I will be signing copies of my new book, The Bridge Builders, during Triangle Modernist Houses’ “Thirst 4 
Architecture” happy hour event on September 22, 6-8 p.m., in the offices of Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee in the Capital Bank building, Suite 1000, on Fayetteville Street in downtown Raleigh. The event is free and open to the public. For more details on the event, click HERE.
For more details on the book, click HERE.
Friday, September 2, 2011
The Department of Landscape Architecture at the North Carolina State University College of Design has announced the First Annual Richard C. Bell Lecture Series.
“The Department of Landscape Architecture wishes to honor Dick Bell for his professional achievements, leadership, and many landscape legacies through this annual lecture in his name,” said Gene Bressler, FASLA, NCNLA, head of the department and Professor of Landscape Architecture, who refers to Bell as a “North Carolina landscape architecture icon.”
Dick Bell, FASLA, will kick off the new series himself on September 19 at 6 p.m. in the College of Design’s Burns Auditorium located in Kamphhoefner Hall with a lecture entitled “Bridge Building.”
“The essence of my practice has been making friends and building relationships with colleagues in order to get landscape architecture projects done,” said Bell, who has completed over 2000 projects throughout his long career. READ MORE…
Dick Bell in his beloved Pullen Park.
To honor a lifetime of achievement in and for the profession and practice of landscape architecture
PRESS RELEASE – September 2, 2011 (Raleigh, NC) — The Department of Landscape Architecture at the North Carolina State University College of Design has announced the First Annual Richard C. Bell Lecture Series.
“The Department of Landscape Architecture wishes to honor Dick Bell for his professional achievements, leadership, and many landscape legacies through this annual lecture in his name,” said Gene Bressler, FASLA, NCNLA, head of the department and Professor of Landscape Architecture, who refers to Bell as a “North Carolina landscape architecture icon.”
Dick Bell, FASLA, will kick off the new series himself on September 19 at 6 p.m. in the College of Design’s Burns Auditorium located in Kamphhoefner Hall with a lecture entitled “Bridge Building.”
“The essence of my practice has been making friends and building relationships with colleagues in order to get landscape architecture projects done,” said Bell, who has completed over 2000 projects throughout his long career.
A few of his best-known projects in Raleigh are NC State University’s “Brickyard” and Student Center Plaza, the City of Raleigh’s Pullen Park, the Amphitheatre at Meredith College, St. Mary’s College and Peace College’s campus master plans, the Legislative Building grounds, and his own “Water Garden” mixed-use development on Highway 70-West (which has now been destroyed).
Dan Howe, chair of the Department of Landscape Advisory Board, underscores the relevance of Bell’s topic. “Many would argue that the future [of the profession] seems less about narrowing our focus and ‘defining our turf’ to more about making new synergies with our associated professions and colleagues,” he said.
A multi-award-winning designer, Dick Bell graduated from the NCSU School of Design (now College of Design) in 1950 as part of Dean Henry Kamphoefner’s first class.
He apprenticed under Simonds & Simonds of Pittsburgh, PA, and Frederick B. Stresau of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. At the age of 21, he was the youngest person to receive the Prix de Rome, which allowed him to travel and study in Europe for two years.
Bell founded his first firm in Raleigh, NC, in 1955, introducing the practice of landscape architecture as a registered profession to the state. (He was the first person appointed to the registration board.) He has been a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) since 1954 and was elected to Fellowship in 1980. He is also a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome and was the first recipient of the ASLA North Carolina’s Award for Distinguished Professional Achievement. He was inducted into the Raleigh Hall of Fame in 2008. He now lives with his wife, Mary Jo, in Atlantic Beach, NC, where he continues to work on select projects.
The Annual Richard C. Bell Lecture is part of The NC State University 2011-12 Landscape Architecture Lecture Series, “Collaboration – Beyond the Silo.” Dan Howe defines the overall theme as “an exploration of how collaborative synergies contribute to the making of healthier sustainable places and beautiful landscapes for our future.”
The lectures are free. NC State University students may earn one elective credit hour by registering for the lecture series under LAR 582.004. Registered landscape architects may receive one CEU credit per lecture pending State Board approval.
For more information on the entire lecture series, go to http://design.ncsu.edu/calendar.
Following is our first press release on the publication of The Bridge Builders…
January 3, 2011 (ATLANTIC BEACH, NC) – From growing up on North Carolina’s 
Outer Banks during the Great Depression and World War II, to watching as his immigrant father designed and built the first “Lost Colony” amphitheater, to a series of adventures that began when he won the coveted Prix de Rome in 1951, landscape architect Richard C. “Dick” Bell explores his evolution as a designer in his first book, The Bridge Builders.
Dick Bell is the Southern landscape architect who created such seminal landmarks as the North Carolina State University “Brickyard,” the City of Raleigh’s beloved Pullen Park, and the Meredith College Amphitheater in Raleigh, among 2000 other projects he has completed in his long career – projects that left a profound imprint on his profession and his state. Through The Bridge Builders, he explores the people, places, and educational experiences that made him the man and the designer he came to be.
Published by Vantage Press, The Bridge Builders begins with his paternal grandparents’ immigration from England to Canada in the early years of the 20th century, before his father hastened their relocation to North Carolina. As a young boy in the sea and sand of Manteo, NC, and as a son and grandson of avid gardeners, Bell developed an intense love of nature and conservation that would define his illustrious career. As the youngest recipient of the Prix de Rome, his travel abroad would forever influence how he designed outdoor spaces for human enjoyment.
The book concludes just as Bell is starting what would become one of his master works and a living laboratory for landscape architecture, the former Water Garden in Raleigh – the “Taliesin” of North Carolina.
Midwest Book Review says: “The Bridge Builders is a memoir from Richard Bell as he reflects on being an American who came to love art and architecture in Europe and did well in helping establish important work that earned him a place as town hero in Raleigh. The Bridge Builders is intriguing and thoughtful for those looking for a read that bridges art and architecture.”
The book includes a collection of photos from Bell’s life along with original sketches and watercolors he made during his years at the American Academy in Rome.
Bell is planning to publish another book or white paper in the future that will include case studies of his major projects.
To learn more about The Bridge Builders, visit http://thebridgebuilders.wordpress.com.
The order a copy of the book from Vantage Press ($16.95), call by phone 24-hours a day: 877-736-5403, option 5; or fax an order to 212-736-2273.
Just received the first review of my new book The Bridge Builders by Willis Buhle of The Midwest Book Review!
“There’s more to art and architecture than the blueprint doodles. The Bridge Builders is a memoir from Richard Bell as he reflects on being an American who came to love art and architecture in Europe and did well in helping establish important work that earned him a place as town hero in his birthplace of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Bridge Builders is intriguing and thoughtful for those looking for a read that bridges art and architecture.” –Willis M. Buhle, Review
12 Nov. 2010
By Mike Welton & Cheryl Wilder
An 11-acre, Taliesin-like landmark in Raleigh N.C. is about to be transformed into low-income housing.
Landscape architect Dick Bell’s Water Garden was conceived in the mid-‘50s as a Shangri-La for the creative community in central North Carolina.
It was decades ahead of its time.
The well-known landscape architect developed it as the city’s first mixed-use development for artists and designers in 1955, though he wouldn’t actually complete it for 14 years. It was to be his home, his business and his landscape laboratory. It also served as studio and gallery for those in need.
“Water Garden was an ace in the hole,” Dick said. “It was an epistle of site plan and architecture.”
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE
November 8, 20101 (ATLANTIC BEACH, NC) – Master landscape architect Richard C. “Dick” Bell, FASLA, was honored recently to have one of his favorite projects included in Landscape Architect magazine’s Centennial Issue and to have his career praised in Architects + Artisans, an online magazine dedicated to “thoughtful design for a sustainable world.”
A resident of Atlantic Beach, NC, now, Bell was in Raleigh visiting his daughter recently when he picked up a copy of Landscape Architect’s October edition and discovered his drawing for the NC State University Student Plaza, also known as “The Brickyard,” in the section on Design. Landscape Architecture is the official publication of the American Society of Landscape Architects.
“I had no idea,” he said. “I was truly surprised and honored.”
The Design section spotlights landscape architecture projects that embraced modernist design, rather than European-inspired formalism or classicism. Three blocks long and one block wide, The Brickyard’s flowing, curvilinear design exemplifies the modern aesthetic in landscape architecture and has become an iconic gathering place for NC State students, faculty and visitors since it was competed in 1970.
Concurrent with the appearance of his design in Landscape Architecture, Architects + Artisans.com posted an article entitled “A Life In Landscape Architecture” on October 26. 
“New Yorkers may claim Frederick Law Olmsted as their own, and Virginians might cling to the gardens that Charles Gillette once molded and shaped, but North Carolinians today can embrace their own living icon of the landscape architecture profession,” wrote A+A editor Mike Welton with staff writer Cheryl Wilder about Bell and his career, which began in the 1950s and continues today.
In the A+A article, Bell names The Brickyard as one of his favorite projects among over 2000 projects he has completed. A+A also notes:
“When [Bell] was inducted into the 2008 Raleigh Hall of Fame, the non-profit group noted that he’s driven by a single professional mission: ‘To leave a little beauty behind wherever I go.’ Over a long and successful career, that’s the very least he’s achieved.”
Architects + Artisans is located at www.architectsandartisans.com.
For more information on Dick Bell, visit https://dickbell.wordpress.com and http://trianglemodernisthouses.com/dbell.htm.
About Dick Bell:
A native of Manteo, NC, award-winning landscape architect Richard C. Bell is a fellow of both the American Society of Landscape Architecture and the American Academy in Rome. He was educated at the North Carolina State University School of Design, graduating as a member of its School’s first graduating class in 1950. He apprenticed under Simonds & Simonds of Pittsburgh, PA, and Frederick B. Stresau of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. At the age of 21, he was the youngest designer to receive the Prix de Rome. He founded his first firm in Raleigh, NC, in 1955, introducing the practice of landscape architecture as a registered profession to the state and was the first person elected to the registration board. He has completed over 2000 landscape architecture projects ranging from major city and highway corridors to city parks, university plazas and amphitheatres, mixed-use beachfront developments, and individual residences. A recognized leader in environmentalism and sustainable design long before the words became part of the general lexicon, he was inducted in the Raleigh Hall of Fame in 2008 and continues his practice in Atlantic Beach, NC.
October 26, 2010
By Mike Welton & Cheryl Wilder
New Yorkers may claim Frederick Law Olmsted as their own, and Virginians might cling to the gardens that Charles Gillette once molded and shaped, but North Carolinians today can embrace their own living icon of the landscape architecture profession.
When Manteo native Richard “Dick” Bell launched his practice in 1955, he was just a few years out of N.C. State’s School of Design. A leader, an educator and a winner of the Rome Prize, he’d spent time in South Florida, working with Morris Lapidus on the landscape for Miami’s Fountainbleu Hotel. Back in Raleigh though, he was determined to promote landscape architecture as a reputable profession for North Carolina.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE
We have lost a wonderful man and son-in-law. Dennis and Sharon and I also worked together for 25 years. He will be missed more than I can express…
Dennis M. Glazener, 1955-2010
Dennis Michael Glazener, 55, passed away unexpectedly in Rex Hospital early Sunday morning, September 26.
Dennis was born in Hendersonville, NC, on February 6, 1955, the only child of the late Katherine “Kittie” and Walter Warren “Doc” Glazener (a local veterinarian). He graduated with honors from Hendersonville High School in 1973 then attended the NC State University School of Design in Raleigh, where he graduated at the top of his class in product design in 1979. During his time at the School of Design, he won the Industrial Design Society of America’s Student Award and the Product Design Book Award presented by Professor Vincent Foote. Yet Dennis always wanted to practice landscape architecture. That time was coming.
Dennis met Sharon Bell, the daughter of master landscape architect Richard C. “Dick” Bell, while at NC State. Sharon was studying landscape architecture. In the summer of 1978, between his junior and senior year, Dennis worked as an apprentice for Sharon’s father in the Water Garden office complex on Glenwood Avenue/Highway 70 West, Raleigh. After Dennis and Sharon graduated, Bell invited both of them to come to work with him full-time at Bell Design Group, and Dennis began to fulfill his desire to practice landscape architecture. Dennis and Sharon were married in Raleigh in January of 1981.
In 1979 and 1980, Dennis worked with Bell on the Southern Living Home Show in Charlotte and on the documentation for the Falls Lake master plan to prove that there was recreational value on the lands associated with the lake. In 1981 and 1982, he helped the Raleigh Home Builders Association produce their Home and Garden shows in the Raleigh Convention Center. From 1982 to 1986, he worked with Bell on the master plan, site development, and landscaping of Bermuda Village and Country Club in Winston-Salem. As a team, they also designed the Raychem Corporation master plan and landscaping from 1981-83, then again on phase two in 1990. That project received a national award from the American Association of Nurserymen. In 1986, he worked with Bell on the Moore Square Transit Block in downtown Raleigh, transforming what could have been just a bus stop into a welcoming public space with benches and fountains. The project received a design award from the NC Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects. In 1987 Dennis and Bell began work on the Gilford College Master Plan, which would lead to the design of a 22-mile freeway around Greensboro known as Painter Boulevard.
In 1990, Dennis became a full partner with Bell and the name of the firm was changed to Bell/Glazener Design Group. Soon afterwards, Dennis designed the Cabarrus Memorial Hospital complex in Concord, NC, his first large solo project. He worked with Bell on the Peace College master plan in Raleigh from 1990-95 and on the St. Mary’s College master plan, including soccer field, from 1989-1999.
Dennis was instrumental in the design of many of the firm’s major landscape architecture projects including Bicentennial Plaza (with the NC Museum of Natural Sciences) and the Wilmington-Blount parking deck in Raleigh; East Carolina University’s Clark-LeClair baseball stadium, the School of Nursing, Joyner Library, the main dormitory areas and campus street design; and UNC-Greensboro’s central plaza area.
Dennis was a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects, but he was never interested in winning awards, so he rarely entered his own projects in awards programs. A perfectionist, he never felt his projects were completely finished since landscape architecture depends largely on how well planting materials mature and thrive over many years.
Dennis was very interested in the arts and was an artist himself, completing numerous paintings of his own. With his wife, he amassed an impressive art collection. He also loved to visit Key West, and he and Sharon spent many weeks there.
Dennis was also an environmentalist. Among other conservation projects, he worked with Sharon and Dick Bell on the use of solar energy and green house design for the NC community college system.
He also spent a great deal of time and energy on the mid-century modernist house he and Sharon shared in Country Club Hills in Raleigh.
Dennis loved to go backpacking and trout fishing. And throughout his life, he loved animals, especially the many cats he and Sharon have taken in and loved for many years. He was also a salt-water aquarium enthusiast and always maintained one of his own.
Dennis is survived by his wife, Sharon, his mother-in-law and father-in-law Mary Jo and Dick Bell, his brother-in-laws Richard C. Bell Jr. and Ed Stewart, his sister-in-law Cassandra Bell Steward, and his nieces and nephews Raney, Chloe, Duncan, and Max, as well as a great-niece Evelyn. Besides his family, his closest friends were John Cantrell of Kingsport, TN, Francesco Ianneti of Raleigh, Robert Motley of Knightdale, and Algean Garner of Chicago, IL.
Dennis will be cremated and a private memorial will be held in for him in the near future. In lieu of flowers, the family would prefer that donations be made in his honor to the SPCA of Wake County.
Monday, August 30, 2010
This N&O photo was taken inside (looking out) of what used to be my office...
RALEIGH — In its time, the Water Garden stood as a shrine to modern design: a complex of low-slung, hill-hugging offices surrounded by tall, ivy-covered pine trees and ponds topped with lily pads.
You’d never guess from the car dealerships and furniture warehouses that such a gem stood hidden off Glenwood Avenue. And for the last three years, the complex has slowly rotted and gathered squatters’ trash.
But now the site of the 11-acre Water Garden campus, home and life’s work of master landscape architect Dick Bell, is being put to use. Starting next spring, its lush and rolling hills will be converted to low-income housing in a northwest Raleigh neighborhood where it is sorely needed.
Pebbles In The Pond: News & Musings by Landscape Architect Dick Bell 