Catalano House to be Rebuilt

I was pleasantly surprised to hear, from a number of reliable sources, that the Eduardo Catalano house looks like it will FINALLY be re-built. The site is situated on a small plot of land close to Dorthea Dix which is currently owned by NCSU. This is the latest in the long line of attempts to rebuild the iconic/revolutionary mid-century house, with the others failing due to various reasons including, but not limited to; serious project mismanagement by the previous NCSU administration, the simple mindedness of a few misinformed students, and the selfishness of the NC Art Museum officials. With the possible exception of Dorton arena, the Catalano house is the finest example of architectural innovation to ever be seen in North Carolina. Hopefully this reconstruction attempt will fair better than those of the past.


Profile on Eduardo Catalano

NC State Announces Architecture Lecture Series

This past week, NCSU's School of Architecture announced its 2009-2010 lecture series that it holds jointly with AIA Triangle. All lectures will be held Mondays nights at 7:00, in Burns Auditorium, and are free and open to the public. The College of Design is trying to have a lecture every Monday night, through one of the departments within the College. That way, people just get in the habit of attending the lectures.

There are some great lecturers coming in this year. Here's a look at the upcoming architecture lectures this fall. Rather than writing a lengthy bio on each, I've included a link to their websites.

August 31st Marlon Blackwell who has his own practice in addition to teaching full-time at University of Arkansas.

October 19th Martin Haas, partner at Behnisch Architekten, and I believe he has a background in film-making.

November 9th Monica Ponce de Leon, Principal at Office dA.

Five-Points Post Office "on the block"

It has come to my attention that the Five-Points Post Office is under the very serious threat of closure and barring a miracle it is all but a certainty. The days of the neighborhood hardware store, Piggly Wiggly, and even the Hayes Barton Grill have long past but I still find myself yearning for them. Granted, I have somewhat of a skewed/nostalgic view of the area because I grew up there, on the little one-way stretch of White Oak. My experiences there would help shape and define my interests in both urban design and architecture and would help drive me to such ventures as my education, my career, and Raleigh AAU, among other things. As a designer, I am acutely aware that change is the nature of cities, but never did I think I'd see the Five-Points Post Office close down, that place was/is the heart and soul of the area. There are legitimate factors behind it all of course, the USPS is hemorrhaging money and it has to make its cuts somewhere. Unfortunately, for those of us that still enjoy our semi-regular trips, this is the harsh reality of the times. We've known the Postal Clerks for years, they've become integral parts of our lives, they know our families, watched us grow, and seen us at both our best and worst and we always thought they'd be there... When the doors close that final time on Fairview Rd. the end of an era will officially pass and the identity and sense of community among long-time residents will be seriously shaken... It breaks my heart.

If you have similar stories or just want your voice heard on the matter PLEASE WRITE:

Mr. Russell Gardner
USPS District Manager
P.O. Box 9900
Greensboro, NC
27498-9900

NC Senate Approves Mass Transit Bill

While I'm cautiously optimistic, I'm still not holding my breath, as we've all been through this exact situation before. Here's hoping things turn out better this time...

Link

New House Tour Offerings by Triangle Modernist Houses

Triangle Modernist Houses just opened sales for three tours this fall in Raleigh and Durham. The last tour sold out very quickly, so if you are interested you better sign up quickly.

From the TMH website:

Saturday, August 15, 10-1130 : Pullen Memorial Chapel in Raleigh, $5.95

Saturday, October 3, 1-3, Michael Coates Residence Durham, $5.95

Saturday, November 7, 1-4, Architects' Homes: Thomas Crowder, Brian Shawcroft and Raymond Sawyer, $9.95

Sense of Arrival in Raleigh

When defining a city, the sense of arrival is crucial, not only does it signify the arrival itself but it defines the boundaries of a city. The first impression plays a significant role in shaping our opinions of each city as a place and helps to inform us about its identity. This is an analysis of the sense of arrival into downtown Raleigh from the southeast. (McDowell Street / NC Hwy 50).

The McDowell St. corridor offers us the signature view of the Raleigh skyline. While different than that from the Boylan bridge, it is unquestionably one of the City's best. The road, while busy, seems more like a parkway than a highway with it's winding path and well landscaped median. In the distance a city of Raleigh sign marks the arrival.

A wooded threshold clearly delineates the urban core boundary, rather than letting the development spill out. In many cities this threshold is a veritable no man's land, often heavily littered and marking a poor entry to downtown. The entry to Raleigh's urban core is well-maintained and deliberately designed to heighten the experience.

The Convention Center sits prominently at the crest of the hill and through it's placement, strongly anchors the southeast corner of downtown Raleigh. Designer's clearly understood the meaning of the site when planning for the convention center, the corner detail appropriately addresses the corner condition.

The "shimmer wall" on the west side of the convention center provides a positive face to the street. The building serves as both an iconic structure, which is well worth visiting, as well as the face of "New" Raleigh and therefore allows for a sense of intrigue among visitors, which every city needs.

Street trees and furniture serve as amenities in the pedestrian environment. While enhancing both beauty and safety they also significantly increase the walkability of downtown.

The vacant lot immediately west of the convention center, for which the city is generating plans for a park and outdoor amphitheater among other things. In the distance, the south side of a new Wake County public parking garage. This elevation, primarily clad in a brick veneer, cleverly disguises the fact that this is a parking garage, which is done successfully throughout the city. The perforations allow for natural ventilation through the garage, but also form an engaging facade to the street. This has got to be one of the best looking parking garage elevations around.

The east elevation is not nearly as successful as the southern elevation. Hopefully, there are future plans for some sort of cladding, or future development of this elevation. What I don't understand is why this elevation isn't designed similarly to the southern side of the building, allowing natural ventilation to pass through the entire structure. Where the southern elevation successfully addresses the street, this drab concrete wall acts as a black eye to what is otherwise a successful entrance to the city on the east side, as well as the north side.

If a street wall were a smile, the entrance into Raleigh is missing a few teeth. The undeveloped lot west of the convention center is unattractive, but hopefully that will soon be remedied. The underutilized Enterprise rental car office and adjacent enormous surface parking lot will need to be addressed, sooner rather than later. The east side of the public parking garage needs further development. However, what is in place is solid and provides a good foundation for future growth.

Overall Raleigh's downtown is clearly undergoing a major renaissance. Major changes are taking place, many for the good, which will be covered in future posts. The central business district is fairly well delineated and dense growth seems to be contained in the urban core. Clearly the triangle region as a whole is very decentralized, which is a major issue, but this is regarding the density immediately in and around downtown. Urban densities don't yet seem to be encroaching on residential neighborhoods. This isn't to say that all of neighborhoods adjacent to downtown are thriving because they aren't. However, the downtown is fairly well contained, meaning there isn't the typical ring of medium density commercial and industrial uses around the city, uncomfortably integrating with nearby urban neighborhoods. In Raleigh, a fairly distinct threshold delineates the urban core and nearby neighborhoods as distinct and congruous entities.

This entrance into the Capital City promises to have a bright future. The city has done its part in building the foundation, and setting the standard for further development of this important corridor into Raleigh.