Published Author Category Community, News from RTP

Some of the top architects, designers and planners in the world are traveling to the heart of North Carolina on a mission for one of our nation’s most iconic institutions – the Research Triangle Park.

The Research Triangle Park was built in the 1950s out of the goodwill of three research universities – Duke, NC State and UNC – and has been an engine for continued growth. Multinational companies such as IBM, GlaxoSmithKline, Cisco, NetApp, Avaya, EMC, and others call RTP home. Prosperity and success have become closely associated with the brand.

But for the Park to offer an atmosphere that is appealing to the next generation of workers, it must undergo the first major redevelopment in its storied history.

On May 31, industry experts from the world of architecture and design will fly into RDU International Airport to participate in an official design summit: “RTP: Designing the Future.” James Carpenter, Peter Bohlin and other distinguished participants will join RTP leaders for a weekend that will shape the future of the park.

RTP’s CEO and President, Bob Geolas, said, “At ‘RTP: Designing the Future,’ it is our greatest hope that by joining together these talented architects, artists, planners, landscapers and designers, we will be able to shape the vision of RTP for the next generation.”

Geolas added, “Our guests at this summit are the dreamers — and thinkers — capable of imagining the destiny of one of the world’s foremost industrial destinations.”

The architectural experts expected to arrive in RTP on May 31 are:

●     Peter Bohlin, Principal, Bohlin Cywinkski Jackson

●     James Carpenter, President, James Carpenter Design Associates, Inc.

●     Taewook Cha, Founding Principal, Supermass Studio

●     Curtis Fentress, President and Principal-in-Charge of Design, Fentress Architects

●     Petra Kempf, PhD., Professor at Columbia University, author

●     Patricia Leighton, environmental artist responsible for The Sawtooth Ramps

●     Steven Litt, Art and Architecture Critic, The Plain Dealer

●     Greg Reaves, Principal, Safdie Architects

●     Bethany Windle, dual Masters’ candidate, UNC-CH and NC State University

In addition to helping organize this visit, RTP has also designated an official Design Committee to assist in the redevelopment efforts. Chair Tallman Trask is executive vice president at Duke University and other Committee members include Larry Wheeler, director of the North Carolina Museum of Art and Dean Marvin J. Malecha, FAIA, DPACSA, NC State’s School of Design.

About RTP

RTP has been called the heart and hope of North Carolina’s industrial future.

A top R&D, tech and life science cluster, the Research Triangle Park has been a long-standing, centrifugal hub for research and discovery in the center of North Carolina.

Situated centrally between Duke University, North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, RTP contains 7,000 acres, 40,000 employees, and over 170 companies and organizations, including Syngenta, Bayer CropScience, The Hamner Institute, Avaya, Cisco, Credit Suisse, Biogen Idec, GlaxoSmithKline, IBM, BASF, Stiefel, NetApp, Burroughs Wellcome Fund, BD Technologies, Sigma Xi, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, and RTI International.

RTP is also home to an existing handful of incubators and accelerators for entrepreneurs and startups — including First Flight Venture Center, Alexandria Innovations and the Park Research Center (PRC).