The six winners of the 2016 George Matsumoto Prize, sponsored by the non-profit organization North Carolina Modernist Houses (NCMH), have been announced.
Recognizing excellence in North Carolina Modernist residential design, three projects were selected in two categories: The Jury Awards, chosen by a jury of six nationally celebrated architects and designers; and the People’s Choice Awards, selected through online public voting.
First prize in the Jury Awards went to Will Alphin of Alphin Design Build, Raleigh, for 123 Hillcrest, a four-level house in the city’s Cameron Park neighborhood that integrates indoor-outdoor living and honors its owners’ aspirations for a progressive, sustainable home. As first prize winner, the firm received $3,000. Builder: Alphin Design Build. Photography James West/JWest Productions
The jury’s second Prize went to architects Erin Sterling Lewis and Matthew Griffith of in situ studio, Raleigh, for the Corbett Residence in Bahama, NC, a single-story house expressed as a low black box that strikes a line across its sloping site, mimicking the horizon. As second prize winner, the firm received $2,000. Builder: Aiello Builders, Inc. Photography © Richard Leo Johnson / Atlantic Archives
The jury’s third prize also went to in situ studio for the Medlin Residence in Raleigh, a compact, L-shaped home that creates a courtyard between the house and a hillside and boldly allows an interior staircase to become a dominate form expressed on the facade. For third prize, the firm received $1,000. Builder: Kemp Harris, Inc. Photography: Richard Leo Johnson/Atlantic Archives
In the People’s Choice Awards, online voters’ first place selection was architect Adam Sebastian of STITCH Design Shop, Winston-Salem, for Blauhaus in Winston-Salem, a house sited parallel to a creek with a gabled roof form that gives a nod to the owner’s home in German yet maintains a distinctly modernist vocabulary. Builder: Ken McDaniel. Photography by Adam Sebastian
The People’s Choice second place honor went to the jury’s first prize winner — Alphin Design Build for 123 Hillcrest.
Third place in the People’s Choice Awards went to Jason Well of Retro + Fit + Design, Asheville, for Ciel 10, a dramatic, custom-builder, for-sale house in the mountains that the architect created by shifting a series of cantilevered blocks to optimize views. Builder: Bellwether Design Build. David Dietrich Photography
The George Matsumoto Prize, supported by the McAdams Foundation, honors George Matsumoto, a founding faculty member of North Carolina State University’s School of Design and architect of some of the state’s best-known and historically significant Modernist houses. Each year Matsumoto serves as honorary jury chair.
For more information on North Carolina Modernist Houses and the other 2016 Matsumoto Prize entries, go to www.ncmodernist.org/prize2016.
Introductory image: 123 Hillcrest in Raleigh, first place winner in the judged awards, and second place winner in the People’s Choice competition.