DESIGNlife News

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From "The Plan of Chicago," 1909.

In November, 2010, Associate Professor Kristen Schaffer spoke at the conference “The Cult of the Grand City Plan around 1910,” held at the Center for Metropolitan Studies at the Technical University of Berlin. Her talk focused on the 2009 Chicago Centennial Celebration and enduring legacy of the Plan of Chicago.

Dr. Schaffer also contributed an article to the catalogue of the associated exhibition, “Stadtvisionen/City Visions 1910-2010: Berlin Chicago Paris London.”  Her article is titled, “The Plan of Chicago: Published, Unpublished, and the Treachery of Images.”

According to the Encyclopedia of Chicago, “the Plan of Chicago of 1909, more familiarly known as the Burnham Plan—after its principal author, architect and city planner Daniel H. Burnham—is one of the most noted documents in the history of city planning.”

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January 6 - February 5, 2011 - Assistant Professor of Art + Design Jan-Ru Wan has a solo exhibition at UNC-Wilmington’s Boseman gallery. Re Materialization will run till February 5. http://appserv02.uncw.edu/news/atuncw/annview.aspx?id=6330 The Boseman gallery is located on the second floor of the Fisher University Union on the UNC Wilmington campus.

January 31, 2011 - Landscape Architecture lecture with Robin Gyorgyfalvy, ASLA who is the Environmental Design and Scenic Byways Program Leader for Deschutes National Forest in Bend, Oregon. Gyorgyfalvy will speak on “Shaping Public Spaces with Innovative Public Policy.” All lectures begin at 6 p.m. in Burns Auditorium in Kamphoefner Hall.

Gyorgyfalvy will describe her work in the design and management of large - scale public spaces.  Many of these are nationally designated as National Scenic Byways, Wild and Scenic Rivers, National Monuments, Wilderness, and Conservation Areas.  They are in need of special protection, conservation planning, and environmental design

January 27 - February 3, 2011 - Jury sign-ups for Art to Wear 2011. Designers please sign up for a time slot at http://www.ncsuarttowear.com/jurying.html Sign-ups will cut off on February 3 at 5 p.m.

February 1, 2011 - Portfolio Review Day. Pre-registration is required. Contact Career and Academic Advisor Amanda Williams for more information at amanda_williams@ncsu.edu. This event will take place from 5 - 8 p.m. in the Brooks Rotunda.

February 3, 2011 - AIGA Raleigh sponsoring a lecture by David C. Baker beginning at 6:30 p.m. in Burns Auditorium on the topic of “Managing Client Relationships in a Down Economy.” If you wish to attend please register at: http://davidcbaker.eventbrite.com/. Please note it is free for College of Design students and faculty with ID but there is a fee for non-College of Design attendees.

February 3, 2011 - An Evening of Short Student Films beginning at 7 p.m. in the DH Hill Library West Wing Auditorium. Assistant Professor of Art + Design McArthur Freeman will be on hand to facilitiate discussions on work created by students. For more information visit: http://news.lib.ncsu.edu/2011/01/24/an-evening-of-short-student-films/

February 4, 2011 - First Friday at the Fish Market. Theme: Papercraft, anything Paper! You can still submit to the gallery to showcase your work. Visit http://ncsufishmarket.com for details on how to register your work. The Fish Market is located on 133 1/2 Fayetteville Street in downtown Raleigh. Show opens at 6 p.m.

February 10-11, 2011 - Spring Interview Days. For more information visit: http://design.ncsu.edu/student-services/career-services/programs-events Pre-registration is required. This two day event is open to all students in the College of Design who are currently seeking internships, part-time or full-time positions.

February 10, 2011 - Networking Fair from 4 - 6 p.m. Meet with working professionals in an informal environment to make contacts and learn about careers. This is a great opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students who are interested in careers in various areas of design.

February 11, 2011 - 4th Annual Growing in Place Symposium sponsored by the Natural Learning Initiative at the Marbles Kids Museum beginning at 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. The aim of the Growing In Place Symposium is to stimulate discussion about how planners and designers can enhance the health and wellbeing of urban families in North Carolina, across the nation and world. As urban growth increases, new urban design policies are required to support the needs of citizens across the life span. The Growing In Place Symposium will explore these themes. To register visit: http://design.ncsu.edu/urban

February 12, 2011 - 8th Annual Urban Design Conference, Sustainable Suburbs: Re-imagining the Inner Ring will frame issues, respond to questions, and describe innovative solutions on how and why design and planning can redefine the urban in suburban to transfer auto-centric, disposable building practices into more complete, vibrant, and healthy communities. The conference will take place at the Marriott Raleigh City Center beginning at 8 a.m. To register visit: http://design.ncsu.edu/urban Early-registration prices have been extended to February 3 so sign-up soon!

February 21, 2011 - Landscape Architecture lecture with Kristina Hill, Associate Professor and Chair of Landscape Architecture at UVA. The lecture will begin at 6 p.m. in Burns Auditorium. http://www.arch.virginia.edu/faculty/KristinaHill/

February 23, 2011 - The NCSU Libraries Special Collections Research Center will be visiting the Design Library in Brooks Hall on the last Wednesday of the month beginning in January till April from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. with a trove of rare and unique materials to inspire and enhance your design projects. Get inspired!

February 23, 2011 - Polishing your Professional Image Workshop will begin at 5:30 p.m. in 320 Brooks Hall. As you move from college to career, it is important to think about both who you want to be and what you want to be known for in the professional world. This interactive presentation will help you define and refine your “personal brand” and make you feel more confident when promoting your skills, talents, experiences, and personal qualities to future employers, graduate programs, and/or professional contacts.

February 28, 2011 - Landscape Architecture lecture with Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture Andrew Fox, ASLA in Burns Auditorium beginning at 6 p.m.

January 24, 2011 (RALEIGH, NC) – Joe Cox, George Bireline, Herb Jackson, and Edith London are only four of the 11 prominent North Carolina artists, both living and deceased, whose portraits and works will be featured in a special exhibition at Lee Hansley Gallery in Raleigh beginning March 13.

Entitled “Black & White/Color & Light,” the exhibition will include black and white photographic portraits of well-known artists by Allen Weiss, alongside examples of their work. The featured artists are: Edith London, Ted Potter, Herb Jackson, Joe Cox, George Bireline, Harvey Littleton, Maud Gatewood, Claude Howell, Robert Irwin, Francis Speight, and Sarah Blakeslee.

The genesis for the show began 23 years ago when Weiss returned to his native Raleigh after living in New York City for five years. Melissa Peden, a respected art patron and art gallery owner, suggested that he photograph “living legends of the art world in North Carolina,” he recalled.

Over two decades later, gallery owner Lee Hansley was made aware of the Weiss portraits and decided to show this body of work, which has taken on added historical importance since nine of the 11 artists are no longer living.

“This is going to be a nostalgic exhibition. These portraits capture the essence of these artists and we shall reinforce that with examples of their work,” said Hansley. “It is going to be a trip down North Carolina’s artistic memory lane.”

Hansley noted that the “black and white” from the show title refers to Weiss’ large-format, black and white images of the artists in their respective environments. “Color and light” makes reference to the works of art to be displayed in concert with the portraits.

According to Weiss, major advances in printing from original negatives have introduced a visual depth to his artists’ portraits that wasn’t possible when he shot them 23 years ago. “Simply put, I’m seeing details in these prints that I never imagined could be pulled from negatives.”

Weiss worked in Raleigh and New York as a professional photographer for about 15 years, including studying under and working for world-renowned photographer Arnold Newman. In the early ‘90s, Weiss’ career veered into directing and shooting television commercials throughout the US, Canada and Europe. Inspired by the opportunity to exhibit his photography again, he has made the decision to “put still photography back in the mix” of his career.

The opening reception for “Black & White/Color Light” will be held Sunday, March 13, from 2-5 p.m. Lee Hansley Gallery is located at 225 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27603. The exhibition will run through April 30. For more information contact the gallery at 919.828.7557.

Media contact:
Kim Weiss, blueplate pr
919-272-8615

Architecture fans’ weekend trip includes Wrights’ Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob

January 24, 2011 (DURHAM, NC) – Responding to demand to repeat last year’s Frank Lloyd Wright / Fallingwater Architecture Tour, Triangle Modernist Houses and director George Smart are offering another weekend excursion for architecture enthusiasts: a trip to Frank Lloyd Wright’s world-famous Pennsylvania houses on April 23 and 24.

The tour’s highlight, according to most of the 27 people who participated last year, will be the Sunset Tour and private reception on Fallingwater’s famous Bridge. The Bridge overlooks the waterfall that inspired the name of the house originally commissioned by the Kaufmann family of Pittsburgh.

“There is no photograph, or video, or even a 3D model that does Fallingwater justice,” wrote one member of last year’s group at the TMH website. “You just have to be there. It is one of the most incredible places I have ever been. And the special reception they gave for us at sunset was a delightful ending to one of the world’s most storied houses.”

Once again, the tour will visit Wright’s nearby Kentuck Knob house and sculpture garden, which is still privately owned, and Robert Venturi’s dramatic Betty and Irving Abrams house with its ship’s wheel-inspired façade in Pittsburgh.

Tickets include round-trip direct air to Pittsburgh, private bus transportation while there, catered lunches, overnight hotel accommodations, and tour admissions. Architects receive self-reported CEU hours if arranged in advance with the AIA. Proceeds benefit TMH’s ongoing documentation, preservation, and promotion projects.

The TMH Frank Lloyd Wright / Fallingwater Tour marks the sixth Modernist architecture trip organized by Triangle Modernist Houses. Previous tours included New York City, Charlotte, Pittsburgh, and Washington, D.C.

For all details, including schedule and pricing, go to www.trianglemodernisthouses.com/flw.htm. At the time of this release, there were only nine seats available.

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

About Triangle Modernist Houses

Triangle Modernist Houses (TMH) is a 501C3 nonprofit established in 2007 to restoring and growing Modernist architecture in the Triangle. The award-winning website, now the largest educational and historical archive for Modernist residential design in America, continues to catalog, preserve, and advocate for North Carolina Modernism. TMH also hosts popular Modernist house tours several times a year, giving the public access to the Triangle’s most exciting residential architecture, past and present. These tours raise awareness and help preserve these “works of art” for future generations. Visit the website at www.trianglemodernisthouses.com. TMH also has an active community on Facebook.

Media contact: Kim Weiss, blueplate pr

919-272-8615; kim@blueplatenc.com

David C. Baker, a well-known consultant to the design professions, will address students, faculty, and the public in an AIGA Raleigh lecture held in Burns Auditorium in Kamphoefner Hall at the College of Design at NC State University, Feb. 3, 2011, at 6:30 p.m. He’ll speak about techniques for managing client relationships in a down economy.

Students and faculty of the College of Design may attend free of charge but should register ahead of time: http://davidcbaker.eventbrite.com. There is a fee for everyone else ($15 general admission / $10 AIGA members).

Baker is principal of ReCourses, Inc., and the leading management consultant to the design and marketing industry. He has provided expert advice to hundreds of design firms since 1994. David is a frequent contributor to nearly every design and marketing industry publication, and a speaker at nearly every national design and marketing conference (HOW, AIGA, GAIN, MYOB, etc.). He’s also the author of the RockBench titles Managing (Right) for the First Time and Financial Management of a Marketing Firm.

Burns Auditorium is located at 2221 Stinson Dr.
, Raleigh, NC 27640.

Gene Bressler, chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture at the College of Design, has been chosen by the City Council of the City of Raleigh to serve on the 2011 Environmental Awards Jury.

Jury Day is scheduled for March 25 at the Walnut Creek Wetlands Center. Twelve awards will be given to projects around the city in such areas as conservation, Green design and urban stewardship.

Please visit the Raleigh website for more information.

Kathryn Asad (MID 2010) received an honorable mention in a competition associated with the International Home and Housewares Show in Chicago, March 6-8, 2011. Her project will be displayed in March. The project was advised by College of Design Professors Bong-Il Jin, Bryan Laffitte, and Sharon Joines.

Asad is currently working on contract as an industrial designer with Lenovo in Research Triangle Park, NC.

Read what some of the College of Design's alumni are doing. (Pictured: Jon Gentry's blog header for "The Ancestors of Civita.")

Todd Childers (BED 1986) will be presenting a paper on Typographic Distortion in International Style Typography at the TYPO Berlin 2011 Shift conference May 19-21, 2011. He presented his paper, “All Type Is Dimensional,” at the Association Typographique “The Word” Conference in Dublin, Ireland, on Sept. 12, 2010, the preeminent typography event in the world. Childers is an associate professor of graphic design at Bowling Green State University.

Chad Everhart, AIA (BEDA 1998, M.Arch 2003) received a $100,000 grant from the US Department of Energy for the 2011 Solar Decathlon.  Everhart, an assistant professor and coordinator of the Building Science program at Appalachian State University, collaborated with colleague Dr. Jamie Russell on the grant proposal.  Both Everhart and Russell serve as faculty advisors for the design-build project, which will be featured on the National Mall in Washington, DC during the month of September in 2011.  Katharine Lea, AIA (B.Arch 1993), a graduate student in Appropriate Technology, is one of the student leaders for the project and serves as the project architect.  Appalachian State was one of twenty international teams selected for the competition, which highlights affordable, net-zero energy houses.  For more information, please visit: www.thesolarhomestead.org.

John Gentry LEED AP (M.Arch 2003) has received a Northwest Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies in Italy (NIAUSI) Fellowship. The fellowship (a one-month residency in the Italian hill town of Civita di Bagnoregio) is available to qualifying design professionals practicing in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and the Canadian province of British Columbia. Gentry’s project will explore an alternative and parallel universe in Civita using “biocentric collages” – visionary tales of several non-human species and their imagined lives. He is an architect at the Seattle firm Olson Kundig Architects. Learn more at: ancestorsofcivita.wordpress.com.

Professor Andrew Phillip Payne (PHD/DDN 2009) was awarded the 2010 Educator Honor Award by AIAS during its annual meeting, FORUM 2010, in Toronto, Ontario. This award was given in recognition of his support of and contributions to students and the academic community. Dr. Payne also recently presented material titled “Simulations: Hands-on Education as a Spatial Learning Tool” at the 3rd International Conference for Universal Design in Hamamatsu, Japan.

Kellie Marian Hill has created a painting a day for over three years.

Few New Year’s resolutions are as durable as Kellie Marian Hill’s: On New Year’s Day, 2008, Hill vowed to create a painting each day for a year.

Now, three years and over 1,000 paintings later, Hill (BEDA 2006) continues to extend that commitment, one day — and one painting — at a time.

Hill’s blog, “One Painting a Day” (kelliehill.blogspot.com) includes a photograph of each day’s painting. A “daily” is usually created in acrylics, which dry faster than oil paint, and usually measures 6 inches by 8 inches or smaller

Though she will finish a painting a day, Hill normally has 20 or more paintings going at once. “I like to work in layers,” she explains.

A good percentage of Hill’s works are still lifes, “because you can experiment so much with them, and they hold still.” The occasional landscape or portrait also appear.

Life as a painter is a shift from Hill’s previous work as a general contractor and also a departure from the architecture degree she earned at the College. An art career would allow her to work from home and take care of her toddler, Naomi. “After I found out I was pregnant, it seemed like a good time to try to make the art thing work.”

Between sales of her dailies ($20 each), her larger art, pet commissions, and renting out pieces (“Five paintings for $20 per month. Swap them out and have a rotating art collection!”), she’s managed to make it work economically.

Hill has managed a living as an artist through selling and leasing her paintings.

Hill says her design education has been crucial for her development as an artist. Although she never enrolled in a painting course, her design studies taught her to look at things critically and “to look objectively at my own work.”

Today she enjoys looking at her earliest work with new eyes. “Just knowing what colors to use is trial-and-error. I’ve gotten better at that.”

Even while on vacation Hill keeps up her routine, though usually with markers instead of acrylics.

And she admits she’s not allowed to stop: Hill’s blog has over 80 regular followers, many of whom are in the habit of checking her blog - each and every day.

Written by: Eric Larson, (919) 515-8311.

Check DESIGNLIFE often for regular profiles of College of Design students, faculty, and alumni.

photo by Jason A. Knowles, Copyright © Fentress Architects

When Curt Fentress was growing up in rural North Carolina, he knew a good many builders but not a single architect. His passion for drawing took him initially to the engineering school at NC State University. When he discovered a talent for designing buildings, he enrolled at the College of Design for his architectural degree and never looked back.

Fentress, now a leading international architect for over three decades, has been chosen to receive the College of Design’s Distinguished Alumni Award for 2010.

The award is given annually to an alum “who (has) made significant contributions to new insights, fostering original ideas and searching for added knowledge” in the design professions. He will receive his award Jan. 28, 2011, at the Evening of Stars Gala held at Prestonwood Country Club in Cary, N.C. Sponsored by the Alumni Association of NC State University, the annual program honors the accomplishments of key alumni from its eleven colleges.

Fentress credits the College of Design at NC State for giving him the “strength and skill to tackle life’s challenges and opportunities.”

“I have been privileged to work with some of the finest architects and clients in the world, and to design international airport terminals in Denver, Los Angeles and Raleigh-Durham, so close to where it all began,” said Fentress. “All my accomplishments so far are based on the solid foundation I earned while I was at NC State. For this, I am forever grateful.”

Fentress, a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, graduated from the School of Design (now the College of Design) at NC State University in 1972 with a Bachelor of Architecture degree. While a senior he was awarded the Alpha Rho Chi Medal by the architecture faculty – the highest honor given to a graduating architect.

Fentress immediately went to work for the prestigious New York firm of I.M. Pei, where he contributed to the design of the Raffles Place Center in Singapore, among other projects. At the Kohn Pedersen Fox firm a few years later, he worked on the Amoco Building in Denver, which garnered him Building Design and Construction Magazine’s “Young Professional of the Year” in 1977. He established his own firm in 1980.

Over the next thirty years, Fentress’ designs received more than 350 awards and accolades and resulted in over $26 billion of architectural projects. Among his most visible recent works are the passenger terminal at Denver International Airport, Incheon International Airport in South Korea, Arraya Tower in Kuwait City (fourth tallest building in the world completed in 2009) and the National Museum of the Marine Corps near Washington, D.C. Current projects include modernization of the Los Angeles International Airport and Terminal 2 at Raleigh-Durham International Airport, which opened Jan. 24, 2011.

“Curt Fentress is an architect with exceptional talent who has demonstrated his ability in the conceptualization and realization of a wonderful new front door at Raleigh-Durham International Airport,” said Marvin J. Malecha, FAIA, Dean of the College of Design at NC State. “Our importance as a University will be felt through his contribution to the citizens of our state for generations to come.”

As a member of the Royal Institute of the British Architects, American Institute of Architects National Design Committee, Urban Land Institute, Design Futures Council, and the Urban Design Forum, Fentress lectures around the world. Learn more at www.fentressarchitects.com.

"The Renter" uses digital hand drawings to tell the powerful story of a boy who feels deserted.

Most people have heard of Pixar and Warner Bros. in the context of award-winning animation. But those who track the Who’s Who of animators now must add Jason Carpenter to the list of those to watch.

Carpenter (BADN / BID 1997) is one of five nominees for a 2011 Annie Award, which next to the Oscars is the most prestigious award in the animation industry. The nomination is for his short, “The Renter,” about a boy who must learn to use human connection as a way to overcome his fears. (View a trailer.)

Carpenter, who attended the Design Camp while a high schooler in Greensboro, NC, and now lives in Santa Monica, CA, works with his brother, Michael (BID 1999) in their animation studio, Carpenter Bros. Animation. Carpenter took off two years from paid animation work to complete the 10-min. animation, which he drew digitally by hand in Adobe Flash and Photoshop and composited in AfterEffects. Due to the financial sacrifice he and his wife made, Carpenter wondered if it would pay off.

“For every project that gets noticed there are tens of thousands that don’t get any attention,” Carpenter observed. “We should have more support of the arts.”

“There’s no question in my mind which of the nominees is the most emotionally captivating, artistically innovative, and viscerally beautiful,” wrote Amid Amidi of Cartoon Brew.

The awards are sponsored by the International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood. The winner will be announced on Feb. 5, 2011, at a ceremony at Royce Hall in the UCLA campus.

There are a few extra days to register for the annual Urban Design Forum and save!

The Urban Design Forum takes place February 11-12, 2011. It starts with the Growing in Place Symposium on Friday, Feb. 11, and concludes with “Sustainable Suburbs: Re-Imagining the Inner Ring” on Saturday, Feb. 12.

For more information and to register for one or both of the events, go to design.ncsu.edu/cont-ed and click on “upcoming events.”

Peters' new Marbles exhibit helps children plug into their play power.

As a child, Betsy Peters used to delight at making trips from her hometown of Wilson, N.C., to the Marbles children’s museum in Raleigh.

These days, she’s helping to design it.

On Jan. 2, 2011, the museum unveiled its Exploration Station, a hands-on learning table that Peters designed and helped to fashion in the museum’s exhibit workshop. (View a flickr gallery of Peters’ exhibit.)

A senior at the College of Design at NC State University, Peters has long been interested in how children learn outside the classroom. A summer 2010 internship at Marbles allowed the graphic design major to apply her design skills in a way that helps to promote hands-on enrichment.

“Children are constantly picking up things from each other and their parents,” Peters said. “To see the kids play with the exhibit was a really rewarding experience.”

The Exploration Station is located in Marbles’ “Around Town” space that engages nicely the generally short attention spans of children ages 3 to 6.

The museum rotates four different themes at Peters’ station (dinosaurs, safari, woodlands, and farm) and changes each theme’s cast of play animals accordingly. Children can sidle up to the table or actually become a part of it by crawling underneath it and popping up, gopher style.

Peters’ project stretched beyond her internship. For months after her internship ended she worked closely with Chris Alexander (BEDI 1993) who is the museum’s exhibit director. Another College of Design graduate, Michelle Lacey (BAD 2009) serves as part of the museum’s Exhibits and Programs team.

Alexander cut out the wood pieces according to Peters’ specification, and Peters applied the paint.

As part of her internship, Peters worked closely with Exhibit Director Chris Alexander, also a College of Design alum.

Peters was able to draw on a great deal of knowledge of the museum’s staff, some of whom worked at the museum in its earlier incarnation, Exploris, which opened its doors in 1999. In 2007, Playspace moved into the Exploris building and the Marbles name was adopted. The museum includes an IMAX theater in addition to several children’s exhibits geared toward healthy living, creativity, and global awareness.

No doubt her Exploration Station will get lots of loving wear and tear. Fortunately, Peters is confident the staff will make sure it stays maintained. Of course, she wouldn’t mind being able to watch over the exhibit herself after she graduates in May.

Said Peters: “I definitely would like to work in a museum setting full-time, and Marbles would be a great place to do that.”

Written by: Eric Larson, (919) 515-8311.

Check DESIGNLIFE often for more regular profiles of College of Design students, faculty, and alumni.