landscape architecture

NCSU Landscape Architecture Lecture Series To Feature Frank Harmon, FAIA

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Award-winning architect will discuss how the two professions can,

Frank Harmon, FAIA

and should, 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.

About Frank Harmon, FAIA:

Frank Harmon, FAIA, is a Professor in Practice at NC State University and was the 1995 recipient of the Kamphoefner Prize for Distinguished Design over a Ten-Year Period. He founded his firm, Frank Harmon Architect PA, in 1985. In 2011, his firm was ranked 21st out of the top 50 firms in the nation by Architect magazine, and 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, including Dwell, Architectural Record, Architect, ArchDaily.com, and Residential Architect. For more information, go to www.frankharmon.com.

 

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

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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.

NC Landscape Architect’s Work Featured In National Press

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Dick Bell photographed in Pullen Park, one of the many landmark projects he created in Raleigh. (photo by f8 Photo Studios)

Dick Bell, FASLA, is back in the news

 

November 8, 20101 (ATLANTIC BEACH, NC) – Master landscape architect Richard C. “Dick” Bell, FASLA, was honored recently to have one of his favorite projects included in Landscape Architect magazine’s Centennial Issue and to have his career praised in Architects + Artisans, an online magazine dedicated to “thoughtful design for a sustainable world.”

 

A resident of Atlantic Beach, NC, now, Bell was in Raleigh visiting his daughter recently when he picked up a copy of Landscape Architect’s October edition and discovered his drawing for the NC State University Student Plaza, also known as “The Brickyard,” in the section on Design. Landscape Architecture is the official publication of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

 

“I had no idea,” he said. “I was truly surprised and honored.”

 

The Design section spotlights landscape architecture projects that embraced modernist design, rather than European-inspired formalism or classicism. Three blocks long and one block wide, The Brickyard’s flowing, curvilinear design exemplifies the modern aesthetic in landscape architecture and has become an iconic gathering place for NC State students, faculty and visitors since it was competed in 1970.

 

Concurrent with the appearance of his design in Landscape Architecture, Architects + Artisans.com posted an article entitled “A Life In Landscape Architecture” on October 26.

"The Brickyard" at NC State University

 

“New Yorkers may claim Frederick Law Olmsted as their own, and Virginians might cling to the gardens that Charles Gillette once molded and shaped, but North Carolinians today can embrace their own living icon of the landscape architecture profession,” wrote A+A editor Mike Welton with staff writer Cheryl Wilder about Bell and his career, which began in the 1950s and continues today.

 

In the A+A article, Bell names The Brickyard as one of his favorite projects among over 2000 projects he has completed. A+A also notes:

 

“When [Bell] was inducted into the 2008 Raleigh Hall of Fame, the non-profit group noted that he’s driven by a single professional mission: ‘To leave a little beauty behind wherever I go.’ Over a long and successful career, that’s the very least he’s achieved.”

 

Architects + Artisans is located at www.architectsandartisans.com.

The Meredith College Amphitheater

 

For more information on Dick Bell, visit http://dickbell.wordpress.com and http://trianglemodernisthouses.com/dbell.htm.

 

About Dick Bell:

 

A native of Manteo, NC, award-winning landscape architect Richard C. Bell is a fellow of both the American Society of Landscape Architecture and the American Academy in Rome. He was educated at the North Carolina State University School of Design, graduating as a member of its School’s first graduating class in 1950. He apprenticed under Simonds & Simonds of Pittsburgh, PA, and Frederick B. Stresau of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. At the age of 21, he was the youngest designer to receive the Prix de Rome. He founded his first firm in Raleigh, NC, in 1955, introducing the practice of landscape architecture as a registered profession to the state and was the first person elected to the registration board. He has completed over 2000 landscape architecture projects ranging from major city and highway corridors to city parks, university plazas and amphitheatres, mixed-use beachfront developments, and individual residences. A recognized leader in environmentalism and sustainable design long before the words became part of the general lexicon, he was inducted in the Raleigh Hall of Fame in 2008 and continues his practice in Atlantic Beach, NC.

Raleigh Landscape Architect Joins NCSCC Advisory Committee

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Dennis Glazener, ASLA

January 20, 2010 (RALEIGH, NC) – Landscape architect Dennis Glazener, RLA, principal of Bell/Glazener Design Group, has been appointed to the Technical Advisory Committee for the North Carolina Sedimentation Control Commission (NCSCC).

The Advisory Committee’s first 2010 meeting will be held in February. Its first task will be to draft guidelines for the Falls Lake Watershed.

Dennis Glazener has practiced landscape architecture, land planning, environmental design and ecological stewardship since 1979. His range of experience includes recreation planning, educational environments, downtown redevelopment, commercial and residential design.

He will bring his knowledge of environmental stewardship to bear on the Technical Advisory Committee, which will assist the NCSCC as it administers the Sedimentation Control Program required by the N.C. Sedimentation Pollution Control Act of 1973 (SPCA). The Sedimentation Control Program is responsible for adopting rules, setting standards, and providing guidance for implementation of the Act.

“Land quality affects water quality,” Glazener explained. “The Falls Lake Watershed carries water that is literally ‘shed’ from the land after it rains. So erosion and sedimentation control is vital not only to the water quality of Falls Lake but also to public health and welfare and the future of the region.”

The Falls Lake assignment is especially poignant for Glazener who personally worked on the initial Master Plan Document for the Army Corps of Engineers over 30 years ago as one of his first projects with Bell Design Group, the former firm of master landscape architect Richard C. Bell, FASLA.

According to Glazener, the Falls Lake Project, encompassing 38,000 acres, was initially conceived of as a flood control reservoir in the 1920’s. It evolved into a multi-purpose resource of significant value as a water supply, recre­ation area and wildlife habitat. Bell Design Group created the master plan for the federal, state and local government agencies as a long-range planning and development document.

For more information on the NSCC, visit www.dlr.enr.state.nc.us/pages/ncsedcontrolcommission.html.

For more information on Dennis Glazener and Bell/Glazener Design Group, go to www.bgjdesign.com.

About Bell/Glazener Design Group:

For over 50 years, Bell/Glazener Design Group has provided design services to commercial, residential, and institutional clients in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Projects range from residential landscape architecture to extensive regional planning, urban design, campus planning, land use-master planning and sports-recreational planning. For more information visit www.bgjdesign.com or call 919-787-3515.

NC Landscape Architect To Address Pittsburgh Symposium

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DBell
Dick Bell in Pullen Park, a city park he designed for Raleigh in the 1960s. © f8 Photo Studios

October 26, 2009 (ATLANTIC BEACH, NC) – Master landscape architect Richard C. “Dick” Bell of Atlantic Beach, NC, will address a special symposium on the work and influence of pioneering landscape architect John O. Simonds, to be held in the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, PA, on November 6.

 

Bell, a multi-award-winning practitioner whose own work includes landmark projects throughout North Carolina, apprenticed under John Simonds in the 1950s before Bell establishing his first firm in Raleigh, NC.

 

“Simonds & Simonds Landscape Architects was one of the premier design firms in the nation at that time,” Bell said. “And as the senior man in the office, I was fortunate to get to design some of the projects for John. They were mostly residential designs for architects who practiced the new – at that time — Modern style.”

 

The syposium, entitled “The Hunter and the Philosopher: John O. Simonds,” will focus on Simonds’ work as an author, environmentalist and landscape architect. It will also emphasize Simonds’ influence on the City of Pittsburgh, the field of landscape architecture, and his pioneering environmental planning efforts. Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, Garden Design magazine, and the American Society of Landscape Architects are sponsors.

 

“I learned so much from John that I carried with me throughout my entire career,” said Bell, whose own career spans 50-plus years. “He was tough and he was a perfectionist. I’m honored to be a part of an event that honors John and his work.”

 

Bell discusses his time at Simonds & Simonds in his upcoming book The Bridge Builders, which traces the genesis of Bell’s life’s work. The book is due out in the spring of 2010.

 

For more information on Richard C. Bell, go to http://www.metronc.com/article/?id=1515.

 

For more information on the Pittsburgh symposium, go to http://www.tclf.org/events/pioneers/pittsburgh/index.html.

 

About Dick Bell

 

Richard C. Bell, a Fellow of both the American Society of Landscape Architects and the American Academy in Rome, was the youngest person ever to receive the Prix de Rome at age 21. Driven by a single, professional mission “to leave a little beauty behind wherever I go,” he earned a national reputation for excellence, and provided Raleigh, NC, with some of its most beloved landmarks, including the N.C. State University “Brickyard,” the serpentine wall at St. Mary’s College, Pullen Park, and the Meredith College lake and amphitheater. He also designed his 11-acre Water Garden complex, one of Raleigh’s first mixed-use developments and an early example of buildings coexisting in harmony with natural resources. Born and raised in Manteo, NC, Bell attended NCSU, where he studied landscape architecture and assisted with the master plan for the university. He and his wife, Mary Jo, lived and worked in Raleigh for 50 years before moving to Atlantic Beach, NC, where he continues his practice today. He was inducted in the Raleigh Hall of Fame in 2008.

 

Landscape Architect Dick Bell Launches New, Informative Blog

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The pond at Dick Bell's "Water Garden"
The pond at Dick Bell's "Water Garden"

June 25, 2009 (ATLANTIC BEACH, NC) – Richard C. Bell, a master landscape architect who spent nearly all of his illustrious career in Raleigh before relocating last year to Atlantic Beach, has launched a new blog that offers a glimpse into the man and mind behind some of North Carolina’s most iconic landmarks.

Among Bell’s best known projects are NC State University’s “Brickyard” and Sculpture Garden plazas, the City of Raleigh’s Pullen Park, the Meredith College Amphitheater, St. Mary’s College soccer field and brick fencing, and The Water Garden, Raleigh’s first mixed-use development on Glenwood Avenue/Highway 70 West that combined offices and residents and served as a laboratory for his experiments on planting materials and landscape design.

Entitled “Pebbles In The Pond: News & Musings by Landscape Architect Dick Bell,” the new blog gives Bell a repository for his knowledge of the profession, of environmental design and sustainability, and of the history of the profession in North Carolina. The blog is located at: dickbell.wordpress.com.

“Pebbles In The Pond” also includes news Bell has generated over recent years, such as his induction into the Raleigh Hall of Fame. Links also take visitors to articles on Bell and his work that have been published in the media.

Dick Bell has completed over 2000 landscape architecture projects. He has designed everything from major city and highway corridors to city parks, university plazas and amphitheatres, mixed-use beachfront developments, and individual residences, and he was a recognized leader in environmentalism and sustainable design long before the words became part of the general lexicon.

A native of Manteo, NC, Dick Bell was educated at the North Carolina State University School of Design, graduating in 1950 as part of Dean Henry Kamphoefner’s first class of 15 architects and four landscape architects. At the age of 21, he was the youngest designer to receive the Prix de Rome, which allowed him to travel and study in Europe for two years. He founded his first firm in Raleigh, NC, in 1955, introducing the practice of landscape architecture as a registered profession to the state. He was also the first person elected to the registration board.

Dick Bell, FASLA, FAAR
Dick Bell, FASLA, FAAR

Bell is a Fellow of both the American Society of Landscape Architects and the American Academy in Rome and has received 27 honor awards for his work. To view his new blog, go to dickbell.wordpress.com.

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Judy and Frank Harmon To Discuss “What I Learned Doing My Own House” During Boston Convention

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March 25, 2008 (RALEIGH, NC) – Award-winning landscape architect Judy Harmon, ASAL, and her husband, architect Frank Harmon, FAIA, will participate in a panel discussion entitled “What I Learned Doing My Own House” during Residential Design & Construction (RDC), a two-day convention and trade show for design and construction professionals, home owners, and consumers to be held April 2 and 3 in the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston, MA.

The Raleigh couple created their home and gardens together in 1994, juxtaposing Frank Harmon’s thoroughly Modern residential design with Judy Harmon’s curvilinear garden design, which creates a paisley of sunny, open spaces and dense, shaded foliage. According to the Harmons, the house and gardens were designed as halves of the greater “whole” — as equal parts of the living experience. Their residence has won design awards and has been featured in numerous publications, including the book Outside The Not-so-big House by architect Sarah Susanka and landscape architect Julie Moir Messervy.

According to Claire Conroy, editor of Residential Architect magazine and moderator for this panel, the Harmons and other invited speakers will discuss “the surprises and delights they experienced designing their own dwellings. Was it a dream come true or the client from the dark side? What would they do differently if they could? What insights did they gain for other projects and other clients?” The panel will offer “a behind-the-scenes look at what architects create for themselves.”

“What I Learned Doing My Own House” will take place on Thursday, April 3, from 1-3 p.m. Joining Conroy and the Harmons will be Mark Hutker, AIA, of Hutker Architects in Vineyard Haven, MA, and Mark McInturff, FAIA, of McInturff Architects in Bethesda, MD.

The RDC offers workshops and professional development opportunities to enrich residential design and construction professional’s design and technical skills. Nationally and internationally recognized industry leaders share their knowledge and expertise. The convention allows the public to meet architects and interior designers and to view hundreds of exhibits featuring new products, new technologies and both traditional and non-traditional design. For more information visit http://www.buildboston.com.

For more information on the Harmons’ home, visit http://www.frankharmon.com. Click on “projects” then “Harmon residence.”

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Landscape Architect Dick Bell Makes 2007 Who’s Who List

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Award-winning landscape architect Dick Bell, FASLA, who recently relocated to Atlantic Beach, NC, after 52 years of living and working in Raleigh, has been included in Metro Magazine’s 2007 Who’s Who list of men and women who have made significant contributions to the state’s Triangle region.

Each January, Raleigh’s Metro Magazine recognizes men and women who have ”quietly and effectively accomplished great things that help keep [the Triangle region] on top of the list in national and global achievement,” according to editor and publisher Bernie Reeves. These men and women comprise the magazine’s annual Who’s Who list, and the 2008 roster appears in the January edition now on newsstands and at http://www.metronc.com.

Bell, a fellow of both the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) and the American Academy in Rome, was cited for spending “a lifetime living up to a personal edict: ‘I want to leave a little beauty behind wherever I go.’

“Thousands of people have been touched by Dick Bell’s work,” writes Metro. “The children who play among the rolling hills and lush gardens of Raleigh’s Pullen Park, the students and faculty who stroll along NC State University’s famed ‘Brickyard’ and Student Center sculpture plaza, the crowds who gather by the little lake at Meredith College’s amphitheatre for concerts or weddings, downtown folks who enjoy the fountains, benches and green space within Moore Square Transit block – these are only a few places among nearly 2000 projects where Bell has left ‘a little beauty behind’ throughout his 52-year career.”

Bell and his wife, Mary Jo, moved permanently to the condominium they’ve owned in Tar Landing Villas in Atlantic Beach since Bell masterplanned that development over 30 years ago. He intends to continue his pursuit of “leaving a little beauty behind” on the coast, he said.

Established in 1999, the four-color monthly Metro Magazine has a circulation of 40,000 and covers the region from the Triangle to the coast. For more information, go to http://www.metronc.com.

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