Frank Harmon, FAIA, To Discuss How Architects, Landscape Architects Can Work Together

May 21, 2012 - PRLog -- (New Bern, NC) – Frank Harmon, FAIA, principal of the multi-award-winning architecture firm Frank Harmon Architect PA in Raleigh, NC, will present a talk entitled “How Architects and Landscape Architects Can Work Together” during the North Carolina chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects’ (NCASLA) 2012 Spring Conference.

The conference will be held June 14-16 in the Hilton New Bern Riverfront hotel in New Bern, NC. Harmon’s talk will take place Friday, June 15, from 3:15-4:15 p.m.

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.”

As a result, Harmon’s projects successfully merge architecture and landscape and demonstrate the concept of regionally appropriate design. While many architects have embraced the principles of sustainable design over recent years, Frank Harmon has been designing environmentally responsible, modern buildings for nearly three decades. The AIA North Carolina Center for Architecture and Design is a flagship for sustainable urban design, where building and landscape are one interlocking, interdependent system.

Harmon frequently asserts that the most important decision an architect makes is how to position a building on its site, which he will reiterate during his NCASLA presentation.

“That particular throw of the dice determines everything that follows: orientation, aspect and prospect, day lighting, cross ventilation, hydrology, microclimate, and most importantly, a sense of place,” he said. “My belief that all good architecture begins with the land makes me value and appreciate landscape architects’ skills and understanding.”

Frank Harmon is also a Professor in Practice at the N.C. State University College of Design. He is married to Judy Harmon, Emeritus ASLA, and their daughter is a recent graduate in landscape architecture. For more information, visit www.frankharmon.com.

For more information on the NCASLA Spring Conference, go to http://www.ncasla.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 ArchDaily.com. For more information, go to http://www.frankharmon.com.