Architect Harwell Hamilton Harris FAIA never reached the celebrity status of his peers such as Richard Neutra and Frank Lloyd Wright, yet his quieter career work stands as some of the most brilliant of the 20th century. Practicing primarily in California, Texas, and North Carolina, his achievements in residential, commercial, and academic settings earned national admiration and awards including the Richard Neutra Medal and an honorary doctorate from North Carolina State University.
Architect Frank Harmon FAIA was Harwell's student, close friend, and executor of his estate. Harmon was educated in North Carolina State University’s School of Design and at the Architectural Association in London. After working with McMinn, Norfleet & Wicker of Greensboro, Richard Meier in New York, and Harmon & Simeloff in London, he founded Frank Harmon architect in 1985. His firm has won more than 40 design awards. Harmon has received over 40 design awards, including the 2013 F. Carter Williams Gold Medal. Harmon announced his retirement in November 2015. Architect Jeffrey Lee writes: “Across the architectural profession, Frank Harmon is the face of North Carolina architecture.“
Author Lisa Germany Ziegler has written on architecture since the early 1980’s, contributing to publications such as Architectural Record, Harvard Design Magazine, and Progressive Architecture. Her beautiful and detailed 1991 book on Harwell Hamilton Harris traced the development of Harris's life and career and his honored place in American modernism. Her most recent book is Houses of the Sundown Sea: The Architectural Vision of Harry Gesner.
