Frank recently shared Native Places with a virtual classroom of design students (pictured here) in Miami Dade College’s School of Architecture & Interior Design. To hear the talk that inspired those students to truly see the world around them by sketching it, CLICK HERE.
“I find my sense of hope and possibility renewed in these simple, evocative drawings and the wisdom that accompanies them.” – Marlon Blackwell, FAIA, AIA 2020 Gold Medalist
Celebrated architect and author Frank Harmon, FAIA wants to change the way we see. That’s why he started his online journal Native Places.org six years ago and, more recently, created his book, Native Places: Drawing as a Way to See.
Frank now offers a webinar free of charge to AIA Chapters. The webinar is about drawing, writing, and the making of architecture. Its goal is to inspire architects by offering a sense of hope and possibility in the closely observed world outside our window.
“Frank Harmon FAIA delighted our audience with inspired thinking while sharing easy tips to challenge the way we see the world.” — Scott Clowney, director of public programs, AIA Washington, D.C.
What, When & How
Through Zoom, BlueJeans, or another video conferencing platform, Frank presents a 40-minute illustrated talk from his home and gardens in Raleigh, North Carolina, followed by a lively question and answer session.
Dates will be scheduled to suit the Chapter’s schedule.
To book Frank’s “Native Places” talk for your Chapter,
contact his publicist, Kim Weiss, at blueplatepr@gmail.com,
or contact Frank directly: frank@frankharmon.com.
Triangle Modern Architecture by architect/author Victoria Ballard Bell of Raleigh was officially released September 1 and should be available in area bookstores soon.
Published by ORO Editions*, the 250-page book traces the modernist architecture culture in North Carolina’s Triangle region since the late 1940s. It documents the work built here by such early mid-century luminaries as Eduardo Catalano and George Matsumoto; by renowned modernists in the ’60s and ’70s, such as Harwell Hamilton Harris and Jon Condoret; and those upholding the modernist ethos today, including Frank Harmon, Kenneth Hobgood, Phil Szostak, and many others.
A Preface by Frank Harmon (author and illustrator of Native Places) and an Epilogue by George Smart bookend Bell’s volume.
“Triangle Modern Architecture provides compelling evidence that a new generation of architects is building on the Triangle’s rich design legacy,” said David Hill, head of the School of Architecture at NC State University’s College of Design.
“Triangle Modern Architecture provides us a timely insight into the rich history and bold future of modern architecture in North Carolina,” wrote celebrated Arkansas architect Marlon Blackwell in his review, “reminding us that the modernist project in today’s North Carolina is alive and well and most vital in its interpretations and adaptations to local places and typologies.”
For more information on the new 9″ x 11″ hardbound book and to order a copy, visit ORO Editions or the book’s website: trianglemodernarchitecture.com.
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*ORO Editions is also the publisher of Native Places: Drawing as a Way to See.
Jacobs in Arlington, Virginia
Jacobs, a global professional services firm, will present “A conversation with Esteemed Architect and Special Guest Frank Harmon, FAIA,” on Thursday, August 6, from 1-2 pm, for its Global Federal Architecture Team.
During this virtual event, Frank will share his book Native Places: Drawing as a Way to See with Jacobs team members across the United States and as far away as Kaiserslautern, Germany; Krakow, Poland; and Seoul, South Korea.
Frank’s talk is part of the firm’s Thursday afternoon Architecture Series that Stephen Wakeman, AIA, Division Vice President and National Design Principal, organizes and conducts from his office in Jacobs’ Arlington, VA, location.
“Frank Harmon has had a long, distinguished career as an award-winning architect, author, illustrator, teacher, public speaker and mentor,” Wakeman writes in his invitation to the international team. “His resume speaks volumes about his remarkable body of work. But when you join us on August 6, you will get an intimate look into who he is.”
Wakeman notes that the Raleigh-based architect and author “is a keen observer of nature and the built environment. His beautiful book is a treasure trove of watercolor sketches and meditations on the places he visits. Frank’s enthusiasm for how humans react with nature through architecture is boundless, and his joy for conveying what he sees and learns is contagious.”
He also calls Frank “a masterful storyteller in a world in need of a good story” and suggests that he “will inspire you to dust off your art supplies and get outside to start sketching, recording, and reconnecting with the world around you.”
Since COVID-19 halted in-person events, Frank Harmon has been in demand for the webinar version of his popular lecture on learning to truly see the world — architecture, landscape, everyday objects, and nature — through sketching. He shares excerpts from his book Native Places: Drawing as a Way to See (ORO Editions, publisher) and answers questions from those in attendance afterward.
For more information on Frank Harmon’s virtual lectures and how to schedule one for your firm or organization, contact his publicist, Kim Weiss: blueplatepr@gmail.com.
PHOTO BY BRIE WILLIAMS
By J. Michael Welton
When Raleigh, North Carolina, architect Frank Harmon heard what his client wanted in her new home, it must have sounded like music to his ears. “I told him that light was very important, as was access to the outdoors,” says homeowner Sepi Saidi. “I wanted to feel like I’m living outside, with natural light and greenery that feels like it’s coming right into the house.”
As a graduate of NC State University—the same school where Harmon teaches architecture—Sepi was aware the architect had been pursuing that grail for most of his 50-year career. Striking up a friendship with fellow professor Harwell Hamilton Harris, a former protégé of uber-modernists Rudolph Schindler and Richard Neutra, during his tenure left a lasting impact on Harmon, whose own architecture followed suit. His work has come to rely on living in natural light, merging structures and landscape and integrating spatial volumes—concepts he believes enhance the human experience.
The architect’s design for Sepi in Raleigh’s vibrant Cameron Village was no different. A civil engineer at the height of her career, Sepi requested a home that would center her—a retreat from her busy professional life. “Frank endeavored to create privacy in a very dense urban area,” Sepi says. “And he did: The home is simple, with clean lines, and calming.” READ MORE
FRANK HARMON, FAIA (photo by William Morgan)
On Thursday, May 21, from 5-6 p.m., Frank Harmon, FAIA, will discuss his book, Native Places: Drawing as a Way to See, and his intent to change the way we observe the world around us, via an interactive webinar sponsored by American Institute of Architect’s Washington, DC. chapter.
Architects will receive LU credits by attending.
The virtual event is open to the public but registration is required. To register, click here then click on the red “Attend” button. Attendance fees range from $10 to $25. How to attend Frank’s talk will be in the confirmation email following registration.
During his talk, Frank will read excerpts from Native Places. He’ll also discuss how sketching influenced his architectural work and taught him to truly “see” and appreciate th vernacular, no matter how ordinary.
The AIA | DC event is part of Frank’s year-long book tour. After traveling to book stores and other venues up and down the east coast and as far west as Tucson, Frank’s tour seemed to stop when the pandemic struck — until AIA | DC proposed a virtual version.
Frank will answer questions from attendees following his talk. He can’t sign books after that, but the AIA |DC host will direct everyone to the “Buy Now” button on the book’s website: nativeplacesthebook.com
For all the details on the event, including the Learning Objectives, go to AIA | DC’s calendar.
FRANK HARMON, FAIA (photo by William Morgan)
Beginning May 4th at 3 p.m., Frank Harmon, FAIA, will become a recurring guest on US Modernist Radio: Architecture You Love, the popular podcast hosted by George Smart and Frank King.
Once a month, Smart will introduce the Raleigh architect/author with the tagline “And now for a few minutes with Frank Harmon.” Frank will then read excerpts from his book Native Places: Drawing as a Way to See.
“US Modernist Radio is a bright spot in my day,” Frank said. “What a wonderful way to keep in touch with architects everywhere.
About the Podcast:
George Smart, founder and president of the non-profit organization NC Modernist Houses, created US Modernist Radio to appeal to midcentury modern design enthusiasts. In July 2019, it was included in Dwell magazine’s “Top 9 Design and Architecture Podcasts To Tune Into.”
US Modernist Radio “is both entertaining but informative, and hosts George Smart and Frank King spend each episode interviewing architects, designers, historians, preservationists, advocacy experts, museum curators, homeowners, and others—just about anyone who “owns, creates, dreams about, preserves, loves, and hates Modernist architecture, the most exciting and controversial buildings in the world.” Click here to listen via an assortment of apps. The live shows load at 3 p.m.
For more information on Frank and Native Places, visit nativeplacesthebook.com.
Frank Harmon watches his garden fill with plantings—and memories
by Frank Harmon for WALTER magazine | illustration by Judy Harmon
Every spring a lawn care company tosses a flyer over my garden gate. They promise to make my lawn perfect by using herbicides and pesticides. But I think I’ll keep the lawn just as it is, with scatterings of chickweed, withered starflower stems, and the occasional snakeskin.
I live in a small pink stucco house near N.C. State University. My wife Judy and I designed the house and garden in 1989. We broke ground on Valentine’s Day and moved in a year later. Then we planted the lawn.
We’d put down roots. READ MORE…
Steam Clock by Frank Harmon
“I make my sketches very quickly because I’m not trying to make a pretty drawing. My aim is to record, and perhaps to understand, what I’m experiencing and seeing,” explains architect/author Frank Harmon, FAIA, in his book, Native Places: Drawing as a Way to See.
On January 23 from 7:30 – 9:30 pm, Rebus Works Art Gallery in Raleigh will celebrate the book and its author with an Opening Reception and Gallery Talk for a special exhibition of the same title. On display will be 21 of Harmon’s original/one-of-a-kind, framed, 5”x7” watercolor sketches published in the book.
Frank Harmon never intended to show his sketches as stand-alone artwork, he says. But at home in Raleigh and at every stop along his on-going book tour, he’s persistently asked when they’ll be available for purchase. He was finally talked into it.
The exhibition and sale at Rebus Works will run through February 20th.
Now in its third printing, Native Places, the book, is a collection of 64 sketches paired with very brief essays. The sketches, some of them 30 years old, convey the delight Harmon finds in ordinary places and everyday objects as well as architecture and nature. Inspired by the sketches, the essays convey in only 200 words his memories, insights, and fresh interpretations of what we tend to take for granted.
Harmon has kept a sketchbook in his pocket since he was a student at the Architecture Association in London, he says. “I’d discovered that if I took a photograph of a place, I would probably forget it. But if I sketched it, I remembered that place forever.” He still makes a sketch every day.
Mill Creek Boathouse by Frank Harmon
Through his book and now the Rebus Works exhibition, Harmon hopes to prove “that hand-drawing is not an obsolete skill” and, perhaps more importantly, “…to transform the way we see.” For more information and excerpts, visit nativeplacesthebook.com.
Harmon will give a Gallery Talk on the evening of the Opening. Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh will provide copies of the book and he’ll be happy to sign them, as well.
Rebus Works is located in the Boylan Heights neighborhood at 301-2 Kinsey Street, Raleigh 27603 (919-754-8452). For details and directions: rebusworks.us.
About Frank Harmon
Frank Harmon, FAIA, has designed sustainable modern buildings across the Southeast for 30 years. He discovered architecture as a child playing in the streams and woods of his native Greensboro, North Carolina. His work engages pressing contemporary issues such as “placelessness,” sustainability, and restoration of cities and nature.
A Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, Harmon is a graduate of the Architectural Association in London and a popular professor of architecture at the North Carolina State University College of Design. He has taught at the Architectural Association and has been a visiting critic at Harvard University, Yale University, and the University of Virginia. He continues to serve as a visiting critic at Auburn University’s renowned Rural Studio.
BROOKS AVENUE, RALEIGH
For the first time, and after receiving many requests, Raleigh architect/author Frank Harmon, FAIA, is about to make a limited number of his original 5” x 7” watercolor sketches available for purchase — drawings lifted straight out of his personal sketchbooks, many of which are published in his new hardback book, Native Places: Drawing as a Way to See (ORO Editions, publisher).
“At some point during nearly every stop along my book tour this past year, from Charleston to Austin, I’ve been asked when I’m going to sell some of my sketches,” Harmon explained recently. “Friends and colleagues have been asking the same question quite persistently. I’m delighted to finally do so, on a limited basis, through two of my favorite Raleigh art venues.”
VAN GOGH’S WINDOW
Abie Harrie Studio
On Saturday and Sunday, December 7 and 8, from noon until 6 p.m., 10 of his original sketches will be part of a special event in architect/artist Abie Harris’s studio at 222 Hawthorne Road, Raleigh. Harmon’s drawings will be shown and sold alongside original work by four well-known Raleigh artists: Drew Deane, Corey Mason, Bert Sultz, and the show’s host Abie Harris.
Rebus Works
Also on December 8, from 1-5 p.m., Rebus Works in Raleigh’s Boylan Heights neighborhood will display 21 original sketches published in Native Places during the 2019 Boylan Heights Art Walk. Presented in related groups of three, the drawings will remain in the gallery and for sale from the 8th through, and after, an official Opening & Gallery Talk that Rebus Works is planning for January 23rd (details to be announced soon).
RURAL STUDIO
Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh’s leading independent book store, will make copies of Native Places: Drawing as a Way to See available at Rebus Works throughout the run of Harmon’s exhibition before and after the January Opening. Rebus Works is located at 301-2 Kinsey Street, Raleigh.
And where’s Frank?
That Sunday, Frank Harmon himself will be on hand for the two shows – at one time or another. “It will be very interesting,” he said with a smile. “And I can’t wait to see everyone at both.”