Month: August 2012

Greetings from in situ studio!

DHIC Person Street TownhousesWe are moving forward with the schematic design of the DHIC Person Street Townhouses! Our collaboration as design architects with DHIC, Inc. and Perry Cox Architect, the architect of record, has been very productive, and we are excited to be proposing a new housing model for downtown Raleigh – affordable, contemporary, multi-family housing. The current scheme maximizes square footage at a low cost, responds to defining characteristics of the historic overlay district, and creates a street presence balanced with repetition and variety. See more images of the design on our website.

Beyond the Office

We have been keeping busy and having fun in and out of work. Erin has spent the last several months working alongside nine fellow Raleigh Planning Commissioners and the City of Raleigh Planning staff to review and make recommendations for Raleigh’s new draft Unified Development Ordinance (UDO). The recommendations will be presented to City Council on September 4th. Upon City Council approval, the UDO will replace the current Devlopment Code, with the goal of creating “Right Rules, Right Places” for our fast growing city. In her free time, Erin has enjoyed putting miles on her bike, cycling through the rural parts of southern Wake and other surrounding counties.

Matt’s teaching semester has started at the College of Design. This semester’s studio focuses on the five lenses of architectural design – orientation, program, enclosure, structure, and circulation. The studio is a Junior year lottery, so the topics of study and projects are original. The hard work has already begun!

Nicole leaves this weekend for the Venice Biennale! She is accompanying Matt Tomasulo to represent Walk Raleigh at the US Pavilion: Spontaneous Interventions. She also recently launched a blog, Intentionally Small, where she explores her interest in small spaces and simple living. She will research the subject by studying small accommodations near and far. 

Jeremy was a great addition to our office this summer! He will continue to work with us part-time as he returns to NCSU for his final, 5th year of architecture school. This weekend, his studio is taking a trip to see Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water! Jeremy is also a DJ for the NCSU radio station WKNC 88.1FM. Tune in Wednesdays 9-11am to hear Jeremy (AKA Spaceman Spiff) play some sweet jams.

Book of the MonthCarlo Scarpa Architect: Intervening with History focuses on the drawings and work of the Architect as related to his obsessive archaeological renovations of existing buildings in his home country, Italy. If you are unfamiliar with Scarpa’s work, please take the time to study him. His career offers a profound commentary on the relationship between modernism and the greater historical continuum of architectural design.

Thanks for your continuing support! Please contact us if there is any way we can help you. 

Best.

in situ studio

919 397 3949
www.insitustudio.us

Happy summer from in situ studio!

New Project Announcement

We are very excited to be working with DHIC, Inc. as Design Architect for a ten-unit contemporary row house project on an urban site just southeast of downtown Raleigh! We are also looking forward to our collaboration with Perry Cox, AIA, who will be the Architect of Record. Thanks to Gregg Warren and Drew Robinson at DHIC for this incredible opportunity!

Bida Manda to open soon!

The opening of Bida Manda Laotian Restaurant and Bar is just around the corner! Installation of 6,000 pounds of natural sticks harvested from the NC mountains, woven together to form surfaces for walls and ceilings, began last week. Along with dozens of other friends of Restaurateurs Vansana and Vanvisa Nolintha, we enjoyed lending a hand to help create a one of a kind space in Raleigh. Thanks to contractor John Cooper and his team at Southeastern Properties, electrical engineer Greg Rice of Diversified Consulting Group, graphic designer Jaime Van Wart, and the many people at the City of Raleigh who helped make this project a reality!

To learn more about Bida Manda, visit their website or follow their Facebook page.

Book of the Month

Cube by David Morrow Guthrie is a documentation of students’ material investigations in the form of cubes. David’s goal when teaching students at Rice University’s School of Architecture is to “close the gap between conceptual speculation and material reality”. Lessons learned in exploration of forms with real materials are invaluable to architecture students as they grow into a profession centered around form as experienced through the senses and expressed through physical assembly. The “Cube” project is stated as follows:
 
2×4 Frame: Using mechanical connections, construct a wooden frame with outside dimensions of 16”x16”x16”. Materials List: 2x4s; mechanical fasteners; chemical fasteners are not permitted
 
2×4 Frame + Skin: Using only mechanical connections, construct a box with outside dimensions of 16”x16”x16”. Materials List: 2x4s; 5/8” gypsum board; ½” or ¾” plywood; tape; drywall mud; corner bead; mechanical fasteners; chemical fasteners are not permitted

Synthetic Solid: Using only two materials, construct a solid cube with outside dimensions of 16”x16”x16”. Materials List: anything but food
 
Have a look at some of the student work and feel free to try this at home!

Please contact us if there is anyway we can help you. 

Best.

in situ studio

919 397 3949
www.insitustudio.us