Featuring architect Ellen Cassilly AIA, her husband Frank Konhaus, homebuilder Leon Meyers and artist-in-residence Marie Navarre at Cassilhaus, Ellen and Frank's extraordinary home/studio/gallery in Orange County.

"We thought this was a tremendous experience. Ellen and Frank were delightful hosts; we assumed there would be catered food and were astounded to find that Ellen had prepared this wonderful meal. Seeing their home and learning about their vision, the building process, and experiencing their art collection was very stimulating. The other attendees were interesting people with whom we had good visits. This was a special occasion we will remember for a long time.
If there are more events like this planned for the future, sign us up!"

"It was truly a special night. The house, the art, the artists, the dinner and the participants couldn’t have been more engaging. We do hope you will plan similar events in the future — but honestly, it will be hard to top this one!"

"Ellen's slide talk after dinner was a highlight."

"I had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed seeing the house. We took a tour and I got to see just how trapezoidal the entire building is."

April 2010
A4A / Appetite for Architecture #4

Chapel HIll's Phil Szostak FAIA, architect for the Durham Performing Arts Center, and Raleigh's Louis Cherry FAIA, whose firm Cherry Huffman was named 2009 Firm of the Year by AIANC at 18 Seaboard in downtown Raleigh.

"It was a lovely dinner and visit with different modernist lovers but ... it was incredibly difficult to have a discussion with everyone at a rectangular table with that many people involved so either smaller groups might be better or a round table might work. Otherwise, perfectly wonderful evening and thank you for putting it together."

"Do you know that this A4A is as far reaching as VA Tech? There was a young man there who drove ALL THE WAY DOWN from Blacksburg in his last week of grad school in Architecture just for the dinner. AND this wasn't even his first one to attend. Thank you so much for all that you do!"

April 2010
The Nowell's Architecture Movie Series
Visual Acoustics

"Thank you so much for your efforts in setting up these events. We were pleased to meet so many other
great people with an interest in modern, contemporary and innovative design."

"These guys were awesome, incredibly helpful, and knowledgeable about their business and the design/build profession in general."

March 2010
A4A / Appetite for Architecture #2

"The format of being more casual and smaller group numbers over a wonderful dinner was in my opinion perfect. The food was excellent and the speakers even better. Vinny and Will did a wonderful job fielding Q&A and having a truly interactive experience sharing a lot of knowledge. For a younger person in love with this architecture I felt like it was very insightful and I felt like they were open and honest about various things they'd done design-wise. There is a lot that could be learned from their experience in being both designers and builders. It made me much more comfortable with potentially working with them in the future as they were really personable."

"They really wanted us to keep asking questions and enjoyed answering them. They did a good job explaining the concept of design/build. The only suggestion for the future may be to have the table arrangement in a large square or circle and possibly a private party room so everyone could be heard."

March 2010
The Blue Cross Blue Shield Headquarters Building Lecture

Featuring the original architect, Charles McMurray, formerly director of design at Odell in Charlotte. McMurray showed us the original design (nothing like what got built) and the story behind Chapel Hill's most famous non-UNC building. 23 people attended at the beautiful Robert Carr-designed home of David and Lesley McAdams.

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March 2010
The First A4A / Appetite for Architecture

18 Seaboard hosted architect Frank Harmon FAIA and David Crawford, Executive VP of the AIA of North Carolina. Proceeds benefited the new AIANC headquarters in downtown Raleigh, designed by Harmon.

"I have to tell you that the company last night was delightful and the presenter was second to none."

"I liked meeting in the main dining room because it seemed like a dinner of friends, not a "meeting" with an agenda."

"We really enjoyed Tuesday's dinner - lots of interesting conversation! It was a great opportunity to meet lots of interesting people in a casual, relaxed environment. The layout of the menu - that included several options - seemed to work well for everyone as well."

"The food, as always at 18 Seaboard, was phenomenal. It would have been nicer to have a room or an area without the din of nearby patrons."

"As always, the food at 18 Seaboard and the special menu they prepared for our group was excellent, varied and sufficient. We were surprised by the format thinking we would be in the small dining room with a power point presentation of some kind. But we were also surprised at how very well the format worked. Frank and David collaborated in a very informative discussion, inviting and answering questions from many in our group. They moved around casually and engaged all of us there."

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March 2010
The Nowell's Architecture Movie Series
Infinite Space

John Lautner, a protege of Frank Lloyd Wright, was a brilliant architect in California. He did hundreds of houses, including what many consider his masterpiece, the Casa Marbrisas in Acapulco, shown above. Infinite Space traces visionary genius John Lautner's lifelong quest to create “architecture that has no beginning and no end.” About 90 attended at the Galaxy Cinema in Cary.

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February 2010
The Nowell's Architecture Movie Series
The Lake House

Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock were not at the top of their game in this 2006 romantic drama, but the steel and glass house should have won an Oscar! About 60 attended at the Galaxy Cinema in Cary.

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January 2010
The Richard Meier / Eero Saarinen Trip to New York / CT

Twenty-seven hearty architectural adventurers got up at 3 in the morning to embark on a one-day whirlwind tour of projects by Richard Meier and Eero Saarinen. From Atlanta, Raleigh, Miami, and Charlotte, participants converged on JFK for an incredible itinerary. Photo by Leilani Carter.

Upon landing, we explored Eero Saarinen's TWA Terminal at JFK airport. Closed to the public for years, we got inside and spoke with project managers about the current renovation. Left photo from 1962. Right photo by Sharon Glazener.

Next, onto Long Island City, touring architect Richard Meier's model gallery, featuring 45+ years of his amazing projects including the massive Getty Center in LA and the relatively tiny Smith House in Darien CT. Bottom photos by Leilani Carter.

Back on the bus - and on to Darien CT to visit the Smith House, the landmark residence that catapulted Meier to fame in 1968. Rarely accessed by the public, the house and grounds were completely open to us. Photos by Sharon Glazener.

Awaiting the group in the afternoon, The Museum of the City of New York's Saarinen Exhibit. This included a huge model of his TWA terminal plus a retrospective of his entire career. Closing out the day, we toured the Museum of Modern Art’s Bauhaus exhibit, their first major exhibition since 1938 on this famous and influential school of avant-garde art. More trip photos:

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January 2010
The Nowell's Architecture Movie Series
The Fountainhead

Our film series kicked off with the classic 1949 film, based on the novel by Ayn Rand, with Gary Cooper and Patricia Neal. Watch the trailer. About 125 attended at the Galaxy Cinema in Cary.

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January 2010
The Max Isley Residence, Durham

Featuring architect Max Isley and his wife Jane. Thanks so much to our wonderful volunteers for this winter event: Sharon Glazener, realtor Desiree Denton, and the owners, the Kelleys. About 110 attended.

Architect Max Isley

Jane and Max Isley pose for a picture, two if you think about it.