ARC 201 Students Explore the Past to Design the Future

Students exploring architecture collections during ARC 201 class visit.

Students visit the Special Collections and closely examine detailed architectural drawings held within the university's Special Collections.

Students in ARC 201: Introduction to Architectural Design class recently stepped out of the studio and into the archives and beyond to deepen their understanding of how built form, environment, and user needs intersect. This required course took on an exciting, hands-on dimension with a two-part field experience.

Three sections of ARC 201, taught by Professors Burak Erdim, Donghwan Moon, and Jeremy Leonard, visited Special Collections to immerse themselves in the original materials of three iconic Raleigh residences designed by former faculty of the College of Design at NC State University, whose papers are located in Special Collections:

  • Matsumoto Residence (1952): Designed by George Matsumoto, a Japanese-American architect and early faculty member at NC State University's College of Design, this house is a notable example of mid-century modern architecture.
  • Fadum House (1950): Originally designed by architect James Fitzgibbon, this mid-century modern house stands next to Henry Kamphoefner's residence, who was dean of the School of Design from 1948 to 1973. A substantial and complementary addition, designed by architect Brian Shawcroft, was completed in 2006.
  • Harmon Residence (1994): Designed by architect Frank Harmon and landscape architect Judy Harmon, this modern house emphasizes integration with nature by creating a private garden space that connects seamlessly with the home's interior. 

During their visit to Special Collections, students examined original drawings, sketches, and reproductions, which allowed them to directly engage with architectural communication conventions and to consider the relationships between the designers, clients, builders, and other stakeholders. They analyzed the primary sources and gained insights from these materials through creative interaction. One of the assignments that the students were given during their visit was to draw a boundary condition that they found in one of the houses. In this exercise, students were asked not to replicate what they saw in the drawings, but to show how a particular boundary, for instance, between interior and exterior, between public and private, or between labor and leisure, was articulated in the house. To inform the ways the students were thinking about these boundary conditions, they read Dell Upton's chapter, "The American Icon," where he examines Thomas Jefferson's Monticello and the fragmented nature of the "domestic community" through a series of dichotomous categories.

Students engage directly with original primary source materials and utilize drawing as a tool for detailed observation and interpretation of primary sources.
Final “sketchbook throwdown” of the drawings, with students comparing their interpretations of these iconic houses.

The primary sources came to life when the students, faculty, and Special Collections Instruction & Outreach Librarian Shima Hosseininasab visited the houses themselves and experienced the context. Stepping onto the sites and into the spaces of the Matsumoto Residence, the Fadum House, and the Harmon Residence provided a critical experience and allowed students to connect the two-dimensional drawings with the three-dimensional architectural reality. Students also engaged with the house owners (users) through conversations about their lived experiences and personal stories. During their site visit, students were asked to draw a boundary condition again to juxtapose what they saw in the archive with what they found on the site.

Students explore the Fadum House, speaking directly with the current residents to gain a deeper understanding of how the iconic design functions and evolves over time.
Students document their key observations while investigating the structure and details of the famed Matsumoto Residence firsthand.
Designer Frank Harmon speaks with students inside the Harmon Residence, offering firsthand insights into his design philosophy as students eagerly take notes.

Back in the studio, the students are synthesizing their archival research and field observations into a comprehensive final project. The deliverables challenge them to move beyond simple description to deep, critical analysis. Building on earlier work, students are creating diagrams that analyze the different social and formal aspects of these houses. The experience of viewing and analyzing the original drawings in Special Collections, and then visiting these landmark houses has provided an invaluable foundation for the students' future design proposals. 

If you have any questions or are interested in viewing Special Collections materials, please contact us at library_specialcollections@ncsu.edu or submit a request online. The Special Collections Research Center is open by appointment only. Appointments are available Monday–Friday, 9am–6pm and Saturday, 1pm–5pm. Requests for a Saturday appointment must be received no later than Tuesday of the same week.