king.h9

Front Close

Modern Asheville, along with Architect Mark Allison, has created a fan page on facebook to capture the works of J. Bertram King.  Join our fan page and keep up on the latest information.  Click Here. Bert King was born in Greenville, SC and graduated from NCSU with a degree in Architectural Engineering with honors in 1949. He wored for Six Associates and Lindsay Gudger in Asheville then started his own firm in 1952. In 1968 the AIANC gave J. Bertram King Architects an honorary award for the design of Warren Wilson Chapel in Swannanoa, NC. He was President of AIANC in 1973. He retired in the mid-1990's.

Open Again Following Remodel Everyday I walk past the downtown library on my way to the office.  This morning seeing the paper off the windows and the interior filled with light I was reminded that it was open again.  The library designed by Bertram King, who I finally met yesterday, is a great resource for the downtown community and a nice example of his later work.  The library has been thoughtfully restored and updated for today.  Stop by for a visit! If you would like more information on this building please review my past blogs under Bertram King or Downtown Tour.

Mayberry_Modern

AIA (American Institute of Architects) Section Meeting Wednesday, October 27, 2010 12:00 noon Trinity Episcopal Church 60 Church Street, Downtown Asheville 1941 - Sprinza Weizenblatt residence, 46 Marlbrough Road, Asheville, designed by Marcel Breuer. (Photo by Mary Jo Brezny) What may be a surprise to many people is that North Carolina has the third most modernist houses than anywhere in the country. An exploration of some of the state’s modernist gems will be given at this month's section meeting.George Smart, board chairman and founder of Triangle Modernist Houses, an award-winning 501C3 nonprofit organization devoted to preserving modern architecture in North Carolina will give the presentation with images and information about note worthy 20th century homes across the state. “Most people, even many architects, are surprised by the numbers,” Smart said. “I'll discuss the history of modernist houses in North Carolina and show the audience terrific houses from both the past and the present." Smart is a passionate advocate for Modernist architecture, and has facilitated the public’s discovery of these “livable sculptures” through presentations around the state. His knowledge of North Carolina modernism combined with the innovative use of technology for preservation has quickly established a national reputation for research and advocacy.The public is invited to attend this meeting.  RSVP to rsvp@aiaasheville.org .$15 AIA Members, Allied Members, Sponsors$10 Interns, Associate members$20 Non-members

Building livable communities through planning and design. I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the Asheville Design Center and the great work they do for the community.  More information on them to come in the future.  In the meantime this is how they describe themselves on their website:

website_charrettebw230

"The Asheville Design Center engages a diverse community of approximately 75,000 Asheville citizens and nearly 1 million Western North Carolina citizens in quality design and planning solutions that promote livable communities. We are dedicated to educating the public about the importance of quality civic design and providing a means for people to work together in developing their communities.

The ADC is located in downtown Asheville where we have meeting, work and exhibit space. We offer a multidisciplinary team of volunteer professionals including architects, planners, landscape architects, urban designers, community advocates, and others to give shape to community visions."

I just came back from participating in a 3 day seminar in Michigan sponsored by the NEA and the Citizens' Institute on Rural Design called "Your Town".  This seminar of lectures and design charettes was held in the historic landmark "Old Schoolhouse" in the small coastal village of Douglas.  The focus of the seminar is on Walkable Communities.  Walkable Communities address the need to change our focus from a car or vehicle-centric nation, to a human-centric nation in the way we plan communities.  Associated with the current trend in Smart Land Development and addressing such qualities as diverse asaffordable housing, sedentary lifestyles, obesity and the corrosive effects of sprawl (all by-products of our vehicle-centric living) in our society, this well paced and participatory seminar helped a small West Michigan community identify ways in which it could plan to become a healthier and even more attractive place in the future.  The seminar host and co-founder, Dan Burden was on hand to help 50 local stakeholders (planners, the mayor, residents, teachers, and designers) organize into groups - armed with colored sharpies, aerial maps and tracing paper to plan ways in which problem areas in town could be addressed. Dan Burden and his staff's infectious optimism and consensus-building approach to dealing with traffic, access and safety was a refreshing approach.  Long-standing local infrastructure issues, complaints, and missed opportunities were identified through a design process that encouraged (by Dan and his team) looking beyond current and at times archaic ordinances and regulations and to identify potential.  The end goal of this and I am guessing many seminars will be the establishment of a Design Committee of citizens in order to further the discussion established in this Your Town seminar.  Link to Walkable and Livable Communities website: http://www.walklive.org/Article by Nicolaas Wilkens