The Bath Building

Two years ago, I declared the structure above, the Bath Building, as the Ugliest in Raleigh. While I had a change of heart not long after writing the article, it’s still pretty high on the ‘ugly’ list. It is the perhaps the most striking and textbook example of the Brutalist style of architecture. Brutalism is characterized by an imposing rectilinear shape, poured concrete, and sparse use of glass and steel as exterior features.

Raleigh has a plethora of these buildings. Most are in the dead zone, the strip of state government buildings around Blount and Salisbury Streets.

The Ministry of Love was the really frightening one. There were no windows in it at all. Winston had never been inside the Ministry of Love, nor within half a kilometre of it. It was a place impossible to enter except on official business, and then only by penetrating through a maze of barbed-wire entanglements, steel doors, and hidden machine-gun nests.

–George Orwell, 1984

Recently, someone close to me drew the comparison between the state government buildings on Halifax Mall and that of the buildings described by George Orwell. If you’ve read the book, the connection between these buildings and those in the political-fiction masterpiece isn’t hard to make. The Brutalist Style was often associated with social Utopian ideals.

Part of this stems from a true-to-materials construction that wasn’t laden with excess in the form of decoration. Additionally, construction with poured concrete is less expensive than other building methods. This made it appealing to elected leaders spending taxpayers’ money on public buildings.

Raleigh’s Ministry of Love

While the Bath Building is far from the depiction of the Ministry of Love in 1984, the lack of fenestration and imposing nature aren’t that far off, either.

Bath Building when new in 1972. Image credit: Raleigh Boy

Someone involved in the planning and design of the Bath Building commented on the previous article, and provided insight on its unique outer appearance:

There are no windows on the upper two floors because that is where the original labs and administrative functions were located. Windows serve no function in a lab, and wall space was maximized in this manner.

The curious inverted pyramid shape visible from the outside on the upper floors resulted from having to combine a basic laboratory module size with an office module size. It was necessary to rotate the upper floors 45 degrees to accommodate vertical structural elements not being in the middle of halls or rooms. So, in this case the exterior is purely a result of form following function. And believe me, we did take a lot of flack in the early days too. But it is what it is..and has served the citizens of North Carolina well.

–Bill McDowell

The Bath Building

The Ultimate in ‘Form Follows Function’

Although the term Brutalism is associated with a ‘brutal’ form, the word originates from the french term béton brut, meaning raw concrete. It was used by modern architecture pioneer Le Corbusier to describe many of his buildings. Although it differs substantially from the International Style of modernism, it shares many of the same tenants of the modern movement.

The exteriors of these buildings often reveal the use inside. Concrete lines and shapes often reflect interior structural elements. This is in addition to the exterior itself functioning as structural support. Without decorative elements or a focus on making it “pretty”, poured concrete buildings may be the ultimate in form following function.

The AT&T Building: One of the Earliest Examples

Although not a government building, one of the earliest buildings in Raleigh in this style is the AT&T Building near Nash Square. The concrete exterior served to shield the electromagnetic equipment inside. It was built so that telecommunications systems would continue to operate in the event of an attack or other catastrophic event. With no windows, it is an ominous and lifeless tower.

Replacing a Historic Neighborhood with Brutalism

In the 1960s through the early 1970s, North Carolina state government was consolidating the location of administrative buildings to the area between Salisbury and Blount Streets. The latter was at one point Raleigh’s most exclusive neighborhood, and it was decimated by the state’s plans for an expansive governmental complex.

J.H. Pou house on Blount St. in 1965 (destroyed). Image credit: Raleigh Boy

The state bought up properties and subsequently demolished them, forever destroying many of the grandest houses in Raleigh. You can see this today with numerous old stone walkways that lead to surface parking lots. The end result of the state’s destruction is a dead zone, an area that is deserted during non-business hours.

Capehart House

After the dust settled from the state’s won ton destruction of these historic homes, a few were relocated to Blount Street from other areas in order to preserve them. The Capehart House (above), the Merrimon Wynne House, and the Lewis-Smith House are a few examples.

1861 Seaboard Railroad Building on Halifax Mall

There are a few exceptions to the sea of gray government buildings. One is the 1861 Seaboard Railroad Office Building, above. It was saved from the wrecking ball and moved from its original location in the mid 70s. It is now a just few blocks away on Salisbury Street.

The grand historic homes on Blount Street are now for sale, and the Blount Street Commons project aims to breathe new life in to the area.

Other Examples of Raleigh Brutalism

Wake County Court House

A beautiful Beaux-Arts Court House dating to 1912 was destroyed to make way for this imposing and aggressive tower. It doesn’t exactly instill the kind of feeling you want before walking in to court.

North Carolina Records Building

Rear view of the Records Building

The Wake County Jail

The building most suited for the Brutalist style is the Wake County Jail, to the rear of the Sheriff’s Department.

Albemarle Building

The Albemarle Building in 1977 when Halifax Mall was under construction. Image credit: Raleigh Boy

Archdale Building

The photo above gives the impression that there are more sources of natural light than there actually are. On its longest sides, the archdale building is a vast expanse of a color somewhere between drab gray and white.

The Most Loathed: Harrelson Hall

It comes as no surprise to anyone that’s been in it that Harrelson Hall has several significant shortcomings.

In 2001, a report making the case for a new math building on campus summed it up this way:

Harrelson Hall suffers from major architectural flaws that include: classrooms serving thousands of students each day being immediately adjacent to faculty offices; a poorly designed hallway system [with] intractable problems [of] noise and congestion; unresolved difficulties with heating and air conditioning; external stairways that are neither heated in the winter nor cooled in the summer; no public elevators; no public restrooms in the main part of the building; ad hoc telecommunications wiring; inadequate electrical wiring; an almost total lack of meeting and conference rooms; and no commons areas.

Although initial plans called for the destruction of Harrelson Hall, it appears that has been delayed indefinitely with the construction of SAS Hall.

Brutalism Doesn’t Have to Be Ugly

The Greensboro Municipal Building was designed by Eduardo Catalano, former head of the Architecture Department of NC State’s School of Design.

Greensboro Municipal Building

Far removed from his legendary hyperbolic paraboloid house in Raleigh, Catalano proved that poured concrete doesn’t have to ugly.

With the destruction of the Raleigh house in 2001, this is his only remaining building in North Carolina.

Catalano in front of his 'Casa de Raleigh'. Image credit: News & Observer

Modernist pioneer and Harvard Professor Marcel Breuer described Catalano as ‘one of his best students’. Breuer later became a prolific proponent of the Brutalist Style, so it’s not that surprising that Catalano would follow in the footsteps of his former mentor when incorporating it in to his own designs.

Not Going Anywhere Any Time Soon

There are many buildings of this style currently at risk of demolition in many other cities. Brutalist buildings routinely rank at the top of ‘most hated buildings’ surveys.

Over time, they become even less appealing. The concrete cracks and decays. The surface becomes discolored and easily stained.

Halifax Mall, the large area of gray state government buildings during snowfall

Raleigh has lost modern architecture icons such as the Garland Jones Building and the Catalano House, and others are at risk (Milton Small’s Municipal Building). Unfortunately, their Brutalist cousins are here to stay.

Related Articles

• Reminiscences of a Raleigh Boy, Part 1: The Blount Street Saga
• Harrelson Hall and its Ultimate Demise
• The Bath Building: Ugliest In Raleigh
• From Treasure to Trash: The Demolition of the Wake County Courthouse

Further Reading

• The “Brutal” Wake County Court House (New Raleigh)
• In Defense of Brutalism

The hallway between the Learning Commons and the Special Collections Silent Reading Room in NC State’s D.H. Hill Library is used to exhibit various artifacts from the NC State Library’s special collections.

Among other things in the new display is what is believed to be the world’s first fully electric guitar.

The blurb from the Department of Physics reads:

At the NC State Engineering Fair in 1940, first prize went to NCSU physics professor Sidney Wilson for his invention of the world’s first fully electric guitar. The instrument was also the first to have single-string pick-up. Clearly the sensation of the fair, the guitar was played by physicist Mickey May.

The Gibson Corporation had introduced a converted acoustic guitar – the ES-150 – in 1937 that used a single bar to pick up the signal from all strings. The instrument achieved some popularity, but was plagued by unequal loudness across the six strings.

Professor Wilson reasoned that: 1) individual pick-ups could remedy the unequal loudness problem, and 2) the acoustical body was not necessary for a fully electric instrument. He developed the guitar shown in the figure and entered it in the annual engineering fair. The highlight of the fair was the playing of the guitar by Mickey May, and the invention won the fair’s first prize.

Patents from academia were quite unusual in the 1940s, so it is not unexpected that Professor Wilson did not patent his invention. Had he done so, it would have been one of the first patents granted to NC State faculty. In 1949 Gibson incorporated both the individual string pick-up and the cut-away body in its model ES-175. The design was attributed to Ted McCarthy of Gibson Corporation, but the features were first conceived and implemented by NC State physicists.

The display guitar is part of the 50 Years of PAMS: A Legacy of Discovery exhibit, which includes a cast of a T-Rex femur and a variety of vintage physics equipment as well. According to the Special Collections librarian I spoke with, the display exhibit will be available for another month or so.

What could be Raleigh’s most enigmatic and shadowy figure is a ghost that goes by the name of Felix Phasmatis. Felix was was kind enough to meet up with me in Downtown Raleigh, despite my lack of belief in ghosts and the supernatural.

A Ghost Amongst Pirates

Felix with Blackbeard's Crew in 2008

I first met Felix a little over two years ago, in a random encounter with a crew of pirates off of Wilmington Street. Despite the unique nature of his appearance, he blended in with the crowd and at the time didn’t seem out of place. What’s one ghost amongst a half dozen pirates?

More than a Spirit: A Modern Artist

I recently caught up with him at the Capitol Building, the site of a previous encounter with a “ghost” a couple of years ago. Unbeknownst to me during my first encounter with Felix was that he is an artist. His works are minimal, yet bold and defined. Many of the characteristics of modern art are present: contrast, simple shapes, straight lines, minimalism, and abstraction.

Since modern art is from an era past, it kind of makes sense that a contemporary modern artist would need to be a ghost. He postulated the main idea behind the persona in this way:

Artists put themselves on the canvas. You can identify with the work by how you identify with the artist, but I wanted art that could be done by anybody. I could be of any race, from any social class. I could be a millionaire or someone who begs for money.

This Ghost has No Identity

He goes through great lengths to conceal his real identity to maintain that mystery and anonymity. Depending on the individual, the ghost persona will either strongly disconnect or strongly reinforce a connection from the art to the artist. What isn’t uncertain is how difficult it is to promote yourself and your art when you go to great lengths to hide your identity. Even the most basic of promoting essentials such as creating a web site is difficult. All financial transactions go must go through an intermediary.

But now that Felix has a web site and a presence on Facebook, more Raleigh residents are beginning to notice this mysterious figure.

If it weren’t for the internet, I wouldn’t exist.

He has existed in this form for about four years now, but only recently began to promote himself and his art.

Out and About Town

He described himself as a shy individual, but he enjoys being out and about downtown. The art scene which seems to be expanding at an exponential rate is one of the factors which brought him to Raleigh.

Although it may be a while before you see Felix at an outside table at the Raleigh Times, I have a feeling his artwork will soon begin popping up in various and unexpected places downtown.

Further Reading:

• Felix Phasmatis: The Ghost of Modern Art (official web site)
• Like Felix on Facebook
• Felix Phasmatis on Etsy
• Blackbeard’s Crew Invades Raleigh

Other Works by Felix:

Zamora the Torture King marvels the crowd with his ability to seemingly painlessly skewer his flesh with pins

A couple of pictures from the Hellzapoppin Sideshow Revue at Volume 11 Tavern

Bryce "The Govna" Graves, Master of Ceremonies

There may be thunderstorms for Friday’s forecast, but don’t let that keep you at home. There are a lot of great shows to check out for First Friday.

The first recommended stop is LUMP Gallery, for their 4th annual benefit. The top photo is from the benefit two years ago. As always, good music and beer are available, in addition to giveaways:

The gallery will transform into late-summer party mode, with live music from the creative Chapel Hill band, Organos, led by musician/artist, Maria Albani, of Schooner. There will also be a DJ set by Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu, and a not-to-miss video/performance from Neill Prewitt (Yuxtapongo) with guests.

Beer for the event is generously provided by Carolina Brewing Co., and will be dispensed into your cup by the infamous keggerator/sculpture Beer2d2. There will be free snacks and food to munch on thanks to the fine folks at the Capital Club 16 Restaurant, and Team Lump.

"Distant Echoes", a view of Raleigh from Dorothea Dix

A show by Raleigh artist Ryan Cummings entitled State of the Art/ Memory Dreamscape- Visions of North Carolina from Raleigh to Asheville is one you don’t want to miss.

Ryan’s works incorporate trompe l’oeil in conjunction with layered photography to present a rich and somewhat surreal landscape. As the name of the show implies, the pieces featured are a pan-North Carolina display of scenes from our state’s urban and rural landscape. It’s at Artspace from 7-11PM.

Another spot worth checking out is Atomic Salon. Something that is unique to Atomic each First Friday is that they usually feature live performances. Past performers have included comedians, graffiti artists, and the late beloved Raleigh icon, Sho Nuff. The upcoming event will feature some of the performers behind circusSPARK, in addition to:

• Art by Mary Lou McElray
• Art by Christine Smith
• Photography by Ken Valan
• Leather work by Chris Brewer
• Cupcakes by Buttercream

Atomic Salon is located at 905 West Morgan street just past the new roundabout.

'A Single Man', image courtesy of Simon Griffiths

Last but certainly not least is the first installment the two-part series, Portraits of Raleigh 2, a show put together by the Raleigh City Museum:

Along with the framed pieces on the wall, there will be a curated digital display of selected images including several other of our submitting photographers.

Due to the large number of wonderful submissions, POR II will also run with a Series One and Series Two. The exhibit will run for 4 months, with one set of photos being featured the first four months, and a second set rotating in for the next four months. Therefore, we’ll be having an opening reception on August 6, 2010, and a second opening reception on April 1, 2011 as well. The Best in Show, Second Place, and Third Place that were selected by the jury will hang in both shows, but there will be a “Sir Walter Raleigh” audience choice award for each of the 4 month sets.

In addition to seeing some fantastic imagery of Raleigh as seen by some talented photographers, there are other goodies as well:

The exhibit opens this Friday night with a party from 6:00-9:00 with all sorts of goodness. There will be free drinks, food from the Big Easy, music by the Bloomsbury Boys, a photobooth, raffles, and ticket give aways to Hopscotch Music Festival.

There are just some of the events for what is sure to be a lively downtown evening. Be sure to check out New Raleigh for their monthly First Friday Agenda.

Further Reading:

• LUMP Gallery Benefit Recap
• Local Artist Spotlight: Ryan Cummings
• Portraits of Raleigh 2 Opens Friday: Sneak Preview (New Raleigh)

Last Saturday marked the 5th annual Raleigh Wide Open downtown festival. While the event as a whole was surprisingly well orchestrated, heavily trafficked, and overall pretty awesome, the highlight of the event was the debut show of Maximus Circus, a collaboration of Gamil Design and AcroEntertainment.
While the show itself took place at the Fayetteville Street Mall area, the event itself began at the Capitol Building with a full blown parade through downtown.

The Gladiator leads the parade down Fayetteville Street

The Master of Ceremonies introduces the first act

The Circus started off with a beautiful display of Aerial Acrobatics performed by SamiTe’, an amazing performer from the Asheville area Unifire Theatre

The next performer was Jewels, a hoopdancer from Carrboro

SamiTe' and Zay watching the show from the ringside

Following Jewels’ performance was a stunning performance by Katie and Kaci of AcroEntertainment, one of the co-organizers of the event.  Well known local street performers around Raleigh, AcroEntertainment has been the subject of Goodnight Raleigh posts and pictures, and are perennial favorites of downtown events.

Jewel and the fire-performers watch the acts

A second Aerialist, Zay, of the world famous Aerial Angels, put on an awesome act.

The Master of Ceremonies in between acts

The only male performer of the first act,Joe Critelli; while his faux-haphazard unicycle skills defied low-light photography, his act was humorous and wildly entertaining. Below are two of the only moments he was still enough to not come out as a blur.

Another performer who just couldn’t stop dancing long enough to hold for the camera was Caroleeena, of Circles of Joy. She performed a wild hoop dance, as well as dancing with the glowing ropes seen here – a preview of her dazzling fire routine in the Second act.

The performers come out at the end of the First Act

Dancing off the stage

During the second act I decided to sit back and enjoy the show. However, near the end of the show an emergency relocation put me in a great vantage point, and I couldn’t resist snapping a few shots of the second Act.

The Master of Ceremonies provides assistance to an act

Zay performing a second set

SamiTe' performing a beautiful and surreal fire dance

All in all, it was a spectacular show; well organized and executed, with top-notch acts. It definitely has me looking forward to SparkCon for the next big show.

Tune in tonight next week at 7PM to WKNC (or tap in to the web stream) to hear some of the contributing photographers to Goodnight Raleigh discuss the blog, night life, culture, art, local issues, and the growth of Raleigh.

Eye on the Triangle is a program hosted by The Sajhammer (could be the coolest DJ name on KNC) which focuses on individuals contributing to arts, social issues, and other local topics of interest.

Ironically enough, 5 photographers arrived at WKNC studios for the interview, and none of us brought a camera. The above photo is a cellphone pic of Sid, Danielle, Rocio, and Devin.

UPDATE: WKNC pushed the air date back by a week.

Barhoppers pose for pictures by the DJ Booth at Jackpot.

Over the past several months I have been exploring and photographing old streetcar tracks and pavements that have been exposed in the course of the many repaving projects now underway in downtown Raleigh. One of those forays took me deep beneath the city streets — and this is what I discovered.

Cautiously, I descended into an unknown netherworld.

Ultimately I found myself in a dank, dark and cold subterranean chamber. As my eyes slowly adjusted to the dim light filtering down from above, I spotted what appeared to be a small devotional shrine someone had erected on the opposite side of the room. Wiccans! — I thought.

A box of matches lay atop the makeshift altar, so I lit the pair of candles which had been placed there; they emitted an eerie glow in the darkness.

Suddenly, I heard a distinct ‘kerplunk’ behind me, and I spun around to investigate.

Relieved that no one else had entered the chamber, I looked closer, and realized some small object must have fallen from a cloaca maxima above me into the shallow brackish water at my feet.

I continued my exploration and could see through the culvert beneath the altar that another room appeared in the distance about 50 feet away. However, as the water was considerably deeper in there, I decided to save that particular venture for another day.

As I turned to leave, I snapped a photo of myself reflected in the shiny, hieroglyph-enscribed black tiles of the shrine.

Hmm, I thought, as I extinguished the candles and made my ascent out of this mysterious and hidden, subterranean chamber — Wiccans? I dunno. But with all that concrete and brickwork down there — maybe this secret shrine has some kind of association with the Masons?

Patrons at Flex Nightclub pose for a picture out back at the patio