INTRODUCTION

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Triangle Modern Architecture documents the rich history and cultural significance of design in a region that is one of the most distinctive and exceptional locales on the national map of modern design. Over the last 75 years, the architecture in the Triangle area of North Carolina has grown to creatively combine innovation and technology with the area’s history, unique landscape, and built context.

The philosophical and artistic movement of Modernism arose in the early twentieth century as a rejection of the traditional in favor of the innovative and experimental. In architecture, Modernism emerged from the devastation of World War I as a new language of design intended to meet the needs of urban, industrialized society. Guided by principles emphasizing function over ornamentation and the innovative applications of new technologies, the first generation of European Modernists created unconventional forms using non traditional materials of steel, glass, and concrete. Modernist architects in the United States merged these principles with new conceptions of urban life to design iconic structures such as New York’s skyscrapers and Chicago’s large horizontal strips of storefront windows. Later generations of architects transformed Modernism’s founding principles into unique expressions appropriate to the people, places, and qualities of very different locations, such as the Triangle area of North Carolina.

Although the area did not commonly come to be known as the Triangle until later, this central region of the state was undergoing its own transformation in the mid-twentieth century. Anchored by three major research universities—Duke University in Durham, the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State University (NCSU) in the capital city of Raleigh—the area attracted a highly educated workforce and a diverse array of businesses. In the 1940s, the small city of Raleigh would not have seemed likely to become a showcase of the best examples of modern architecture and design in the United States. However, a confluence of factors positioned the city as a canvas where groundbreaking architects could express the artistic and philosophical principles of Modernism that they customized to the area’s natural beauty and culture known for modesty and grace.

Even now, few people associate the Triangle region with the clean lines and progressive nature of modern architecture, but the area has a strong cultural base of Modernism in its history. The experimental Black Mountain College (1933–1957), located in the mountains of North Carolina, brought many influential artists to the region, including designers from the German Bauhaus school, and acted as an incubator for Modernism in the state. However, the critical turning point came in 1948, when the newly founded NCSU School of Design, under the visionary leadership of its dean, Henry Kamphoefner, brought cutting-edge designers to the area to create a unique design community influenced by both the local geography and culture and the design principles of modern architecture. Today in the Triangle alone there are approximately 800 modern houses. 1 This large collection of Modernist homes

1. Welton, Michael. “Blueprint for a Movement,” Our State, March 2019. 002

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001 Map of the Triangle region of North Carolina. 002 Josef Albers teaching drawing at the Black Mountain College in the mountains of North Carolina. Bringing his teaching style of “learning by doing” from his days at the Bauhaus, he was a strong influence at this new school. Black Mountain College strove to teach a holistic view on the arts, not just the professional skills as did the Bauhaus. 003 Josef Albers teaching drawing at the Black Mountain College. He believed in teaching the “whole student,” and that a student should think for themselves rather than being taught what to think. He was one of the most popular teachers there and produced some of his best artwork during this time.

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004 Black Mountain College building across from Lake Eden, NC, 1943. 005 Taylor House, Matthews, NC, 2016, in situ studio. 006 Breuer House (1941)—the Sprinza Weizenblatt Residence, Asheville, North Carolina. Designed by Marcel Breuer, a graduate of the Bauhaus, when he was teaching at the Black Mountain School. This is one of the first Modernist buildings in North Carolina, preceded by the Weyman Memorial Laboratory at the Highlands Museum and Biological Laboratory by Oskar Stonorov, built in the International Style in 1930–31 . [Bishir, Catherine W. North Carolina Architecture, UNC Press, 1999] 007 The Hope Valley House, Durham, NC, by Phil Szostak, 2011. 008 The Home Security Life building in Durham, NC, by Milton Small, 1957. 009 Interior of the Home Security Life building in Durham, NC, by Milton Small.

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is cited as the third largest in the country, comparable to urban centers such as Chicago and Los Angeles. 2

This publication showcases the Triangle’s cultural legacy of modern archi- tecture by presenting a selection of its architects and their buildings, past and present. This selection has been made to represent the broad range of talent and diverse approaches, and to represent a common design culture based on regional interpretation of modern principles. Some of the structures they creat- ed are long gone, but many others still stand, and more are being created every day. In telling the story of modern architecture in the Triangle, this book aims to increase public appreciation of this heritage, build the case for protecting important landmarks, and give current designers a retrospective from which they can further shape regionally based modern design as they interpret it.

Chapter 1 of this book describe the roots of modern architecture in North Carolina in the founding of the NCSU School of Design and its connection to the Triangle area’s culture, tradition of higher education, and economic devel- opment. Chapter 2 showcases a mid-century cohort of local architects who boldly practiced Modernism and helped put the Triangle on the map. Chapter 3 presents a collection of current professionals in the Triangle who are carrying on new iterations of modern ideas, also shaped by the unique characteristics of the region. These architects continue to support the Triangle’s strong histor- ic foundation in architecture while exploring fresh expressions of what modern means today. The architects presented in this book have helped to develop a body of work unique to the Triangle, one that continues to thrive and that we should strive to preserve.

The terms Modernism and modern are not used interchangeably in this text. Each is used with a distinct meaning and intention. Modernism and Modern- ist refer to a specific movement in art, architecture, and design that emerged around 1925 in Holland, France, and Germany. This term applies to the archi- tects that came to North Carolina in the mid-twentieth century and are docu- mented in Chapters 1 and 2. Modern is used to mean innovative and up-todate, responding to the present and future, but unlike the term contemporary it also implies the influence of Modernism. The term modern design is open to other influences as well, including new ideas from around the world, the local built context and landscape, building methods, and culture. This term applies to the architects documented in Chapter 3 who are currently practicing in the Triangle area. While these architects all acknowledge the strong influence of Modernism in their work, they make it clear that they are not restricted by it and are open to a broad range of personal inspirations, educational influences, new ideas. They are all inspired by their understanding and appreciation of our local people, this time, and this place.

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2. Smart, George. North Carolina Modernist Houses, ncmodernist.org.

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JON ANDRE CONDORET

BORN ALGIERS, ALGERIA, 1934 DIED PITTSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA, 2010 EDUCATION BACHELOR OF ARTS IN ARCHITECTURE, ÉCOLE SPÉCIALE D’ARCHITECTURE, PARIS, 1959 INFLUENCES FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT

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Jon Andre Condoret was born in North Africa, where whitewashed buildings resembling cubist blocks filled the hillsides. Condoret grew up fishing and drawing cartoons in his close-knit Algerian-French community. 66 He left Algiers in the 1950s to study architecture in Paris, where he met his wife, Joany Earle Condoret, an American art student. In 1962, the couple moved from Algeria to North Carolina because of the Algerian War of Independence. The move to the U.S was a huge cultural change that thrust Condoret into a new world where he quickly had to learn to speak a new language, but also where his design language found a fertile time and place to grow. He passed the exams for the state architecture license on the first try.

Condoret initially worked for architect Archie Royal Davis before working with City Planning and Architectural Associates. After a few years, Condoret started his own office and designed a large collection of Modernist homes throughout Durham and Chapel Hill. His early life in Algeria and Europe fur nished him with a distinct set of Modernist design skills and brought a cosmopolitan, adventurous spirit to his designs that added to the growing collection of innovative architecture in the Triangle. Condoret often said that his ultimate goal was to serve his clients and ensure that he gave them what they wanted. This responsiveness to the residents of the Triangle demonstrated the localized approach that was not a goal of many early Modernists but became characteristic of the new attitude that was more inclusive of people, place, and precedent.

Although Condoret was not directly connected with the North Carolina State University’s School of Design, he found his own voice and came to a personal understanding of what it meant to design in his own language in the region. He is unusual among Triangle Modern architects because he was not influenced by the teachings and research of Modernism from academia, but rather came to his modern principles through his experiences growing up in Europe and understanding his new home in the South. He also greatly admired the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. 67 His design principles came to him naturally through understanding the climate, landscape, materials, and particularities of the Triangle. He also had no preconceived ideas of what architecture or a house should look like in the region, thus freeing himself from stereotypical traditional home and building designs.

One of his later projects was Fearrington Village, a residential development located on a former dairy farm outside of Chapel Hill. While not Modern in language, this project is very much about the North Carolina landscape and engaging the site. There, Condoret created a tranquil balance between a traditional aesthetic, the Modernism principle of open floor plans, and a respect for the surrounding pastoral landscape.

Another example of Condoret’s work is his own house in Chapel Hill, NC, which sits on a wooded site and blends seamlessly with the existing landscape. Heavy horizontal planes define several rooflines, each at different heights, giving a hierarchy to the activities within. Exposed structure inside reveals and expresses how the house was built. A heavy brick mass forms the fireplace in the core of the house, a design idea used and popularized by Frank Lloyd Wright. Balconies and patios further extend the architecture to the site and blend the threshold between inside and outside.

Perhaps Condoret’s most significant project is the Larson House, built in 1973, which showcases a fearless spirit with canted walls and shifting planes in all dimensions. He considered this his favorite design, which has a differ ent language distinct from other houses of the time. 68 Glazing is thoughtfully placed for passive solar qualities as well as for embracing the surrounding natural world. The windows are angled thoughtfully to capture light and direct attention to beautiful areas of the surrounding site. As in Condoret’s own home, a large central fireplace defines the nucleus of the home.

Condoret’s daughter, Arielle Schechter, is a talented architect practicing in Chapel Hill who has continued working in the regional modern approach to architecture. She often worked for her father on projects until his death in 2010. Condoret’s legacy lives on in his large portfolio of unique custom-designed homes in Chapel Hill and Durham, which exemplify his distinctive Modern language.

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66. 67. 68. “Jon Condoret, Architect: Algeria September 5, 1934 - USA August 8, 2010 - Memorial Video.” July 24, 2014, Arielle Schechter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=iK2PvUz1JyM Arielle Schechter, 2019. Arielle Schechter, 2019.