ACKNOWLEDGMENTS VICTORIA BALLARD BELL

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

When I moved to the Triangle in 2001, I was grateful for the atmosphere of progressive thought and the community of modern designers I had entered. I officially became a licensed architect in Raleigh and was proud to be part of a collective of designers who cared deeply about modern architecture and its future. After working in Charlottesville, Baltimore, and New York City, working for Kenneth Hobgood in Raleigh made me feel like I had found my “architecture office home.” I was amazed by his world-class, rigorous design work coupled with his modest friendly office. I later learned this was how things operated in the Triangle: high design with a humble undercurrent. Through the years since then, I began to hear stories of the past architects who worked in the region and was amazed by the significant history and the excellence of the mid-cen tury architecture that surrounded us in the Triangle. I was also surprised to find that there was no publication relaying this fascinating history or celebrating the successes of these architects and their work. Catherine Bishir’s North Carolina Architecture is North Carolina’s most comprehensive architectural publication but ends its survey in 1941. The fact that some of the work done in the Triangle can be traced back to the origins of European Modernism and that most local people did not even know of this connection was surely a story that needed to be told. After publishing two books with Princeton Architectural Press, Materials for Design, Volumes 1 and 2, and being aware of the time commitment needed to write a book, I knew I had committed myself to a substantial task.

Thankfully, professor and architect Robert Burns collected notes and materials from his years under Dean Henry Kamphoefner. Upon Professor Burn’s untimely death in 2005, Roger H. Clark, architect and professor at the College of Design, edited these recollections and reflections from this early time period in the North Carolina State University publication School of Design: The Kamphoefner Years 1948–1973, published by the College of Design. This collection of memories from the teachers, professors, students and visitors who had come through the School of Design at that time was a launching pad for Triangle Modern Architecture.

Another great source was George Smart through his efforts and endless work in creating the North Carolina Modernist Houses website in 2007. This documentation of houses in the Triangle region grew rapidly and is creating one of the largest archives of modern architecture in the nation. His public awareness and service in saving modern buildings has brought much public appreciation to modern architecture, not only in our region but also nationally. If it were not for the support, legwork, and amount of information George had already researched, many of the stories in this book would never have been told here.

This limits of this one book could not be a comprehensive or a complete collection of the richness and excellence of the work of modern architects in this region. I understand there are many stories to tell, and this is just one limited version. This is not intended to be an academic text or thorough history of the subject, but to be a story about the area’s design culture for the general public. I sincerely apologize if I have have misstated any facts. I welcome cor rections and suggestions for future printings.

I do regret I could not include in these finite pages more of the many talented Triangle architects. The troubling part of this writing process was having to exclude many worthy and talented architects, past and present, who could not be included due to space, cost, and sanity. However, that’s also the good news. This region was, and remains, a breeding ground for high-quality modern design. Perhaps there can be a second edition.

Substantial credit and great appreciation for the research that has shaped this book is due to the students of the NCSU School of Architecture Triangle Modern Architecture class, taught by Bryan Bell, who also served as the Prin cipal Investigator for this book. The students’ intelligence and very hard work continue the legacy of outstanding scholarship of NCSU students. They are Maan Abdulwahab Alzamel, Wyatt Daniel Barnes, Jacob E. Berry, Forrest G. Britton, Gerardo Cavillo Mora, Elizabeth Sarah (Betsey) Clark, Sara Michelle Clark, Robert Perry Davis, Zachary Daniel (Zach) Dawkins, Daniel M. (Matus) Ferguson, Timothy Joseph (Tim) Fico, Anna Kaitlyn (Kaitie) Gay, Nicholas Bevan (Nick) Hales, Sarah Elizabeth Hefner, Matthew Scott Hirsch, David Maxwell (Max) Hodge, Maria Alejandra Jaramillo, Afsoon Kangarlouhaghighi, Caroline Nicole Lawson, Anastasiia Leonova, Helen Majors Marrin, James Gabriel Justin McNair, Elenor Louise Methven, Scott Russell Nelsen, Faustine Pastor, Madison Justine Plimpton, Kylie Mizuki Pond, James Daniel Popin, Brandon Scott Porterfield, Sondra R. Rogal, Jane Ayers Rothwell, Marc Anthony Ryan, Astha Shrenik Shah, Eli Toufic Simaan, Nicole Elizabeth Vieth, Lydia Marie Watt, Emily Elizabeth (Emmy) Wood, and Ziyuan Zhou. Special thanks to Astha Shrenick Shah, Sarah Elizabeth Hefner, and Sondra R. Rogal for their work as research editors, and to Jane Ayers Rothwell and Rachel Haas for their contributions.

Thank you to the amazing and patient staff at the North Carolina State University Libraries, especially Gwynn Thayer, Clara Wilson, Virginia Ferris and Peter Schreiner.

Thank you to my exceptional editors, Shannon Turlington and Matthew Somoroff, who asked me all the hard questions and cleaned up so much of my dirty work. Thank you to the North Carolina State Archives and Van Evans for their untiring and tenacious help and valuable expertise. A huge thank you to Gordon Goff for believing in this book and everyone at ORO Editions for the amazing work they do every day. Thank you especially to Jake Anderson for his great patience and expertise.

Thank you to the University of Virginia’s “A-School” and all of the teachers there who inspired me, believed in me, and made me the architect I am: W.G. Clark, Bill Sherman, Robin Dripps, and Reuben M. Rainey.

For me personally, I could never have had the luxury to write this book without the persistent and steadfast love and support of my husband, cheerleader, and public interest guru, Bryan Bell.

I dedicate this book to Bryan, Lily Sky, Cole, and the first and coolest mid-century Modernists I ever knew in life, Richard and Valerie Ballard.