A Different Kind of Love Triangle

April 29, 2010 (DURHAM, NC) – Recent Past Preservation Network (RPPN), the national non-profit organization that promotes the preservation of modern architecture, has published an eight-page feature called “Love Triangle” in the April RPPN Bulletin, their online magazine.

But in this version, there’s no steamy sex. Tiger Woods, Sandra Bullock, nor any other celebrities were involved. No police, attorneys, or hearings. No multiple lovers staging press conferences for the tabloids.

RPPN’s “Love Triangle,” written by Jane Andrews, is about one man’s love of Triangle architecture — George Smart, founder of Triangle Modernist Houses (TMH).  The feature was initiated by RPPN Board of Directors member Alan Higgins. In an email to Smart, he commented, “Your organization is definitely among the most successful in the country and we’d love to highlight all of the good things that your group is doing.”

Triangle Modernist Houses Announces “ModShop” Day Trip

Destinations: Design Within Reach, Ikea, and a Modernist house tour

April 24, 2010 (DURHAM, NC) – Triangle Modernist Houses.com (TMH) has just announced another not-to-be-missed opportunity for modernist homeowners and anyone who loves modern interior design: “ModShop,” a group excursion to Charlotte, NC, to shop at Design Within Reach and Ikea, and to tour an exemplary Modernist house in the Queen City.

On Saturday, May 22, TMH founder George Smart will host 50 shoppers as they leave for Charlotte, arriving at the 3000-square-foot Design Within Reach (DWR) at 10:30. DWR is one of the nation’s premiere retail centers for modern furniture and accessories. Tour-goers will receive a 10 percent off coupon good for that day only on most purchases.

An hour later, the ModShop bus will depart for a tour of the 1970 Mark Bernstein House, designed by

The 1970 Bernstein House

California architect Lawrence Allen Bernstein who studied under Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin.

The ModShop bus will then make its way to Ikea, the massive 356,000-square-foot store that includes 10,000 exclusively designed home goods, 49 room settings, three model-home interiors, and a 350-seat restaurant. Tour participants will have three hours to shop and lunch in Ikea.

George Smart

April 20, 2010 (WILMINGTON, NC) –  George Smart, founder of Triangle Modernist Houses.com, likes to say that the vast collection of modernist houses in the Triangle area is one of North Carolina’s best-kept secrets. That secret is rapidly becoming not-so-secret, however, as he continues his series of speaking engagements across the state.

On Monday, May 3, from 6:30-7:30 p.m., Smart will present “Mayberry Modernism: North Carolina’s Modern Legacy” in the Cameron Art Museum, 3201 South 17^th Street, in Wilmington, NC. sponsored by the Wilmington section of the American Institute of Architects (AIA Wilmington).

Triangle Modernist Houses.com Presents “Visual Acoustics” at Galaxy Cinema

April 12, 2010 (CARY, NC) –Triangle Modernist Houses (TMH) and Nowell’s Contemporary Furniture will conclude this year’s Architecture Movie Series with a special screening of “Visual Acoustics” on Thursday, April 22, beginning at 7 p.m. in the Galaxy Cinema in Cary.

Narrated by Dustin Hoffman, “Visual Acoustics” celebrates the life and career of Julius Shulman (1910-2009), widely considered the world’s greatest architectural photographer. His images brought modern architecture to the American mainstream., capturing the work of nearly every modern and progressive architect since the 1930s including Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra, John Lautner and Frank Gehry.

Triangle Modernist Houses.com Opens Online Gallery

Massive Architecture Website Opens “Icons of Modern”

Triangle Modernist Houses.com (TMH), the largest online archive of modernist residential architecture in the country, has created a permanent online gallery called “Icons of Modern.”

According to Executive Director George Smart, who did much of the research, the new gallery features hundreds of houses from eight internationally prominent architects who shaped the American Modernist movement:  They are: Richard Meier, Charles Gwathmey, John Lautner, Pierre Koenig, Harwell Hamilton Harris, Eero Saarinen, Richard Neutra and Rudolf Schindler.

Each page features a synopsis of the architect’s life and career along with photos of their houses, plus additional features.  Harwell Hamilton Harris’ page, for example, includes links to remembrances by Raleigh architect Frank Harmon and Chapel Hill architect Audie Schechter.

With well over 1000 photos from the 1920’s through today, ”Icons of Modern” represents six months of documentation by Smart and his dedicated volunteers.  “There are a few photos or addresses we’re missing,” says Smart, “but the overall archive is quite extensive.  “Over time,” he adds, “we’ll grow the Icons of Modern gallery, starting with architect Paul Rudolph.”

To visit the new gallery, go to www.trianglemodernisthouses.com and click on one of the architects listed under “Icons of Modern.”