6-8 pm. in the offices of RATIO, an architectural firm in downtown Raleigh. RATIO partner Louis Cherry, FAIA, will serve as host.

TMH’s informal happy hours are free and open to the public. Hosts provide refreshments and TMH provides a variety of door prizes.

“We welcome architects, artists, designers, interior designers, realtors, engineers, contractors, property investors, building managers, Modernist homeowners, materials and furniture dealers – or anyone with a huge crush on great architecture,” says TMH founder and board chair George Smart. “T4A focuses on building relationships, generating passion about good design, creating strategic alliances, and connecting people to each other. There are no presentations or PowerPoint slides. Come join the fun and make new friends and contacts!”

For more information on this and future T4A events, visit www.trianglemodernisthouses.com/t4a.

With offices in Illinois and Indiana, RATIO merged with Cherry’s former firm, Cherry Huffman Architects, in 2011. The firm’s Raleigh office is located at 135 E. Martin Street, Suite 101, Raleigh, NC 27601 (919-821-0805). For more information visit www.ratioarchitects.com.

For more information on Triangle Modernist Houses, visit www.trianglemodernisthouses.com.

About Triangle Modernist Houses:

Triangle Modernist Houses (TMH) is an award-winning 501C3 nonprofit established in 2007 dedicated to documenting, preserving, and promoting Modernist residential design. The award-winning website is now the largest educational and historical archive for Modernist residential design in America. 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 “livable works of art” for future generations. Visit www.trianglemodernisthouses.com. TMH also has an active community on Facebook.

TMH Presents “Modernism at Risk,” An International Architecture Exhibit

Categories: Triangle Modernist Houses
Comments (0)

The International Style Goodyear House (1938) designed by Edward Durell Stone. Architecture critic Paul Goldberger has called it “one of the most important houses built in the United States between the two world wars.”

April 24, 2012 (Raleigh, NC) — Triangle Modernist Houses (TMH), the award-winning non-profit organization dedicated to documenting, preserving, and promoting Modernist residential design, will present “Modernism at Risk: Modern Solutions for Saving Modern Landmarks,” an international exhibit, from June 1-9 in the new AIA NC Center for Architecture & Design in downtown Raleigh.

“Modernism at Risk” features a large-format photographic gallery of destroyed or endangered Modernist buildings by internationally renowned photographer Andrew Moore. The exhibit has traveled the world including the Art Institute of Tampa, the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach, The AIA New York Center for Architecture, Lund University in Sweden, the University of Florida-Gainesville, the University of Montreal, and the University of Michigan’s Taubman School of Architecture.

A project of the World Monuments Fund, “Modernism at Risk” presents five case studies exploring the role designers play in preserving Modern landmarks. These include buildings by architectural luminaries Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer, Eduardo Catalano, Paul Rudolph, Charles Gwathmey, Edward Durell Stone, and Warren Platner. The exhibit’s goal is to persuade the public that Modern buildings can continue to be economically and functionally viable.

“The demise of Modern buildings is a local issue,” said TMH founder and board chair George Smart. “Starting with the destruction of Raleigh’s Catalano House in 2001, we have lost many ‘livable works of art.’ In addition to the photographs, the exhibit will include rare models and a ongoing video loop of award-winning houses in North Carolina. People can learn about great NC houses still standing, which ones are endangered, and how we can work to preserve them.”

Modernist architecture firms and product vendors in the Triangle area are sponsoring each day of the exhibit. They will share samples of their own work and be on hand to speak with tour-goers. These sponsors are: Frank Harmon, FAIA, of Frank Harmon Architect PA; Vinny Petrarca of Tonic Design + Construction; Phil Szostak, FAIA, of Szostak Design/Build; Steve Schuster, FAIA, of Clearscapes Architecture; Kenneth Hobgood, FAIA, of Kenneth Hobgood Architects; Matthew Griffith, AIA, and Erin Sterling Lewis, AIA, of In Situ Studio; Will Alphin of Alphin Design Build; Jerry Nowell of Nowell’s Contemporary Furniture; and Dan Nicely, Assoc. AIA, of VMZINC.

Tickets to the exhibit are: Opening night, June 1, $6.95 in advance, $10 at the door; June 2-9, $3.95 advance, $5 at the door. AIA North Carolina members are admitted free. Each night is hosted or sponsored by a different design firm. For more information and tickets, visit http://www.trianglemodernisthouses.com/atrisk.htm. Proceeds benefit TMH’s ongoing documentation, preservation, and promotion projects.

The new AIA NC Center for Architecture & Design is located at 14 East Peace Street directly across from Peace College. For more information, contact George Smart at 919-740-8407.

About Triangle Modernist Houses

Triangle Modernist Houses (TMH) is an award-winning 501C3 nonprofit established in 2007 dedicated to documenting, preserving, and promoting Modernist residential design. The award-winning website is now the largest educational and historical archive for Modernist residential design in America. 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 “livable works of art” for future generations. For more information: www.trianglemodernisthouses.com. TMH also has an active community on Facebook.

About the World Monument Fund:

Founded in 1965, the World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a private international historic preservation organization based in New York City. For nearly 50 years, WMF has worked to save and preserve endangered historic sites in all areas of the world. The “Modernism at Risk” exhibit is underwritten nationally through a generous gift from Knoll. For more information: www.wmf.org.

Raleigh Architect Guides Middle School Towards Local Environmental Stewardship Competition

Categories: Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee
Comments (0)

PBC+L’s Don Kranbuehl mentors Moore Square Museums Magnet Middle

Don Kranbuehl, AIA

School

April 23, 2012 (Raleigh, NC) — Don Kranbuehl, AIA, an associate with the architectural firm Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee (PBC+L), has been mentoring Moore Square Museums Magnet Middle School in downtown Raleigh to help the school establish an environmental club, aptly named the “Green Team,” and to compete in the 2012 Environmental Stewardship Competition sponsored by the Triangle chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). On Saturday, April 28, Kranbuehl’s Green Team and other participating student groups will display their efforts during the Triangle USGBC’s “Generation Green: Celebrating A New Generation of Builders” event at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences.

Kranbuehl was instrumental in organizing the Triangle USGBC’s 2012 Environmental Stewardship Competition, in which student groups from four Wake County middle schools are competing to improve energy efficiency, water-use efficiency, recycling and indoor air quality at their schools.

Winners from the competition will be announced during a special awards ceremony at 4:30 p.m. With the support of the Atkins Foundation, prizes totaling $4000 will be awarded to the schools based on implementation and improvement.

Leading up to the competition, Kranbuehl praised the efforts of the Moore Square students and faculty.

“Moore Square has done a great job teaching children about the importance of protecting the environment and our natural resources,” he said. “I wanted to help with their efforts because I think it is important for our profession to teach the community about the importance of sustainability, and it seems one of the best ways to do that is through teaching the next generation. The kids at Moore Square are so enthusiastic and have done a great job in our USGBC Triangle competition. Our Green Schools committee developed the energy competition because we thought it would be both fun and educational.”

Moore Square has a long history of creating a sustainable and healthy school environment and its efforts in this competition helped secure a nomination for the U.S. Department of Education’s national “Green Ribbon Schools” honor. Three other North Carolina schools were also nominated, including American Hebrew Academy, Greensboro; Evergreen Community Charter School, Asheville; and Green Hope High School, Cary.

Kranbuehl is a member of the NC Triangle Chapter of the USGBC and has served on that organization’s Green Schools Committee for the past three years. He is both a licensed architect and licensed structural engineer. He received a Master of Architecture and a Master in Structural Engineering from Virginia Tech after completing his undergraduate studies at Duke University. He worked with Skidmore Owings and Merrill in Chicago before joining PBC+L in 2005. Since 2007, he has served as an Adjunct Professor of Architecture at the North Carolina State University College of Design.

PBC+L is an active corporate sponsor of Moore Square Middle School’s “Green Team.” For more information on the firm, visit www.pbclarchitecture.com.

For more information on “Generation Green,” visit www.triangleusgbc.org.

About Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee:

Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee (PBC+L) is an award-winning, full-service architectural firm specializing in academic and cultural arts projects. PBC+L has offices in Raleigh and Asheville, North Carolina. The firm’s work has been published in numerous professional journals and the firm was ranked 23^rd in Architecture magazine’s Top 50 Firms in the nation. For more information, visit www.pbclarchitecture.com or find the firm on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

TMH’s Thirst4Architecture Opens at the Contemporary Art Museum

Categories: Triangle Modernist Houses
Comments (0)

Kick-off networking happy hour includes food, music, games and exhibition.

April 10, 2012 (Raleigh, NC) — Triangle Modernist Houses (TMH), the award-wining non-profit organization dedicated documenting, preserving and promoting Modernist residential design, will kick off its 2012 Thirst4Architecture (T4A) happy hour networking events this month on Thursday, April 26, from 6-8:30 pm. at the Contemporary Art Museum (CAM) in downtown Raleigh.

This season’s first T4A takes place concurrent with CAM’s exhibition, “Born Digital.” Along with catering from Moe’s, T4A will offer a cash bar and entertainment by “Eyes Go Lightning,” an all-architect band.

Nowell’s Contemporary Furniture, one of the evening’s sponsors, will stage a game of “Musical Modernist Chairs” with designer chairs from the 1960’s through today.

TMH’s informal happy hours are open to the public.

Admission to the April 26 T4A, which is also sponsored by Modern Home Auction.com, is free and open to the public, but capacity is limited to the first 225 people who show up.

For more information on Triangle Modernist Houses, visit www.trianglemodernisthouses.com. For more information on this and future T4A events, visit www.trianglemodernisthouses.com/t4a.htm.

About Triangle Modernist Houses:

ARCHITECT CLYMER CEASE NAMED BOARD CHAIR OF DOWNTOWN RALEIGH ALLIANCE

Categories: Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee
Comments (0)

Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee principal heads DRA’s 2012 board of directors.

Clymer Cease, AIA

March 27, 2012 (Raleigh, NC) – Clymer Cease, AIA, a principal at the architecture firm Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee Architects, has been named board chair of The Downtown Raleigh Alliance (DRA), an organization dedicated to improving and supporting downtown Raleigh’s central business district.

Founded in 1996, DRA focuses on the development of five community services: Clean & Safe Ambassadors, Marketing & Events, Economic Development, Public Space Management, and Membership & Advocacy. The organization is non-profit and is run by community advocates, local business leaders, and government officials.

Cease, an architect with over 35 years of practice, brings years of leadership experience and a broad understanding of city development issues to his new position. As board chair, Cease will work closely with CEO David Diaz and be responsible for leading the board in its agenda, evaluating its performance, and adjusting its priorities to suit its memberships’ needs. Cease will be a chief volunteer of the organization, mediating between noted concerns and executed plans of action.

“Downtown Raleigh is poised for an acceleration of the development that we have seen over the past several years,” Cease said. “Working with David Diaz, the staff, the board, the membership of DRA, and many community partners to create an even more vibrant and diverse downtown is a unique and exciting opportunity.”

Cease is a consistently active member of the downtown Raleigh community. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Carolina Ballet, the board of directors of the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, and he serves as vice chair of the City of Raleigh’s Public Art and Design Board. He is also chair of the board of Triangle Family Services and of the Regional Transportation Alliance. Cease’s experience, providing leadership for complex projects, has pushed him to work within multiple facets of the city community.

“Raleigh and our region have long been identified as among the best places in the world to live and work,” Cease said. “The decisions that yielded that recognition go back decades and were expanded by successive generations of leaders. We have a responsibility to maintain the momentum of downtown Raleigh and to drive the progress of the globally competitive city that is emerging.”

Clymer Cease graduated with a Master of Architecture degree from Georgia Institute of Technology and with a Bachelor of Environmental Design degree from North Carolina State University’s College of Design. He has designed an array of buildings including facilities for colleges and universities, corporations, museums, schools, and other public institutions.

For more information on Cease or Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee, visit www.pbclarchitecture.com.

For more information on the Downtown Raleigh Alliance visit www.godowntownraleigh.com.

About Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee:

Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee (PBC+L) is an award-winning, full-service architectural firm specializing in academic and cultural arts projects. PBC+L has offices in Raleigh and Asheville, North Carolina. The firm’s work has been published in numerous professional journals and the firm was ranked 23^rd in Architecture magazine’s Top 50 Firms in the nation. For more information, visit www.pbclarchitecture.com or find the firm on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Frank Harmon Discusses The New AIA NC Center for Architecture and Design in New Video

Categories: architecture, business, construction, environment, green architecture, landscape architecture, modern architecture, sustainability, video
Comments (0)

Harmon and landscape architect Gregg Bleam talk about the design process.

The iconic AIA NC headquarters nears completion in downtown Raleigh.

December 6, 2011 (Raleigh, NC) — Architect Frank Harmon, FAIA, of Frank Harmon Architect PA, recently posted a new video on his website (www.frankharmon.com) in which he and landscape architect Gregg Bleam discuss the design process behind the soon-to-be-completed AIA NC Center for Architecture and Design in downtown Raleigh.

Segments of the video will be updated as AIA NC (the American Institute of Architects North Carolina chapter) moves in and the landscape matures.

Harmon explains at the beginning of the video that the project is the result of his firm winning a professional design competition. One of the reasons Harmon won, according to the judges, was that his concept for a modern, thoroughly sustainable, and regionally appropriate Center embraced building and landscape as a single interdependent, interlocking whole.

“We knew this was a landscape problem,” Harmon says, because of the oddly shaped, triangular site and the parking requirements. As a result, he enlisted Bleam “before we drew a single line” and felt including Bleam in the video on the building was imperative.

Directed and shot by Allen Weiss of Allen Weiss: Works on Film and Paper in Raleigh, the video

Frank Harmon, FAIA

features Harmon in his warehouse-turned-office in Raleigh’s Boylan Heights neighborhood and Bleam in his office in downtown Charlottesville, Virginia. It also includes a variety of footage of the building under construction; of Harmon and Bleam walking the site, looking over plans and laughing together; and behind-the-scenes moments in the construction trailer.

This is the first video that Frank Harmon, a multi-awarding winning architect and Professor in Practice at NC State University’s College of Design, has done for his website. Why did he choose this particular project?

“Because of its design, the AIA NC Center for Architecture and Design is destined to be an icon in downtown Raleigh,” said Kim Weiss, Harmon’s public relations coordinator. “It’s also the first from-the-ground-up, ‘green’ AIA headquarters in the nation.

“But equally important,” she continued, “is that the general public rarely gets to hear an architect talk about the process that lead to the design of a building, especially one as iconic as this one. Through the video, Frank is creating a rapport with his audience, whether that means students, clients, future clients, or folks just interested in architecture. Together, he and Gregg are communicating more than a written description could.”

She also pointed out that “videos are entertaining. It’s simply a fact that people today are more likely to click on a video than to read a written description.”

The man behind the camera, Allen Weiss, noted how comfortable Harmon and Bleam were in front of the camera. “There was no script,” he said. “They just started talking and were of such a similar mindset that I could easily cut from one to the other as they discussed the design process. I was impressed.”

The video opens and closes with audible off-camera voices. Weiss said he purposefully left the “chatter” in during the edit to give the piece a casual, relaxed feel, “unlike the garden-variety, industrial, talking-head videos that are dry and offer no clues into the personalities behind them. I don’t believe you can separate the product from the dynamic and interesting personalities that lead to its creation. My intention was not only to showcase this important structure, but to allow viewers to get to know Frank and Gregg in a simply, personal, human way.”

To hear Frank Harmon and Gregg Bleam discuss the design process behind the AIA NC Center for Architecture and Design, visit www.frankharmon.com and click on AIA North Carolina Center for Architecture Design – Video.” To read more about the project, click on “current” projects.

For more information on Gregg Bleam Landscape Architect, go to www.gbla.net.

For more information on Allen Weiss, visit www.allen-weiss.com.

About Frank Harmon Architect PA

Frank Harmon Architect PA is an award-winning architectural firm that is recognized nationally as a leader in modern, innovative, sustainable and regionally appropriate design. Its competition-winning design for the AIA NC Center for Architecture & Design is currently under construction in downtown Raleigh. The firm’s work has been featured in numerous books, magazines, journals and online magazines on architecture, including ArchDaily.com, Dwell, Architectural Record, Architect and Residential Architect. The firm ranked 21st in Architecture magazine’s Top 50 firms in the nation this year and Frank Harmon, FAIA, founder and principal, was included in Residential Architect magazine’s first “RA 50: The short list of architects we love.” For more information, go to www.frankharmon.com.

Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee To Host “Thirst 4 Architecture”

Categories: architecture, business, downtown Raleigh, entertainment, events, leisure activity, mid-century architecture, modern architecture, non-profit
Comments (0)

September’s networking event brings design enthusiasts together.

September 7, 2011 (Raleigh, NC) – The architectural firm Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee (PBC+L) in downtown Raleigh will join Triangle Modernist Houses (TMH) to host this month’s TMH “Thirst 4 Architecture” happy hour on Thursday, September 22, from 6-8pm. The event will be held in the PBC+L offices in Suite 1000 of the classic Capital Bank Building at 333 Fayetteville Street.

TMH founder and director George Smart points out how fitting it is to hold this T4A happy hour in the Capital Bank building. It is frequently referred to as the “Little Seagram Building” for bearing a striking resemblance to a Mies van der Rohe skyscraper in New York City.

“The building was designed by New York architects Emery Roth and Raleigh’s Milton Small in 1966 for BB&T,” he said, “and it’s a terrific example of a mid-century modern office tower. I’m sure everyone who comes to the September event will not only enjoy the networking and refreshments, but will also enjoy being in a Small-designed commercial structure. We’re very grateful to PBC+L for giving us this opportunity.”

Master landscape architect Dick Bell, FASLA, will be on hand to sell and sign copies of his new memoir “The Bridge Builders.” The book traces Bell’s evolution as a designer from his childhood spent growing up on the Outer Banks during the Great Depression to his establishing the former award-winning “Water Garden” mixed-use development on Raleigh’s Glenwood Avenue/Highway 70 West. (For more information on Bell’s new book: http://thebridgebuilders.wordpress.com)

“Thirst 4 Architecture events are intended to build relationships, generating passion about good design, create strategic alliances, and connect people,” Smart said. “It’s all interaction. There are no presentations or PowerPoint slides. Come enjoy the refreshments, enter for door prizes, and make new friends and contacts.”

There is no charge for attendance and the sponsoring firm provides all refreshments.

For more information on “Thirst 4 Architecture” events, go to www.trianglemodernisthouses.com/t4a.

For more information on PBC+L and directions to their offices, go to www.pbclarchitecture.com

About Triangle Modernist Houses:

Triangle Modernist Houses (TMH) is an award-winning 501C3 nonprofit established in 2007 dedicated to documenting, preserving, and promoting modernist residential design. The award-winning website is now the largest educational and historical archive for modernist residential design in America. 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 “livable works of art” for future generations. Visit the website: www.trianglemodernisthouses.com. TMH also has an active community on Facebook.

Archive for: downtown Raleigh