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.