The American Institute of Architects Center for Architecture and Design in downtown Raleigh is like nothing the capital has ever seen. It eschews traditional building styles in favor of a more environmentally friendly construction that has left some in awe and others confused. An informal News & Observer poll listed the building as Raleigh’s ugliest. Host Frank Stasio talks about why that isn’t such a bad thing and what art has to do with architecture with Frank Harmon, the architect who designed the building, and Steve Schuster, co-founder of Clearscapes architecture firm in Raleigh. To here the discussion, click here.

4/30/12

Frank Harmon, architect of the new 12,000-square-foot AIA North Carolina headquarters in Raleigh, describes the building as a David to the looming Goliath of the neighboring Archdale Building. The latter, a monolithic white stone tower sliced by vertical rows of dark glass, was built in 1977 for state government offices. The comparatively diminutive, wood-clad AIA sits below it on an island in the high-traffic intersection of Wilmington and Peace streets. “It really holds the corner,” said Harmon.

Amid this architectural standoff, the kind of traffic that defines the area is slowly shifting from car to pedestrian, and it was with this in mind that Harmon designed the new AIA building, officially known as the Center for Architecture and Design. READ MORE…

His speech is part of the June 14-16, 2012 Spring Conference of the North Carolina chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (NCASLA). READ MORE…

by Rusty Long

Dubbing it the “Green and Grand Opening” of the newly completed Center for Architecture and Design (CfAD), the North Carolina Chapter of the American Institute of Architects will be opening the new facility to the public this Saturday, March 17th, from 1 to 8 p.m. This free tour will showcase the sustainable aspects of the building.  READ MORE…

The award-winning architect will present his popular seminar in

Frank Harmon, FAIA

Washington, D.C.

March 6, 2012 (Raleigh, NC) — For the fifth year, Frank Harmon, FAIA, principal of FrankHarmon Architect PA in Raleigh, NC, will present his popular seminar, “Architects Discuss America’s New Regionalism,” during the 2012 American Institute of Architects National Convention and Design Exposition.

The Convention will be held May 17 to 19 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. The theme for this year’s convention is  “Design Connects.”

Harmon’s seminar explores regionalism’s influence on contemporary design and building techniques that connect it to the social, cultural, economic and environmental needs of its place. It illuminates practical and advanced techniques and technologies for creating an architecture that is firmly connected to the people and the place in which it is built while maintaining budget and contributing to environmental sustainability.

“For architecture to truly connect to its place and its community,” Harmon says, “it must conserve, protect, and engage the specific culture, climate, materials, topography and best building practices of the region in which it is built.”

David Jameson, AIA, of Alexandria, Virginia, Peter Q. Bohlin, FAIA, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Mark McInturff, FAIA, of Washington, D.C., will join Harmon for 90-minute seminar. The three award-winning architects will use examples of their own work to demonstrate real applications of the principles of modern regional design that should “inspire other architects to unlock their potential and ignite changes in how they design and construct buildings in their own regions,” Harmon says.

Frank Harmon, Professor in Practice at North Carolina State University’s College of Design, is recognized nationally as a leader in modern, innovative, sustainable, and regionally appropriate buildings. His work has received numerous awards, has been featured in many journals and books on the subject, and has been exhibited in the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. Recently, Architect magazine ranked Harmon’s firm 22^nd among the nation’s top 50 firms.

For more information on the 2012 AIA National Convention and Design Exposition, go to www.aia.org.

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

AIA NC Center for Architecture and Design

By Mike Welton (photo by Juli Leonard)

Award-winning architect will discuss how the two professions can work together.

February 22, 2012 (Raleigh, NC) – Frank Harmon, FAIA, principal of Frank Harmon Architect PA in Raleigh and Professor in Practice at the North Carolina State University College of Design, will give the February 27 lecture for the 2011-12 Landscape Architecture Lecture Series. His theme will be “How architects and landscape architects can work together.”

Free and open to the public, Harmon’s lecture will begin at 6 p.m. in the Burns Auditorium in Kamphoefner Hall.

A nationally recognized leader in modern, sustainable, regionally appropriate architecture, Harmon says he will discuss the urban and rural landscape, how architecture fits into it, and how architects and landscape architects can combine efforts “to leave the landscape better than we found it,” he said.

“For the past two decades I’ve chosen to have a landscape architect working beside me when I begin a design,” Harmon said. “At Merchants Millpond in eastern North Carolina, for example, I canoed and camped with landscape architect David Swanson before we drew the first line for the new Environmental Education Center there. I teamed with landscape architect Gregg Bleam to design the recently completed AIA NC Center for Architecture and Design in downtown Raleigh.”

Harmon frequently asserts that the most important decision an architect makes is how to position a building on its site. “That particular throw of the dice determines everything that follows: orientation, aspect and prospect, day lighting, cross ventilation, hydrology, micro-climate, and most importantly, a sense of place. My belief that all good architecture begins with the land makes me value and appreciate landscape architects’ skills and understanding.”

The 2011-12 Landscape Architecture Lecture Series is produced by the Department of Landscape Architecture in partnership with the Student Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects and the Landscape Architecture Advisory Council.

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

February 2, 2012 (Raleigh, NC) –  Frank Harmon, FAIA, principal of Frank Harmon Architect PA in Raleigh, NC, recently served as chairman of the 2011 Boston Society of Architects/AIA design awards program and presented the awards to the winners during a gala ceremony held January 26 at the Marriott Copley Place.

The sole judging criterion for the Boston program was design excellence. The jury was empowered to determine the extent to which design excellence is defined by aesthetic, functional, contextual, sustainable, social or other characteristics. The jury could also elect to honor all or part of a project, in any category they choose. The categories included: Accessible Design; Education Facilities Design, John M. Clancy Award for Socially Responsible Housing, Sustainable Design, Unbuilt, Honor Awards for Design Excellence, and the Harleston Parker Medal award.

“The work of the Boston Society of Architects is quite simply exceptional, some of the best in the country,” Harmon said. “It was a pleasure to review their work.”

This year’s Boston jury was composed of members of the Triangle Architecture and Design Society (TADS), a group of architects from Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, NC, that fosters collaboration among competing area practitioners and encourages greater public understanding of architectural design. TADS has proven so successful that it has garnered national AIA attention.

TADS members participating with Harmon on the Boston jury were: Roger Clark FAIA, Distinguished Professor at the College of Design NCSU, and David Hill, AIA, Associate professor at the College of Design; Dennis Stallings, AIA, and Irv Pearce, AIA, of Pearce, Brinkley, Cease + Lee; Ellen Weinstein, AIA; Phil Szostak, FAIA; Bryan Bell, AIA; and Victoria Bell as an alternate juror.

Frank Harmon is a sought-after jury member and jury chairman for professional design competitions across the nation. For more information, visit www.frankharmon.com.

For more information on the Boston Society/AIA, visit www.architects.org.

If you’ve seen the new building along Peace Street in downtown Raleigh, across from William Peace University, you may be wondering why it looks so, well, so different.

It’s the new headquarters of AIA North Carolina , the statewide trade group for architects, and one reason for the design was to assure that such a relatively small building made a statement and didn’t get lost in the shadows of much larger buildings…  READ MORE

Frank Harmon, FAIA

January 18, 2012 (Raleigh, NC) – Frank Harmon FAIA, founder and principal of the award-winning firm Frank Harmon Architect PA in Raleigh, will be a featured guest at the first 2012 “Appetite4Architecture” dinner on Tuesday, January 31, beginning at 6:30 p.m. in 18 Seaboard restaurant in Raleigh.

Now in its third year, “Appetite4Architecture” dinners are sponsored by Triangle Modernist Houses (TMH), an award-winning, non-profit organization dedicated to documenting, preserving and promoting Modernist residential design. The purpose of the dinners is to give the general public a chance to dine with, and talk with, some of the Triangle area’s finest architects in a relaxed, informal setting.

Frank Harmon is well known for modern, innovative, sustainable and regionally appropriate architecture of all types, including houses. Among his best known, award-winning residential designs are:

• The Taylor Vacation House in the Bahamas, which is included in the book Tropical Modernism and was featured in an exhibit in the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., among many other accolades.
• The Strickland-Ferris Residence in Raleigh, which has been featured in a number of architectural magazines and received both Custom Home and Wood Design awards.
• The Low Country Residence in Mount Pleasant, SC, which also received a Custom Home Design Award and a national AIA Housing Award.
• And his own modern home and gardens that he shares with his wife, landscape architect Judy Harmon, in Raleigh, which were featured in Sarah Susanka’s book Outside The Not-So-Big House.

In 2011, Frank Harmon was included in Residential Architect magazine’s “RA 50: A Short List of Architects We Love,” and in 2005 his firm received the magazine’s “Top Firm of the Year” honor. He has been profiled in Dwell magazine and Architectural Record, and he has been a featured guest on American Public Media’s “The Story” with Dick Gordon.

Joining Harmon for TMH’s inaugural 2012 “A4A” dinner will be Durham architect Ellen Cassilly, AIA, who worked in Harmon’s firm before founding her own firm Ellen Cassilly Architect Inc., and Randy Lanou, president of BuildSense/Studio B Architecture, also in Durham. Dona Aguayo of Go Realty is co-sponsoring the January 31 dinner.

The TMH “A4A” dinners are all held at 18 Seaboard, 18 Seaboard Avenue, No. 100, Raleigh, NC 27604. The dinners include three courses from a preselected menu (vegetarian options are available) plus coffee, water, tea, tax, and gratuity. Price per person is $53. Tickets are available at www.trianglemodernisthouses.com/a4a. Payments are nonrefundable except for event cancellation. All proceeds benefit TMH’s ongoing documentation, preservation, and house tours programs. For more information on TMH call George Smart, 919-740-8407 or visit www.trianglemodernisthouses.com.

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