NCModernist
Shipping containers opened at dusk, lined floor to ceiling with architecture books, beside a bakery counter
NCModernist Pop-Up Book Sale · Boxyard RTP

2,000 Architecture and
Design Books

50–75% Off · Fridays & Saturdays Only
900 Park Offices Drive, Research Triangle Park
Soft open Friday, October 16 at 11 AM

A private collector built a remarkable library of architecture books — and then gave all of it to NCModernist. Now it’s your turn.

Two thousand like-new coffee-table books on architecture, design, art and culture are going on sale at 50% to 75% off the cover price, in a pop-up shop at Boxyard RTP. The big, heavy, gorgeous kind of book that usually costs $60, $85, $150 — the kind you pick up in a museum shop, check the price, and put back.

Don’t put these back. The shop is open only on Fridays and Saturdays, October 16 through November 20, or until the shelves are empty. Every purchase supports the documentation and preservation of modernist houses across North Carolina.

2,000
Like-new
books
%
50–75% off
cover price
Fridays &
Saturdays only
11
Days open.
Then gone.
See the Eleven Sale Days

The Collection

More architecture books than
most people ever see in one place

Five tons. That is what two thousand oversized books weigh when they come off the shelves of a serious collector’s home — boxed, carried and shelved inside a shipping container at Boxyard RTP. The books arrived in like-new condition, the way a true collector keeps them.

The great architecture bookstores — the ones designers make pilgrimages to in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Montreal — all promise the same thing: a carefully chosen collection, books you won’t find at the chain store, and the pleasure of turning a corner and finding something you didn’t know you were looking for. This pop-up delivers all of that, for one month, at a fraction of the price.

Big-format books are meant to be held. You can’t judge the weight of the paper, the quality of the photography or the scale of a fold-out plan on a phone screen. You have to open them. Come open two thousand of them.

“Five tons of beautiful architecture, art, design and culture books is more than most people have ever seen in one place, and these discounts are an extraordinary opportunity to support modernist preservation. Architecture fans, this is your moment.”
— George Smart, Founder, NCModernist

Architecture

Monographs on the masters and the moderns, building studies, and the photo-heavy books that make you want to get in the car and go see the real thing.

Design

Furniture, interiors, objects and graphics — the books that sit open on studio tables for reference and inspiration.

Art

Artists, movements and exhibition catalogues, printed at the scale the work deserves.

Culture

Cities, places, photography and the wider world of ideas that architecture lives in.

The Venue

Boxyard RTP: cargotecture
in the heart of the Park

Boxyard RTP brought the first shipping-container restaurants and shops to Research Triangle Park, home to more than 300 companies since 1959: 15,000 square feet of cargotecture built from 40 upcycled shipping containers, inspired by The Boxyard in Tulsa. The Research Triangle Foundation of North Carolina, steward of the Park, opened it in 2021 on the western edge of Hub RTP, the Park’s 100-acre downtown district.

Local restaurants, craft beer and one-of-a-kind shops fill the containers around an indoor-outdoor courtyard, with a deck, a dog park and a performance stage busy with live music, fitness classes, comedy nights and maker markets. Boxyard has become a launchpad for small businesses, many making the leap from pop-up or online shop to their first real storefront — a fitting home for a pop-up bookstore. Come for the books. Stay for dinner and a drink.

Aerial view of Boxyard RTP: blue shipping containers stacked two high around a courtyard of red umbrellas, under a covered pavilion, surrounded by pine woods
Boxyard RTP from above

Mark Your Calendar

Eleven days. Fridays & Saturdays only.

This is not a store. It’s a pop-up with a hard stop — and with discounts this deep, the best books will walk out the door early. Opening night is two hours only. After November 20, whatever is left is gone.

Soft OpenFridayOct 16From 11 AM
Opening ReceptionFridayOct 165–7 PMFree, registration required. Enter BOXYARD on the form. Limited to 25 people per hour.
SaturdayOct 1711 AM–7 PM
FridayOct 2311 AM–7 PM
SaturdayOct 2411 AM–7 PM
FridayOct 3011 AM–7 PM
SaturdayOct 3111 AM–7 PM
FridayNov 611 AM–7 PM
SaturdayNov 711 AM–7 PM
FridayNov 1311 AM–7 PM
SaturdayNov 1411 AM–7 PM
Last DayFridayNov 2011 AM–7 PM

Or until sold out. Come early.

Come in the daytime for more relaxed browsing. The popup space is incredibly small, so please be patient with your fellow architecture fans as you explore the collection.

Do the Math

Sensationally low prices

Every book is priced at 50% to 75% off its cover price. Here’s what that looks like on the kind of books you’ll find on the shelves:

The Monograph
$60 cover
$15–$30
You pay

The single-architect study you’ve been meaning to buy for years.

The Coffee-Table Showpiece
$85 cover
$21–$43
You pay

Oversized, photo-rich, and heavy enough to anchor a living room.

The Big One
$150 cover
$38–$75
You pay

The slipcased, multi-pound landmark volume. Buy it as a gift. Or keep it.

Examples for illustration. Each book is individually priced at 50–75% off its printed cover price.

Shop Like a Collector

How to make the most of it

01

Arrive early

The inventory is expected to go quickly. The first shoppers through the doors get the first pick of the best books.

02

Look high and low

The best finds hide on the bottom shelf and in the back corner. Take your time, pull books out, open them up.

03

Bring a sturdy bag

These are coffee-table books. Three of them can weigh more than your laptop bag. Bring a strong tote, or park close.

04

Shop for the holidays

A beautiful architecture book is the gift every designer, student and house-lover actually wants. The sale ends right before the season starts.

05

Make an evening of it

Boxyard RTP is a gathering place of food and drink vendors in shipping containers. Browse, then grab a bite and a drink with your finds.

06

Feel good about it

All proceeds support NCModernist’s work to document, preserve and promote modernist houses across North Carolina.

Details

Know Before You Go

Where

Boxyard RTP
900 Park Offices Drive
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

Opening Day

Friday, October 16
Soft open from 11 AM
Opening night 5–7 PM

Then

Fridays and Saturdays, 11 AM–7 PM, through November 20, or until sold out

Prices

50% to 75% off the cover price. All proceeds benefit NCModernist.

About NCModernist

You cannot save something valuable without knowing where it is or why it is important. North Carolina’s brilliant midcentury modernist houses are frequently endangered and torn down, largely because buyers, sellers and realtors do not realize the importance of what they have or how to preserve, repair and protect these livable works of art.

Founded in 2013, NCModernist is the state’s largest open digital archive, with 5,000 modernist houses from 1930 to today, and an award-winning nonprofit mission for the documentation, preservation and promotion of residential modernist architecture. Supporters often donate art, furniture and books to help fund the work. NCModernist has been featured in Our State, WUNC, The News & Observer, Common Edge, Design Milk and more. Learn more at ncmodernist.org.

Media inquiries: Andrea Weigl, Weigl Communications · andrea@weiglcommunications.com · 919-518-7679