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.
“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.
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