Abstract

Frank Harmon learned most of what he needed to know as an architect from playing in the streams around his childhood home in Greensboro, North Carolina. In this video he discusses what kinds of buildings he most wants to design and build in North Carolina, and what that requires paying attention to. He shares the “inherent wisdom” he learned from North Carolina barns, why he thinks building sustainably is really just “common sense,” and how building sustainably can help one feel more “at home” in their houses.

Frank Harmon, FAIA, attended the Architectural Association in London where he received the A.A. Diploma in 1967. Harmon has practiced and taught architecture in London, New York and Raleigh. He built his family home and garden in Raleigh in 1990, and is the author of Native Places, Drawing as a Way to See, published in 2018. Harmon is a professor in practice in NC State's College of Design.

TRANSCRIPT

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS

1. Information on the archaeological sites mentioned in his talk:

   • Kilwa Kisiwani, Tanzania

   • Çatalhöyük, Turkey

   • Mohenjo-Daro, Pakistan

   • Teotihuacan, Mexico

2. Learn about concrete as a local material (and one that could be used to reduce carbon dioxide):

   • Green Concrete - Concrete solutions for sustainable development

   • Clancy, H. (2021, May 7). Carbon-sucking concrete is capturing attention and funding. Business Green.

3. Learn about rammed earth construction (also a local resource):

   • Cao, Lilly. (2020, February 11). How rammed earth walls are built. Arch Daily.

4. Learn about the precarious lives of Mexican lake-dwellers 500 years ago and today:

   • Millhauser, J. Landscapes of care: Affect and emotion in the 16th century testimonies of the congregation of Xaltocan. Engagement.

5. Morehart, C. and Millhauser, J. (2017, July 10). A space age view of the past: Using satellite resources to monitor archaeological resources around Mexico City. Maxar Technologies Blog.