‘Native Places’ in Atlanta: A Capella Books Will Host Celebrated Architect/Author Frank Harmon, FAIA

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Architect/author Frank Harmon wants to change the way we see the world around us. That’s why he wrote his new, critically acclaimed book Native Places: Drawing as a Way to See. On Sunday, June 2, Frank Reiss, the proprietor of A Capella Books in Atlanta, will host a book-signing event for Harmon beginning at 2 p.m. The event free and open to the public.

Published by ORO Editions and now in its second printing, Native Places: Drawing as a Way to See is a collection of 64 of Harmon’s watercolor sketches paired with brief essays he’s written about architecture, nature, everyday objects, and ordinary places.

The book’s purpose, Harmon says, is “to transform the way we see” and to disseminate his belief that hand drawing is not obsolete. According to this multi-award-winning architect who is also a professor at North Carolina State University’s College of Design, drawing give us “an opportunity to develop a natural grace in the way we view the world and take part in it.”

The sketch-essay pairings in the book first appeared in Harmon’s popular online journal NativePlaces.org. Culled from myriad sketchbooks he’s filled over the decades, convey the delight he finds in familiar objects and “native” places. The short essays, inspired by the sketches, offer his interpretations of what most of us overlook or take for granted.

“Like a child picking up fistfuls of seemingly commonplace stones, Harmon gathers places in all their forms and meanings and thoughtfully lays them in his book where the ordinary becomes extraordinary and everyday life takes on a new texture and meaning,” wrote Eleanor Spicer Rice, PhD, in her review of Native Places – one of many positive comments from critics, colleagues, and readers that are included on the book’s website www.nativeplacesthebook.com.

Fellow architect William Carpenter, FAIA, will introduce Harmon at the A Capella Books event. Carpenter is the founder and president of Lightroom Studio with offices in Decatur, GA, and Sao Luis, Maranhao, Brazil. Along with receiving national architecture and education awards, Carpenter once worked with the late Sam Mockbee, FAIA, founder of Auburn University’s iconoclastic Rural Studio in New Bern, Alabama, where Harmon lectures and leads Drawing Workshop for students.

After the introduction, Harmon will give a 20-minute presentation then take questions from the audience before signing copies of Native Places, which will be available at the store.

Now celebrating its 30th anniversary, A Capella Books is located at 208 Haralson Avenue NE, Atlanta, GA 30307 (404.681.5128). For more information, visit www.acapellabooks.com.

For more information on Frank Harmon and Native Places: Drawing as a Way to See, visit the book’s website (nativeplacesthebook.com) and Facebook page.

 

Frank sketching

Celebrated Architect/Author Frank Harmon To Present Lecture, Sketching Workshop in Old Town Alexandria

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Hosted by the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Association

Frank sketching

Frank Harmon. (Photo by Christine Simeloff)

Frank Harmon, FAIA, a multi-award-winning architect from North Carolina and the author of the new critically acclaimed book Native Places: Drawing as a Way to See, will be in Old Town Alexandria, VA, on May 17th and 18th, sponsored by the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Association (NVFAA).

Harmon will give a lecture focused on his book and his reasons for writing it on Friday the 17th at 7 p.m. in the Athenaeum on the corner of South Lee and Prince streets. On Saturday the 18th beginning at 10 a.m., he will lead an Urban Sketching Workshop around Old Town. Participants will also gather at the Athenaeum.

Both events are free and open to the public. However, the NFVAA asks those interested in either or both to email admin@nvfaa.org. Participation in the Urban Sketching Workshop is limited.Native Places by Frank Harmon

Published by ORO Editions, Native Places: Drawing as a Way to See is a collection of 64 of Harmon’s watercolor sketches – some he drew over 30 years ago — paired with brief essays he’s written about architecture, nature, everyday objects, and ordinary places. The pairs first appeared in his popular online journal NativePlaces.org.

The sketches in Native Places convey the delight the architect finds in these places and things. The short essays, inspired by the sketches, offer his fresh interpretations of what most people take for granted. His goal with both the online journal and the book is “to transform the way we see,” he says, and to promote his belief that hand drawing offers “an opportunity to develop a natural grace in the way we view the world and take part in it.”

To that end, he will lead 15 sketching enthusiasts around Alexandria’s picturesque Old Town for the same sort of urban sketching workshop that has proven popular when he’s conducted it at Auburn University’s renowned Rural Studio in New Bern, Alabama; in Asheville and Raleigh, North Carolina; and elsewhere.

“We are very excited to have Frank Harmon come to the historic Athenaeum for two wonderful programs,” said NVFAA’s Executive Director Veronica Szalus. “We’re looking forward to hearing Frank read from his book and share his engaging insights on sketching and the urban environment during the lecture, then show us how to learn to truly see the world around us through sketching during the Saturday workshop. It’s going to be a great weekend.”

The NVFAA will have copies of Native Places available for purchase. For more information on the book and its author, visit nativeplacesthebook.com.

An art gallery, historic landmark, and home of the NVFAA, the Athenaeum is located at 201 Prince Street, Alexandria, VA 22314 (703.548.0035).

 

Charlotte’s Park Road Books Welcomes Frank Harmon and ‘Native Places’

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Park Road Books, Charlotte’s oldest continuously operated independent bookstore, will host a presentation and book-signing event with celebrated Raleigh architect/author Frank Harmon, FAIA, and his new book  Native Places: Drawing as a Way to See on Sunday, April 28, 2-4 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Published by ORO Editions, Native Places: Drawing as a Way to See is a collection of 64 of Harmon’s watercolor sketches paired with brief essays he’s written about architecture, nature, everyday objects, and ordinary places, which first appeared on his popular online journal NativePlaces.org. The sketches convey the delight he finds in ordinary things. The short essays, inspired by the sketches, offer his fresh interpretations of what most people take for granted.

Former NC Poet Laureate Fred Chappell describes Harmon’s unique book as “a sketchbook, a memoir, travel journal, aesthetic experiment, a collection of small familiar essays, and maybe in some respects even a manifesto,” adding, “Native Places…has afforded me happy pleasures, different from any that I have before derived from a book.”

Harmon is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, a multi-award-winning practitioner, and a former professor at NC State University’s College of Design. His mission for Native Places is “to transform the way we see,” he says, and to promote his belief that hand drawing offers “an opportunity to develop a natural grace in the way we view the world and take part in it.”

Mission accomplished, according to Mike Welton, the architecture critic for the Raleigh News & Observer. In his review of the book, Welton suggests Native Places is “destined to change how we see this world.” And among praise from prominent architects, Tom Kundig of Olson-Kundig in Seattle calls Harmon’s book “a masterful legacy on all levels.”

Park Road Books is located at 4139 Park Road, Charlotte, NC 28209 (704-525-9239). For more information, visit www.parkroadbooks.com.

To see a video about Frank Harmon and Native Places: Drawing as a Way to See and read excerpts from the book, visit the book’s website (nativeplacesthebook.com) and Facebook page.