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Compiled
by
George
Smart, Jr.
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Frank Lloyd Wright visited the School of Design at NC State University in 1950. Wright was one of many well-known guests to the school such as Lewis Mumford, Buckminster Fuller, Mies Van der Rohe, and Richard Neutra.
Kamphoefner's personal label found on each book in his library.
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HENRY LEVEKE
KAMPHOEFNER, FAIA Kamphoefner practiced architecture in Sioux City, Iowa, 1932-1936; was associate architect for the Rural Resettlement Administration in Washington, D.C., 1936-1937; and taught architecture at the University of Oklahoma, 1937-1948. In 1948, he was appointed first dean of the School of Design at North Carolina State University, a position he would hold from 1948 to 1972. During that time, he elevated the school from obscurity to national prominence. A passionate modernist, Dean Kamphoefner’s ultimate goal was “the development of an organic and indigenous architecture... to meet the needs and conditions of the southern region.” Kamphoefner’s changes at the beginning of his tenure were swift and effective. He sacked most of the old faculty and brought in his handpicked team including Matthew Nowicki, George Matsumoto, Terry Waugh, Duncan Stewart, and Eduardo Catalano; instituted a distinguished visitors program (see list at left); raised admission standards; and placed the school on the leading edge of modernism. Throughout his administration, the school continued to expand its range of programs including a Department of Product Design in 1958 and a graduate program in 1968. In 1960, on the recommendation of Catalano, he hired thirty-one-year-old Brian Shawcroft, an Englishman, who had just completed his master’s in architecture at MIT and Harvard. A renowned photographer, Shawcroft closely shared Kamphoefner’s architectural philosophy and never yielded to the eclecticism of postmodern trends. In 1988, the peppery Dean (now Emeritus) Kamphoefner declared that Shawcroft’s “buildings provide the only good architecture in . . . [Raleigh] which is blighted by so much architectural trash.” Other new hires included the nationally known Harwell Hamilton Harris, former dean of the school of architecture at the University of Texas, and Robert P. Burns, whom Kamphoefner appointed as head of the Department of Architecture in 1967. Burns, a native of Roxboro, North Carolina, was a devoted Kamphoefner protégé. Yet, to Kamphoefner’s later and bitter disappointment, the impact of his design ideals on architecture was secondary at best. Just two years before his death, he bitterly acknowledged the downward trajectory of modernism—the design and philosophical ideal to which he had devoted an entire educational career. Writing in the magazine of the AIANC, he lamented that prominent architects were “selling out for a neo-modernistic populism” and that the famous maxim of Louis Sullivan, “form follows function,” was being replaced by “form follows money.” To counteract this movement, at least in part, he established the Kamphoefner Prize of $10,000 at the AIANC. It is awarded each year to an AIANC member who exhibits excellence in the Modern Movement of architecture. Kamphoefner defined the criteria for this award very specifically:"The donors and the Selection Committee for this award anticipates that the chosen architect has demonstrated a consistent integrity and devotion over an acceptable period of time to further the modern movement in architecture without yielding to any of the undesirable current cliches, neo-modernistic mannerisms, or artless historicism that have flawed the building culture of today." These are the recipients.
1988 J. Norman Pease, Jr., FAIA The endowment did not have enough money to award the $10,000 prize during the last five years. According to the AIANC, there is STILL not enough money now to award a prize in 2008. TMH is looking into this. It's time to get the AIANC a new broker! |
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1938 - The Oleson Park Music Pavilion, 1400 Oleson Park Avenue, Fort Dodge IA. The Oleson Park Music Pavilion is nationally significant for its close association with American Bandmaster and Composer Karl King, a prolific composer of music for concert and military bands known the world over. It was the home base of this bandmaster and his music since its construction until his death in 1971. |
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1948 - The Henry and Mabel Kamphoefner House, 3060 Granville Drive, Raleigh. Designed with George Matsumoto. Built by J. M. Thompson. Charles R. Lawson (Henry’s nephew) of inherited the house and rented it for a number of years. T. Connor Murray bought it in 1996. Daniel and Virginia Petrocella bought it in 2000. In 2003, they renovated it using Kamphoefner’s protégé, Robert Burns. Renovation construction by David Ballard of Ballard Construction. Bottom photo by Sally Greene. |
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Triangle
Modernist Houses
