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Thearchitecture of Atlanta is marked by a confluence ofclassical,modernist,post-modernist, and contemporary architectural styles. Due to theBattle of Atlanta and the subsequent fire in 1864, the city's architecture retains almost no traces of itsAntebellum past. Instead, Atlanta's status as a largely post-modern American city is reflected in its architecture, as the city has often been the earliest, if not the first, to showcase new architectural concepts.[1] However, Atlanta's embrace of modernism has translated into an ambivalence towardarchitectural preservation, resulting in the destruction of architectural masterpieces, including theCommercial-styleEquitable Building (Atlanta's first skyscraper), theBeaux-Arts styleTerminal Station, and theClassicalCarnegie Library. The city's cultural icon, theNeo-MoorishFox Theatre, would have met the same fate had it not been for a grassroots effort to save it in the mid-1970s.[2]
Because Atlanta was a settlement that grew from a planned railroad terminus and later a railroad junction, rather than being planned in a grand manner, its antebellum architecture was unremarkable compared to patricianSavannah or other older Southern cities. The town's most important buildings includedEdward A. Vincent'sUnion Station (1853), theAtlanta,Trout House andWashington Hall hotels, and the Atlanta Bank. An 1859 industrial journal noted that:[3]
19 commodious brick stores were erected in 1858…besides a large number of fine residences, mostly of brick. Many of the new improvements are imposing structures, and would not suffer by comparison with the most elegant portions of our modern cities.
Not a single antebellum building from what was the town of Atlanta remains today. Remaining antebellum architecture inside the city limits consists offour houses that were well outside the city limits in the 19th century, as well as theTullie Smith House which was moved to theAtlanta History Center from a location inNorth Druid Hills, an adjacent suburb.[4] The oldest building inDowntown Atlanta is theGeorgia Railroad Freight Depot (1869).
Most of Atlanta was burned during the Civil War, depleting the city of a large stock of its historic architecture. Yet Atlanta, architecturally, had never been particularly "southern." Because Atlanta originated as a railroad town, rather than apatrician southern seaport likeSavannah orCharleston, many of the city's landmarks could have easily been erected in theNortheast orMidwest,[2] and indeed this was one reason why Atlanta referred to itself frequently as "the New York" or "the Chicago of the South."[5][6][7][8]
Throughout theAmerican Renaissance and beyond, Atlantans were amazed at successive waves of ever more impressive hotels, civic and industrial architecture, and office buildings, such as theEquitable Building (8 stories, 1892),Candler Building (17 stories, 1906), andRhodes-Haverty Building (21 stories, 1929). Among the most notable architects active in Atlanta between the Civil War and World War Two wereA. Ten Eyck Brown,Francis Palmer Smith andG. Lloyd Preacher.
During the Cold War era, Atlanta followed global modernist trends, especially with regards to office towers and commercial buildings. Examples ofmodernist architecture include theWestin Peachtree Plaza (1976),Georgia-Pacific Tower (1982), theState of Georgia Building (1966), and theAtlanta Marriott Marquis (1985).[citation needed]
The era's most notable architect may be Atlanta-nativeJohn Portman, whoseHyatt Regency Hotel (1968) made a significant mark on the hospitality sector. A graduate ofGeorgia Tech'sCollege of Architecture, Portman's work reshaped downtown Atlanta with his designs for theAtlanta Merchandise Mart,Peachtree Center, theWestin Peachtree Plaza Hotel, andTruist Plaza.[citation needed]
In the latter half of the 1980s, Atlanta became one of the early-adopters of postmodern designs which reintroduced classical elements to the cityscape. Many of Atlanta's tallest skyscrapers were built from the late 1980s to the early 1990s, with most displaying tapering spires or otherwise ornamented crowns, such asOne Atlantic Center (1987),191 Peachtree Tower (1991), and theFour Seasons Hotel Atlanta (1992). And at 1,023 feet (312 m), Atlanta's tallest skyscraper—theBank of America Plaza (1992)—is the61st-tallest building in the world and the 9th tallest building in the United States.[9]
More recently, Atlanta's built environment has been getting more eclectic and diverse. For example,3344 Peachtree (2008) is more in the glass-walled modernist vein, whileMillennium Gate (also completed in 2008) is the largest classical monument in the U.S. to have been dedicated since completion of theJefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.[10]
With the dawn of the twenty-first century, many former industrial buildings were repurposed for residential and retail use, many along theBeltLine, former railroad rights-of-way which became a ring of trails around the central city. Examples arePonce City Market,Krog Street Market,Telephone Factory Lofts,Fulton Bag and Cotton Mills,King Plow andGoat Farm Arts Centers and many others, particularly in theOld Fourth Ward,Inman Park Village,Cabbagetown andReynoldstown, and theMarietta Street Artery.[citation needed]
Arts facilities have led the way for modernists in Atlanta architecture with theHigh Museum designed byRichard Meier with a 2005 addition byRenzo Piano. A recent design competition resulted in Freelon Associates (in conjunction with HOK) being selected as the architect for the new $100 million home of the Center for Civil and Human Rights.Michael Graves' post-modern style is exhibited in the Ten Peachtree Place office building inMidtown and theMichael C. Carlos Museum on the campus ofEmory University. The 50-storyOne Atlantic Center was designed byPhilip Johnson in association withJohn Burgee. Completed in 1980, the Atlanta-Fulton Central Public Library was designed by one of the 20th century's most notable modernists architects,Marcel Breuer, who holds the distinction of having studied and taught at theBauhaus, where early in his career Breuer first became a renowned furniture designer. Atlanta also has its ownFlatiron Building, built in 1897, five years before the more famousFlatiron Building inNew York City (1902).[11]
| Rank | Name | Height ft (m) | Floors | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bank of America Plaza | 01.01,023 (312) | 55 | 1992 | 63rd-tallest building in the world,10th-tallest in the U.S. Has been the tallest building in Atlanta, Georgia and theSouthern United States since 1992. Tallest building in anyU.S. state capital.[12] |
| 2 | Truist Plaza | 02.0871 (265) | 60 | 1992 | 77th-tallest building in the world,25th-tallest in the U.S.[13] |
| 3 | One Atlantic Center | 03.0820 (250) | 50 | 1987 | 125th-tallest building in the world,38th-tallest in the U.S. Also known as the IBM Tower.[14][15][16] |
| 4 | 191 Peachtree Tower | 04.0770 (235) | 50 | 1990 | 200th-tallest building in the world,57th-tallest in the U.S.[17][18] |
| 5 | Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel | 05.0723 (220) | 73 | 1976 | 93rd-tallest building in the U.S. Stood as the tallest all-hotel building in the world from 1976 until 1977.[19][20] |
| 6 | Georgia-Pacific Tower | 06.0697 (212) | 52 | 1982 | [21][22] Total building area is 1,567,011 sq.ft.[23] |
| 7 | Promenade II | 07.0691 (211) | 38 | 1990 | [24][25] |
| 8 | AT&T Midtown Center | 08.0677 (206) | 47 | 1982 | Also known as the BellSouth Building.[26][27] |
| 9 | 3344 Peachtree | 09.0665 (203) | 48 | 2008 | Also known as the Sovereign.[28][29] |
| 10 | 1180 Peachtree | 10.0657 (200) | 41 | 2006 | Formerly known as the Symphony Center.[30][31] |
Atlanta is home to the award-winning, internationally acclaimed Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects (formerly Scogin, Elam and Bray Architects). Contemporary practices include BLDGS, Lightroom, Dencity, G+G Architects, Houser Walker Architecture, plexus r+d, Smith Dalia, Square Feet Studio, and Robert M. Cain, Architect. Large firms includeStevens & Wilkinson,Perkins and Will (Owned byDar Al-Handasah), Collins Cooper Carusi, TVS (Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates), Lord Aeck Sargent, Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart & Associates, andCooper Carry Inc.
TheGeorgia Institute of Technology College of Architecture, located just west of midtown Atlanta offers both pre-professional undergraduate and professional graduate degrees in architecture, and hosts regular lectures and symposia of interest to students and professionals.Kennesaw State University formerly known asSouthern Polytechnic State University in Marietta, a suburb of Atlanta, offers a five-year professional undergraduate degree and also hosts lectures and exhibits works in the architecture building's gallery space.
The Young Architects Forum of the Atlanta chapter of the American Institute of Architects sponsors open design competitions, exhibits, and lectures of interest to the profession and the general public.
chicago of the south.
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