The RTP Foundation and its leadership are bringing in outside reinforcements to help shape a future vision for the Research Triangle Park, and Foundation head Bob Geolas is glad to have the help.
At what is being called “RTP: Designing the Future,” the Foundation is hosting a team of architects and other thought leaders to discuss its recently approved master plan. But they are not coming to influence the Xs and Os already drawn; rather they are coming to help sharpen the look and feel of the Park, Geolas says.
“We are opening up a conversation: What are they seeing around the world from our competition,” Geolas explains. “What should our look and feel be going forward.”
The invitees were selected by Larry Wheeler, director of the North Carolina Museum of Art and Dean Marvin Malecha of NC State’s School of Design, who were recently named to the RTP design committee that is led by Tallman Trask, executive vice president at Duke University. Geolas says he sought out Wheeler and Malecha “more than a year ago,” asking them to recommend “who are some of the best minds” to help with the process.
The list of invitees includes:
● Peter Bohlin, Principal, Bohlin Cywinski 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 in Cleveland
● Greg Reaves, Principal, Safdie Architects
● Bethany Windle, dual Masters’ candidate, UNC-CH and NC State University
An award-winning and internationally recognized group, they also are practically donating their time. Geolas says each received plane tickets and a “small per diem” that is “far less than they would normally receive for a weekend of their time.” They also did not receive any guarantees for work going forward.
Their willingness to participate “speaks to the importance of the Park” as an internationally recognized institution, Geolas adds.
The weekend includes a tour, a presentation of the master plan, and lots of conversation, which Geolas says the Foundation is filming in order to preserve all the intellectual thought capital that will be shared.
But the weekend event doesn’t mean that “some dirt will start moving” any time soon, he cautions. The site plan itself is still being tweaked.
Progress continues, however. The formal agreement with private sector developer Hines is down to the “final details,” yet it will be some time before all land agreements are struck. Then there are requests for funding from state and local governments for such things an infrastructure.
As the march toward construction continues, the work of the thinkers will come in to play as their ideas help shape how the Park “looks,” Geolas says.
“The Park is beautiful, but it has no art or gardens to speak of,” Geolas explains. This group will help the Foundation accomplish goals of making the Park more dense and urban that is “complimentary” to the Park’s nature. Their advice can help “influence the design guidelines and standards” with its information being forwarded to the design committee.
Geolas also plans to reassemble the group later this year as the master plan inches closer to implementation and a Park created 50 years ago is remodeled to be more competitive in an ever-changing world.
