February 22, 2012 (Raleigh, NC) – Frank Harmon, FAIA, principal of Frank Harmon Architect PA in Raleigh and Professor in Practice at the North Carolina State University College of Design, will

Frank Harmon, FAIA

give the February 27 lecture for the 2011-12 Landscape Architecture Lecture Series. His theme will be “How architects and landscape architects can work together.”

Free and open to the public, Harmon’s lecture will begin at 6 p.m. in the Burns Auditorium in Kamphoefner Hall.

A nationally recognized leader in modern, sustainable, regionally appropriate architecture, Harmon says he will discuss the urban and rural landscape, how architecture fits into it, and how architects and landscape architects can combine efforts “to leave the landscape better than we found it,” he said.

“For the past two decades I’ve chosen to have a landscape architect working beside me when I begin a design,” Harmon said. “At Merchants Millpond in eastern North Carolina, for example, I canoed and camped with landscape architect David Swanson before we drew the first line for the new Environmental Education Center there. I teamed with landscape architect Gregg Bleam to design the recently completed AIA NC Center for Architecture and Design in downtown Raleigh.”

Harmon frequently asserts that the most important decision an architect makes is how to position a building on its site. “That particular throw of the dice determines everything that follows: orientation, aspect and prospect, day lighting, cross ventilation, hydrology, micro-climate, and most importantly, a sense of place. My belief that all good architecture begins with the land makes me value and appreciate landscape architects’ skills and understanding.”

The 2011-12 Landscape Architecture Lecture Series is produced by the Department of Landscape Architecture in partnership with the Student Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects and the Landscape Architecture Advisory Council.

For more information on Frank Harmon, visit www.frankharmon.com

About Frank Harmon, FAIA:

Frank Harmon, FAIA, is a Professor in Practice at NC State University and was the 1995 recipient of the Kamphoefner Prize for Distinguished Design over a Ten-Year Period. He founded his firm, Frank Harmon Architect PA, in 1985. In 2011, his firm was ranked 21st out of the top 50 firms in the nation by Architect magazine, and was included in Residential Architect magazine’s “RA 50: The Short List of Architects We Love.” Harmon’s work has been featured in numerous books, magazines and journals on architecture, including Dwell, Architectural Record, Architect, and Residential Architect. For more information, go to www.frankharmon.com.

George Smart of Triangle Modernist Houses to present the 7-minute version of his popular presentation.

February 14, 2012 (Raleigh, NC) – Triangle Modernist Houses’ founder George Smart will be one of the rapid-fire presenters at Pecha Kucha Night in Raleigh on Wednesday, February 22, presenting  “Mayberry Modernism: Why North Carolina Is America’s Hotspot For Way Cool Houses.”

Pecha Kucha is the Japanese word for “chit-chat.” Participants share ideas in a fast-paced, high-energy manner in no more than six minutes and 40 seconds.

Triangle Modernist Houses (TMH) is an award-winning, non-profit organization Smart founded in 2007 to document, preserve, and promote modernist residential design. “Mayberry Modernism” spotlights many of North Carolina’s modernist houses from the 1950s to today. TMH draws over 50,000 hits a month to its vast digital archives, with nearly 15,000 photos.

The theme for this year’s Pecha Kucha Night in Raleigh is “Love of Community,” which segues perfectly with “Mayberry Modernism,” according to Smart.

“I’ll share how – and why – I and so many people have come together around a love of North Carolina Modernist houses,” he said.

Smart has presented Mayberry Modernism to Pecha Kucha events in Raleigh and Charlotte. He also regularly presents a speech-length version, “Mayberry Modernism: North Carolina’s Modernist Legacy,” across North Carolina to preservation groups, sections of the American Institute of Architecture, and professional realtors’ associations, among others.

Pecha Kucha Night will take place at The Union Tavern in downtown Raleigh, 327 West Davie Street, #114. Doors open at 5:40 p.m.  The event is free, but space is very limited and sells out, so audience members are encouraged to get their free tickets early at http://pknraleigh.com/register/.

For more information on Triangle Modernist Houses, visit www.trianglemodernisthouses.com.

A documentary celebrating five men who create their own architectural worlds.

February 8, 2011 (Cary, NC) — Triangle Modernist Houses continues the 2011-2012 Nowell’s Architecture Movie Series this month with a special screening of “God’s Architects,” a moving documentary that studies and celebrates five solitary designer/builders from Arkansas, California, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The film will be shown Thursday, February 16, at 7:30 p.m. in Cary’s Galaxy Cinema.

Created by young filmmaker Zach Godshall, the documentary details how and why these five men, who operate without funding or blueprints and completely unknown to each other, dedicate their lives to create architectural worlds drawn from nothing more than their imagination.

“I think I was initially attracted to these guys because they are working without blueprints, without funding and really going off what they felt was intuition or inspiration,” Godshall says, “and to me that was an inspiring situation to be in.”  The young filmmaker says he learned a lot while working with these self-taught builders. “These guys really do bare their hearts in this movie. They’re very genuine, and I think it comes across, and people feel that.”

Rusty Long Architect is sponsoring this special screening of “God’s Architects.” Sponsors for the entire TMH Architecture Movie Series include Nowell’s Contemporary Furniture, Dail Dixon FAIA, Studio B Architecture/BuildSense, Modern Home Auction, Cherry Modern, Kontek, and Alphin Design+Build.

Tickets to the film are $9. The Galaxy Cinema is located at 770 Cary Towne Boulevard, Cary, NC  27511 (919-463-9989).

Hosted by Triangle Modernist Houses, the Nowell’s Architecture Movie Series features hard-to-find films about Modernist architects and architecture. Films are shown one Thursday of each month from October through March. For a complete list of upcoming films, to buy advance tickets, and to see a trailer of upcoming films, go to www.trianglemodernisthouses.com/movies.

All proceeds from ticket sales support Triangle Modernist Houses’ mission of documenting, preserving and promoting Modernist residential design from the 1950s to today. For more information on the award-winning organization, visit www.trianglemodernisthouses.com.

Kenneth Hobgood, FAIA

February 10, 2012 (Raleigh, NC) – Kenneth Hobgood, FAIA, founder and principal of the award-winning firm Kenneth E. Hobgood Architects in Raleigh, will be a featured guest at Triangle Modernist Houses’ “Appetite4Architecture” dinner on Tuesday, February 21, beginning at 6:30 p.m. in 18 Seaboard restaurant in Raleigh.

Now in its third year, “Appetite 4 Architecture” dinners are sponsored by Triangle Modernist Houses (TMH), an award-winning, non-profit organization dedicated to documenting, preserving and promoting Modernist residential design. The purpose of the dinners is to give the general public a chance to dine with, and talk with, some of the Triangle area’s finest architects in a relaxed, informal setting.

Kenneth Hobgood is well known for modern, minimal, and timeless architecture of all types, especially houses. His work has been exhibited in Japan, Germany, Italy, England, and the US and featured in national journals and books such as Architectural Digest, the Wall Street Journal, Architectural Record, Arch Daily.com, and The New American House by James Trulove, Among his best known, award-winning residential designs are:

• The Gravely Khachatoorian House in Chapel Hill, which was featured in Architectural Digest.
• The Bugg House in Durham, which was featured in the Wall Street Journal.
• The house at 100 Hermitage Road in Charlotte, which was featured in Architectural Record.
• And the Paletz Moi House in the Durham, which was featured in the Raleigh News & Observer.

Hobgood’s firm recently completed a 22,000-square-foot, four-level, all-glass house in Kuwait City, Kuwait, that received a design award from the North Carolina chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA NC) in 2007 in the “unbuilt” category.

Kenneth Hobgood has been a visiting critic at Auburn University, Carnegie Mellon, Georgia Tech and the University of Kentucky, and an adjunct professor at North Carolina State University since 1988. In 1997, he received the NC State University College of Design’s Kamphoefner Prize for “consistent integrity and devotion to modern architecture.”

Joining Hobgood for the February 21 “A4A” dinner are Erin Sterling Lewis, AIA, of In Situ Studio in Raleigh, and Brian Shawcroft, AIA, a fellow recipient of the Kamphoefner Prize.

The TMH “A4A” dinners are all held at 18 Seaboard, 18 Seaboard Avenue, No. 100, Raleigh, NC 27604. The dinners include three courses from a preselected menu (vegetarian options are available) plus coffee, water, tea, tax, and gratuity. Price per person is $53. Tickets are available at http://www.trianglemodernisthouses.com/a4a. Payments are nonrefundable except for event cancellation. All proceeds benefit TMH’s ongoing documentation, preservation, and house tours programs. For more information on TMH call George Smart, 919-740-8407 or visit http://www.trianglemodernisthouses.com.

For more information on Kenneth Hobgood, visit www.kennethhobgood.com.

About Kenneth E. Hobgood, Architects:

Kenneth Hobgood, FAIA, founded Kenneth E Hobgood Architects in Raleigh, NC, in 1992. Since then, the firm has received 39 design awards from the American Institute of Architects North Carolina chapter and its work has been published and exhibited in the United States, Japan, Italy, the Netherlands, England and Germany. In 1997, Kenneth Hobgood as awarded the Kamphoefner Prize from North Carolina State University’s College of Design for “consistent integrity and devotion to the development of modern architecture” in North Carolina. He has served as a visiting critic at Auburn University, Carnegie Mellon, Georgia Tech, and the University of Kentucky, and as an adjunct professor at North Carolina State University since 1988. For more information visit www.kennethhobgood.com.

February 7, 2012 (Raleigh, NC) – Umicore Building Products USA (UBP), the manufacturer of VMZinc® architecture zinc, made national news recently in three publications.

The January/February edition of Architectural Productsmagazine spotlights Puyullap City Hall in

Puyallup City Hall

Puyullap, Washington, a LEED Gold certified project whose façade features VMZinc’s interlocking rain-screen panels in Quartz Zinc. Designed by Mithum Architects of Seattle, Washington, the city hall is a public/private partnership effort intended to renew Puyullap’s urban core.

For the city hall’s mixed-material façade, Mithum specified VMZinc’s Quartz-Zinc panels to add needed texture to the exterior of a building that occupies almost an entire city block. The rain screen system is self-supporting and the panels connect via an interlocking groove, which creates the appearance of a recessed joint.

Design and Build with Metal.com, a major online resource for the metal construction industry, and Metal Architecture, the leading authority on the use of metal in architectural applications and building design, both featured the recent news that Corporate Knights magazine once again ranked Umicore in the top 10 of the world’s most sustainable corporations. Umicore ranked eighth in the “Global 100 Most Sustainable Companies” for “innovation, diversity, and productivity related to a set of environmental factors.”

“What an honor it is to be a part of a company that is dynamic, sustainable and known for working with really talented architects and installers,” said Dan Nicely, Director of Market Development at VMZinc North America.

Umicore is a 200-year-old global materials technology group headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, and the parent company of Umicore Building Products USA, whose international headquarters is based in Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information on the Umicore Group, go to www.umicore.com. For more information on UBP and VMZinc, visit www.vmzinc-us.com.

About Umicore:

Umicore is a global materials technology group. It focuses on application areas where its expertise in materials science, chemistry and metallurgy makes a real difference. Its activities are centered on four business areas: Catalysis, Energy Materials, Performance Materials, and Recycling. Each business area is divided into market-focused business units offering materials and solutions that are at the cutting edge of new technological developments and essential to everyday life. For more information: www.umicore.com.

About Umicore Building Products USA:

Umicore is a world-leading producer of VMZINC® architectural zinc. For over 160 years, Umicore has been providing innovative solutions for building owners, architects, and contractors. Umicore has offices and representatives all over the world. In the United States, Umicore Building Products USA, Inc., is based in Raleigh, North Carolina. For additional information:  www.vmzinc-us.com.

Giving the public access to some of the best architects in the Triangle.

(Raleigh, NC) – Triangle Modernist Houses (TMH) has announced its third “Appetite4Architecture” series of dinners that give the public the chance to enjoy relaxed, informal discussions in an upscale dining environment, where dinners have direct access to some of the area’s best residential architects and professionals.

TMH is an award-winning, non-profit organization dedicated to documenting, preserving and promoting Modernist residential design.

“Dreaming of a new Modernist house? Long admired the work of a local architect or designer? Thinking about architecture as a career? Appetite4Architecture offers a chance to break bread with prominent members of the Triangle’s design community in an intimate, affordable small group setting,” said TMH founder and board chair George Smart. “There are no presentations or PowerPoint slides — just great conversations with award-winning cuisine.”

The schedule and special guests for the 2012 A4A dinners:

• Tuesday, January 31: Frank Harmon FAIA, Ellen Cassilly,AIA, and Randy Lanou.
• Tuesday, February 21: Kenneth Hobgood, FAIA, Erin Sterling Lewis, AIA, and Brian Shawcroft, AIA.
• Tuesday, March 6: Vinny Petrarca and Phil Szostak, FAIA.

Again this year, the “A4A” dinners will be held at 18 Seaboard in Raleigh and begin at 6:30 p.m. The dinners include three courses from a pre-selected menu (vegetarian options are available) plus coffee, water, tea, tax, and gratuity. Price per person is $53. Tickets are available at www.trianglemodernisthouses.com/a4a.

TMH requires a minimum of 10 participants per event (maximum 17). Otherwise the event will be cancelled with full refunds. If someone purchases a ticket but then can’t attend, substitutions are allowed. Payments are nonrefundable except for event cancellation. All proceeds benefit TMH’s ongoing documentation, preservation, and house tour programs. For more information call George Smart, 919-740-8407.

For more information on TMH, visit www.trianglemodernisthouses.com.

About Triangle Modernist Houses:

Triangle Modernist Houses was established in 2007 to document, preserve, and promote Modernist residential design. The award-winning website is now the largest educational and historical archive for Modernist residential design in America. TMH also hosts Modernist house tours several times a year. These tours raise awareness and help preserve these “livable works of art” for future generations. Visit www.trianglemodernisthouses.com. TMH also has an active community on Facebook.

The Gates-Hillman Centers

(Raleigh, NC) — Two of the nine projects from around the world that recently received 2012 Honor Awards from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) feature VMZINC® exteriors.

The award-winning Carnegie Mellon University’s Gates Center for Computer Science and the Hillman Center for Future-Generation Technologies were designed by Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects of Atlanta, Ga., with attention to energy and water conservation and other sustainable practices.

The centers’ zinc exterior skin and distinctive window openings differ from the predominately yellow brick, historically influenced buildings on the CMU campus. Yet the jurors believed the zinc skin and window openings “surprisingly relate beautifully to the campus fabric without being literal.”

Last year, both centers received LEED® Gold certification. The use of architectural zinc contributed to the certification because zinc is manufactured using very little energy, it lasts an average of 80 years with very little maintenance, and it is completely recyclable, both during construction (construction scraps) and at the end of its use.

Another award-winning project with a VMZINC exterior is The Poetry Foundation in Chicago, designed by John Ronan Architects. The building’s outer layer is VMZINC’s black ANTHRA-ZINC®. Since transparency was an important issue in the design, the ANTHRA-ZINC is perforated where it borders the garden, allowing visual access to the garden from the street. Inside the garden, the zinc screen wall internalizes the garden experience and provides a sense of removal.

The Poetry Foundation was featured in Architectural Record in November prior to winning one of this year’s AIA Honor Awards.

“We talk a lot about the sustainability of zinc but there’s also the aesthetic quality,” said Daniel Nicely, director of market development for VMZINC® and an associate member of the AIA. “Architectural zinc allows architects to easily create interesting and innovative forms. We’re proud that our product played a major role in the striking design and sustainability of both of these award-winning projects.”

For more information on the 2012 AIA Honor Awards, go to http://www.aia.org/practicing/awards/2012/architecture/.

For more information on VMZINC, visit https://www.vmzinc-us.com/.

About Umicore Building Products USA, Inc.

Umicore Building Products is a world-leading producer of architectural zinc. For over 160 years, Umicore has been providing innovative solutions for building owners, architects and contractors. Umicore has offices and representatives all over the world. In the United States, Umicore Building Products USA, Inc., is based in Raleigh, NC. For additional information, visit www.vmzinc-us.com. VMZINC also maintains the blog ZINCsense (www.zincsense.com) and an active Facebook page.

Based on key performance indicators, such as innovation, diversity, and eco-friendly productivity.

(Raleigh, NC) — Umicore, a global materials technology group and the parent company of Umicore Building Products USA in Raleigh, NC, has been included once again in the top 10 of the world’s most sustainable companies.

Corporate Knights, an independent magazine focused on promoting sustainable development, published the rankings this week.

The “Global 100 Most Sustainable Companies” ranking is based on key performance indicators such as innovation, diversity, and productivity related to a set of environmental factors. Ranked eighth out of 100, Umicore was praised for the significant role the company plays in the metal recycling chain and the development of materials for clean energy applications.

This accolade follows Umicore’s recent inclusion in the innovative Living Planet Green Tech Index launched by WWF, the Living Planet Fund Management Company, and Chevreux.

Umicore is also a long-standing component of the FTSE4Good index, which measures performance of companies that meet globally recognized corporate responsibility standards.

“The inclusion of Umicore in these rankings and indices is a recognition that our strategy and business philosophy do meaningfully address the priorities of society today,” said Umicore CEO Marc Grynberg. “We have a strong focus on products and services that provide environmental benefits, such as recycling, automotive catalysts, and materials for rechargeable batteries. This is complemented by ambitious objectives to further improve our environmental and social performance.”

“It is great to be involved with a company that takes a strong stance on sustainability, as well as representing an architectural product that contributes to that equation,” said Daniel Nicely, market development director for Umicore Building Products USA, the manufacturer of VMZINC® architectural zinc.

For more information on Umicore’s sustainability strategies and practices, visit www.umicore.com/sustainability.

For more information on Umicore Building Products, visit www.vmzinc-us.com.

About Umicore

Umicore is a global materials technology group. It focuses on application areas where its expertise in materials science, chemistry and metallurgy makes a real difference. Its activities are centered on four business areas: Catalysis, Energy Materials, Performance Materials, and Recycling. Each business area is divided into market-focused business units offering materials and solutions that are at the cutting edge of new technological developments and essential to everyday life. For more information: www.umicore.com.

About Umicore Building Products USA:

Umicore is a world-leading producer of VMZINC® architectural zinc. For over 160 years, Umicore has been providing innovative solutions for building owners, architects, and contractors. Umicore has offices and representatives all over the world. In the United States, Umicore Building Products USA, Inc., is based in Raleigh, North Carolina. For additional information:  www.vmzinc-us.com.

Frank Harmon, FAIA

February 2, 2012 (Raleigh, NC) –  Frank Harmon, FAIA, principal of Frank Harmon Architect PA in Raleigh, NC, recently served as chairman of the 2011 Boston Society of Architects/AIA design awards program and presented the awards to the winners during a gala ceremony held January 26 at the Marriott Copley Place.

The sole judging criterion for the Boston program was design excellence. The jury was empowered to determine the extent to which design excellence is defined by aesthetic, functional, contextual, sustainable, social or other characteristics. The jury could also elect to honor all or part of a project, in any category they choose. The categories included: Accessible Design; Education Facilities Design, John M. Clancy Award for Socially Responsible Housing, Sustainable Design, Unbuilt, Honor Awards for Design Excellence, and the Harleston Parker Medal award.

“The work of the Boston Society of Architects is quite simply exceptional, some of the best in the country,” Harmon said. “It was a pleasure to review their work.”

This year’s Boston jury was composed of members of the Triangle Architecture and Design Society (TADS), a group of architects from Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, NC, that fosters collaboration among competing area practitioners and encourages greater public understanding of architectural design. TADS has proven so successful that it has garnered national AIA attention.

TADS members participating with Harmon on the Boston jury were: Roger Clark FAIA, Distinguished Professor at the College of Design NCSU, and David Hill, AIA, Associate professor at the College of Design; Dennis Stallings, AIA, and Irv Pearce, AIA, of Pearce, Brinkley, Cease + Lee; Ellen Weinstein, AIA; Phil Szostak, FAIA; Bryan Bell, AIA; and Victoria Bell as an alternate juror.

Frank Harmon is a sought-after jury member and jury chairman for professional design competitions across the nation. For more information, visit www.frankharmon.com.

For more information on the Boston Society/AIA, visit www.architects.org.

About Frank Harmon, FAIA:

Frank Harmon, FAIA, is a Professor in Practice at NC State University and was the 1995 recipient of the Kamphoefner Prize for Distinguished Design over a Ten-Year Period. He founded his firm, Frank Harmon Architect PA, in 1985. In 2011, his firm was ranked 21st out of the top 50 firms in the nation by Architect magazine, and was included in Residential Architect magazine’s “RA 50: The Short List of Architects We Love.” Harmon’s work has been featured in numerous books, magazines and journals on architecture, including Dwell, Architectural Record, Architect, and Residential Architect. For more information, go to www.frankharmon.com.

Based on key performance indicators, such as innovation, diversity, and eco-friendly productivity.

January 26, 2012 (Raleigh, NC) — Umicore, a global materials technology group and the parent company of Umicore Building Products USA in Raleigh, NC, has been included once again in the top 10 of the world’s most sustainable companies.

Corporate Knights, an independent magazine focused on promoting sustainable development, published the rankings this week.

The “Global 100 Most Sustainable Companies” ranking is based on key performance indicators such as innovation, diversity, and productivity related to a set of environmental factors. Ranked eighth out of 100, Umicore was praised for the significant role the company plays in the metal recycling chain and the development of materials for clean energy applications.

This accolade follows Umicore’s recent inclusion in the innovative Living Planet Green Tech Index launched by WWF, the Living Planet Fund Management Company, and Chevreux.

Umicore is also a long-standing component of the FTSE4Good index, which measures performance of companies that meet globally recognized corporate responsibility standards.

“The inclusion of Umicore in these rankings and indices is a recognition that our strategy and business philosophy do meaningfully address the priorities of society today,” said Umicore CEO Marc Grynberg. “We have a strong focus on products and services that provide environmental benefits, such as recycling, automotive catalysts, and materials for rechargeable batteries. This is complemented by ambitious objectives to further improve our environmental and social performance.”

“It is great to be involved with a company that takes a strong stance on sustainability, as well as representing an architectural product that contributes to that equation,” said Daniel Nicely, market development director for Umicore Building Products USA, the manufacturer of VMZINC® architectural zinc.

For more information on Umicore’s sustainability strategies and practices, visit www.umicore.com/sustainability.

For more information on Umicore Building Products, visit www.vmzinc-us.com.

About Umicore:

Umicore is a global materials technology group. It focuses on application areas where its expertise in materials science, chemistry and metallurgy makes a real difference. Its activities are centered on four business areas: Catalysis, Energy Materials, Performance Materials, and Recycling. Each business area is divided into market-focused business units offering materials and solutions that are at the cutting edge of new technological developments and essential to everyday life. For more information: www.umicore.com.

About Umicore Building Products USA:

Umicore is a world-leading producer of VMZINC® architectural zinc. For over 160 years, Umicore has been providing innovative solutions for building owners, architects, and contractors. Umicore has offices and representatives all over the world. In the United States, Umicore Building Products USA, Inc., is based in Raleigh, North Carolina. For additional information:  www.vmzinc-us.com.