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.
WUNC-FM, The State of Things — “An Energy Efficient Eyesore”
Friday, May 4th, 2012The Architects Newspaper: AIA in NC: Sustainable Role Model – A newly-opened state headquarters turns heads in Raleigh.
Tuesday, May 1st, 2012Frank 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…
LandscapeOnline.com: Frank Harmon, FAIA to Speak on ”Architects and Landscape Architects Working Together’
Monday, April 30th, 2012”All good buildings begin with the land,” says Frank Harmon, FAIA, of Frank Harmon Architect PA www.frankharmon.com in Raleigh, N.C. Harmon is scheduled to speak June 15 at 3:15 on ”How Architects and Landscape Architects Can Work Together” at the Hilton New Bern Riverfront hotel in New Bern, N.C.
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…
NEWRALEIGH.com: AIA NC’s Center for Architecture and Design Grand Opening
Monday, March 19th, 2012March 13, 2012
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…
News & Observer: “An Embassy for Architecture”
Monday, February 27th, 2012Sunday, February 26 2012
By Mike Welton (photo by Juli Leonard)
Consider it the educational link in Raleigh’s long chain of landmark designs.
The city that’s given this state some of its most innovative lessons in architecture – from the 1840 Capitol to the 2010 N.C. Museum of Art – now offers a new icon for a new era: A building dedicated to sustainable design for the 21st century.
It lies on a pork-chop-shaped site framed by Peace and Wilmington streets in downtown Raleigh, where the American Institute of Architects N.C. Chapter has opened its new Center for Architecture and Design…
Triangle Business Journal: “Harmon makes bold point with AIA building”
Thursday, January 26th, 2012by Dale Gibson, Managing Editor, Thursday, January 26, 2012
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
Architects + Artisans: The Home Steve Jobs Grew Up In
Monday, January 2nd, 2012January 2, 2012
“We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us,” Winston Churchill once said, and perhaps no place has the power to shape us like the place where we grow up…
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE
News & Observer: A Holy Facelift for a Downtown Raleigh Church
Monday, December 26th, 2011December 25, 2011
by Richard Stradling
RALEIGH — Anyone who has ever renovated an old building knows your bound to find surprises
when you start tearing out sheet rock and taking down drop ceilings.
Fortunately, for the congregation of First Presbyterian Church in downtown Raleigh, most of those surprises have been pleasant ones.
The church is about midway through a project to restore and modernize its 111-year old sanctuary building and add a new building to its campus at the corner of Morgan and Salisbury streets, where the church has faced Union Square since before the Capitol was built…
…The church hired Raleigh architect Frank Harmon to design a new education and office building with a glass front that will give the church a more public face…
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE.
Raleigh Metro Magazine, Form + Function: Center for Architecture & Design Opens
Sunday, November 13th, 2011By Mike Welton
The American Institute of Architects North Carolina Chapter’s (AIA NC) new Center for Architecture and Design opens this month at the intersection of Wilmington and Peace streets in downtown Raleigh. The 12,000-square-foot building, clad in native Carolina cypress harvested from the Great Dismal Swamp, with roof and siding of rose-colored zinc, was designed by Frank Harmon Architect PA.
The $5.4 million project brings new meaning to the concept of teamwork. AIA NC and Harmon worked closely with Clancy & Theys Construction, John Moore with 4SE Structural Engineers, Carl Simmons of CMS Engineering, RMF Engineering, and landscape architect Gregg Bleam to make the headquarters building — one that serves all seven AIA sections across North Carolina — a reality less than a year from groundbreaking. AIA NC’s David Crawford was responsible for hunting down and securing a $3 million bond through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Of the $3.2 million in construction costs, $1.15 million was delivered in pledges through a fundraising campaign — much of it from architects themselves — with another $600,000 coming from in-kind donations from state and national suppliers…
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE
WRAL.com: Still time to support Sassafras playground during Playhouse Parade
Tuesday, October 18th, 2011By Sarah Lindenfeld Hall
10-18-11
I mentioned the Playhouse Parade at Cameron Village in Raleigh in my weekend activity
round-ups these past couple of weeks.
The fundraiser features a dozen outdoor structures – some for kids and some for adults. It supports Sassafras All Children’s Playground, a project that will replace the aging play equipment at Laurel Hills Park on Edwards Mill Road in north Raleigh with a new one designed for children of all abilities. Leaders of the ambitious project need to raise about another $1.5 million to reach a $2 million goal.
I finally got over there with my own family on Sunday. The buildings are amazing. There are six for kids, including a pirate ship, castle and fire station. Another six are geared toward adults and include a potting shed, tiki hut and a Gothic church chicken coop. The structures come furnished and some even have electric and water hook-ups.
My favorite (though I’d be happy with the tiki hut too) was the contemporary play house designed by award-winning architect Frank Harmon. I loved the clear roof, colors and chalkboard walls… READ MORE





