Most Famous Building in North Carolina?

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Memories of the most famous building in North Carolina? #OTD (August 31) in 1950 Polish Immigrant Architect #MatthewNowicki died in a plane crash as he was returning from India where he had been designing the Punjab city of Chandigarh. Before leaving his adopted home, North Carolina, he had sketched out the blueprints to #DortonArena. His wife, Stanislawa, also a Polish Immigrant/Architect collaborated with Raleigh architect William Dietrick and finished the plans.

PThe structure, originally intended for livestock exhibitions, is “More a cathedral than a cowshed,” according to the architect and author Frank Harmon. (See link below to ‘Walter Magazine’) The Nowickis had come to North Carolina as faculty at the then, new, NCSU School of Design. Once completed Dorton Arena became the Center and Showcase of the Fairgrounds and home to wrasslin, basketball, rock ‘n roll, and myriad Ag Events. The impetus for the structure’s futuristic look were the dreams of Fair Manager J. S. Dorton, who sought to make the fair the most modern in the world.

Dorton Arena Architect Matthew Nowicki

“The structure is made of two 400-foot-long concrete parabolic arches, tilted and crossing near the ground. Steel cables, made by the same company that built the Brooklyn Bridge, tie the arches together underground. A grid of cables was strung across the tops of the arches to form the roof membrane. Imagine a giant “Pringle” 300 feet long, and you’ve got the picture.” (More a cathedral than a cowshed - WALTER Magazine)

I’ve been inside many times - though I admit that the insides of the exhibition spaces Jim Graham Building and Dorton have blended in my memories over the years. To be sure the yearly trip to The State Fair meant a good wander through the building. It definitely had a certain hopeful Jetsons quality about it in those Atomic Age days of the 1960s in my youth. I remember at least two visits with Momma and Deddy during Hardware Conventions and

once I even spied creepy old Uncle Paul Montgomery (Nevertheless, a hallmark of my childhood remembered fondly in truth) march around the floor, top-hat and dark jazzy shades included, trailed by 20+ pre-schoolers. I got the autograph of Carolina Cougars center George Peeples after an ABA exhibition game there and sometime in the last 20 years I saw/heard Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys there.

I think I also saw a 300 pound pumpkin there too. What about you?

Indeed, the claim could be made that global fame considered, Dorton Arena, is the most famous building in North Carolina. Any rivals come to mind?
 
Most famous? I really like Dorton. Good pick, but my favorites are:

1. Baltimore House
2. NCMA's West Wing
3. Asheville City Building
4. Basilica of Saint Lawrence
5. Dorton
 
Zoo_View said:
It looks vaguely familiar; but, I can’t name it - whereas, I know the Dorton Arena and Biltmore House.
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Biltmore is the obvious answer, but this is the RJ Reynolds building. Designed by the same architecture firm it was the model for the Empire State Building that was completed a few years later.
 
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Y’all seen this?

www.pbsnc.org

When Giants Walked Here | PBS North Carolina

Follow the rise and fall of pro wrestling at Raleigh’s iconic Dorton Arena. Premiering Thursday, 8/8, 10 PM on PBS NC and the PBS App.
www.pbsnc.org www.pbsnc.org

Good Doc - Strange focus though - like they couldn’t decide whether it was about wrasslin’ or Dorton Arena.
 
Just to demonstrate what an ungrateful bunch of brats my father raised, once when we were over at our grandparents house watching wrestling at Dorton Arena, my father walked in and inquired why we were wasting our time watching that nonsense. My father refused to allow a TV in "his" home until I--the youngest of 7-- was a senior in high school. One of my older brothers looked at my father, who had let himself get overweight and said, "Dad, you should take-up wrestling on the weekends. You have pretty much the same build (this was pre-steroid wrestling) as them, you could do it on weekends, and bill yourself as the "Masked Marine." Shortly after that incident, my Dad went on a diet and started walking every day. Some of my fondest memories of my father are the walks we took together. "It's an ill wind that blows no good."
 
Well as long as we’re including any structure, including houses, then The Dean E. Smith Center, better known as “The Dean Dome” is certainly super-famous.
 
Threads like this really highlight the divide between Raleigh and Charlotte. I’ve never seen or heard of Dorton Arena before now, and I can’t imagine that experience is much different for others living in the western half of the state.
 
DantesHair said:
Threads like this really highlight the divide between Raleigh and Charlotte. I’ve never seen or heard of Dorton Arena before now, and I can’t imagine that experience is much different for others living in the western half of the state.
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While I don't think Dorton is particularly great, it is memorable. Serious question...is there anything memorable in Charlotte?
 
Enigma94 said:
Biltmore is the obvious answer, but this is the RJ Reynolds building. Designed by the same architecture firm it was the model for the Empire State Building that was completed a few years later.
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It's the Kimton Cardinal hotel now. We had the NC Real Estate Educators conference there last year. It's a very cool building. The art deco features in the lobby are pretty awesome.
 
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