Triangle Modernist Houses Receives 2011 Anthemion Award

Capital Area Preservation recognizes contribution to historic preservation

September 26, 2011 (Raleigh, NC) —  Triangle Modernist Houses (TMH), the non-profit organization that documents, preserves, and promotes modernist residential design from the 1950s to today, has received a 2011 Anthemion Award from Capital Area Preservation, Inc. (CAP), Wake County’s non-profit historic preservation organization.

CAP presents its Anthemion Awards annually to recognize and encourage outstanding historic preservation efforts in Wake County. Award winners have all made noticeable contributions to the preservation of Wake County’s architectural landscape.

Founded by George Smart in 2007, Triangle Modernist Houses.com is the website and archive for Triangle Modernist Archives, Inc., a non-profit, 501C3, non-traditional historic preservation organization. The TMH website’s archive features hundreds of modernist houses, from the 1950s to today, as well as profiles of the architects who designed them, video and audio files of interviews and lectures by modernist architects, and a free listing of modernist houses on the market.

Today, TMH maintains the largest single archive of modernist residential design in the nation and has become a national resource for the preservation, protection, and appreciation of residential modernist architectural.

TMH also features special archives on Pioneering WomenArchitects and Pioneering Black Architects in North Carolina.

Earlier this year, TMH received an Advocacy Award from Preservation Durham. The organization has also received a Sir Walter Raleigh Award from the City of Raleigh, an Award of Merit from the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill, a Gertrude S. Carraway Award from Preservation North Carolina, and a national Paul E. Buchanan Award from the Vernacular Architecture Forum.

TMH also hosts a array of home tours and other events to support its mission. For more information visit www.trianglemodernisthouses.com.

NCMH Announces 2011-2012 Nowell’s Architecture Movie Series

Season tickets are now available.

September 12, 2011 (Cary, NC) – North Carolina Modernist Houses (NCMH), the award-winning non-profit organization that documents, preserves, and promotes Modernist residential architecture, has announced the 2011-2012 Nowell’s Architecture Movie Series starting in October and running through March at the Galaxy Cinema in Cary.

This season’s dates and films about architecture are:

• October 20 — Rem Koolhaas, A Kind of Architect, “an engaging portrait of a visionary man that takes us to the heart of his ideas.”
• November 17 — The Birds Nest, a documentary about the famous and controversial National Stadium for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
• December 15 — Louis Sullivan: The Struggle for American Architecture, an in-depth look the architect as an artist “and what he tried so hard to do for American architecture.”
• January 19 — How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr. Foster?, a new film that “traces the rise of one of the world’s premier architects, Norman Foster, and his unending quest to improve the quality of life through design.”
• February 16 — God’s Architects, a documentary by young filmmaker Zak Godshall “that studies and celebrates five solitary designer/builders from Arkansas, California, Louisiana and Mississippi.”
• March 15 — Philip Johnson: Diary of an Eccentric Architect, a film that “shows the human side of Johnson and how his extraordinary life shaped his rich architectural legacy.”

Trailers and more information on each film are available at www.ncmodernist.org/movies.

This marks the third year NCMH has organized and hosted the architectural movie series, which is primarily sponsored by Nowell’s Contemporary Furniture. Other sponsors are: Kontek Systems, Alphin Design Build, Cherry Modern, Modern Home Auction, Dail Dixon FAIA, Studio B Architecture, Eidelon Designs, Hanbury Preservation Consulting, Rusty Long Architect, Lee Hansley Gallery, and Blueplate PR.

“You might be surprised to know that we’re rapidly becoming the center for date night.  Whether people have known each other two days or 20 years, our movies are a guaranteed home run: entertaining yet thought–provoking, an audience with similar interests, great popcorn, and lots of door prizes!” says George Smart, NCMH Board Chair.

All movies start at 7:30 p.m. Tickets at the door are $9 but season tickets are only $29, representing almost a 50 percent savings. Advance tickets, including season tickets, are available at www.ncmodernist.org/movies. Proceeds benefit NCMH’s ongoing documentation, preservation, and promotion programs.

Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee To Host “Thirst 4 Architecture”

September’s networking event brings design enthusiasts together.

September 7, 2011 (Raleigh, NC) – The architectural firm Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee (PBC+L) in downtown Raleigh will join Triangle Modernist Houses (TMH) to host this month’s TMH “Thirst 4 Architecture” happy hour on Thursday, September 22, from 6-8pm. The event will be held in the PBC+L offices in Suite 1000 of the classic Capital Bank Building at 333 Fayetteville Street.

TMH founder and director George Smart points out how fitting it is to hold this T4A happy hour in the Capital Bank building. It is frequently referred to as the “Little Seagram Building” for bearing a striking resemblance to a Mies van der Rohe skyscraper in New York City.

“The building was designed by New York architects Emery Roth and Raleigh’s Milton Small in 1966 for BB&T,” he said, “and it’s a terrific example of a mid-century modern office tower. I’m sure everyone who comes to the September event will not only enjoy the networking and refreshments, but will also enjoy being in a Small-designed commercial structure. We’re very grateful to PBC+L for giving us this opportunity.”

Master landscape architect Dick Bell, FASLA, will be on hand to sell and sign copies of his new memoir “The Bridge Builders.” The book traces Bell’s evolution as a designer from his childhood spent growing up on the Outer Banks during the Great Depression to his establishing the former award-winning “Water Garden” mixed-use development on Raleigh’s Glenwood Avenue/Highway 70 West. (For more information on Bell’s new book: http://thebridgebuilders.wordpress.com)

“Thirst 4 Architecture events are intended to build relationships, generating passion about good design, create strategic alliances, and connect people,” Smart said. “It’s all interaction. There are no presentations or PowerPoint slides. Come enjoy the refreshments, enter for door prizes, and make new friends and contacts.”

There is no charge for attendance and the sponsoring firm provides all refreshments.

For more information on “Thirst 4 Architecture” events, go to www.trianglemodernisthouses.com/t4a.

For more information on PBC+L and directions to their offices, go to www.pbclarchitecture.com