Architecture in Altanta

Style

Atlanta, a city in forefront. Studying the skyscrapers of , districts and inluent architects.

Urban Planning

Two different visions. Roads, blocks and transit, a diferent approach between and France ?

The job of an Architect

Facing challenges. Interview of an architect and teacher in Architecture at .

REMY Mikael - June 2018

SUMMARY Page 02 Page 12 Style. Urban Planning.

Page 16 Job of an Architect.

Architecture in Atlanta This project is about describing the Then, we will see the Urban Planiication architecture in Atlanta, through 3 big in Atlanta/Georgia and how it is diferent themes. in France.

Firstly, studying the architectural styles in And inally, the job of an architect in Atlanta and some buildings of the city, Atlanta, his tastes and his point of view talking about their history, their styles about architecture in Atlanta. and the architects who created them.

Credits zone

REMY Mikael Photos of buildings and landscape : REMY Mikael I wanna thank my awesome host family who helped me a lot to make this project, taking me to Atlanta and helping me to meet people like an architect and teacher in architecture. And who made me discover America and the american culture. 02 STYLE.

Atlanta is well known to be in the As a result, the state has had to expand forefront of architectural innovations, and alter it's structural design to meet but is also one of the irst cities to have the demands of it's growing economy displayed new architectural styles. and population.

The city's unique history and culture sets During the 80s, the city was one of the this city apart from others. irsts to adopt post-modern designs and For example, Atlanta's railroad system many of it's skyscrapers were built at has had a lasting impact on the layout that time as the SunTrust Plaza. and the design of the city. Buildings like the Bank of America Plaza, Georgia was looking to establish itself as the Westin plaza or the King & Queen the southern headquarters for many Buildings are known around the world for businesses which they did. their originality or their importance. 03

Downtown Midtown

Downtown is the historic center of the Midtown was a residential district that city and is also the central business experienced a large scale commercial district. It is composed of many and economical growth in the late 70s buildings and skyscrapers that are due to the construction of Colony occupied by privates and publics Square and the MARTA Subway. business oices. It is now the second business district This district aims to attract companies after downtown with the presence of headquarters but tourists too. big companies Headquarters like Coca- Cola. In fact, most of the touristic attractions of the city, like the This district is also known as "The Centennial Olympic park, the Georgia Heart of the Arts" in Atlanta because Aquarium and the World of Coca-Cola of the large presence of cultural are located downtown. attractions such as the , Atlanta's Symphony Orchestra or the High Museum of Arts. 04 Bank of America Plaza

Atlanta's highest building and one of the The Bank of America Plaza was designed in a tallest across the . Art Deco style by Roche-Dinkeloo, an Built in 1992, the construction took 14 architectural irm founded in 1966 in Hamden, months although it's a 312m (1,023ft) Connecticut that also designed big projects building. like the Shiodome City Center in Tokyo or the This skyscraper is dominating the skyline of SEC headquarters in Washington D.C. Atlanta and can be seen all around the city. 05 06 101 Marietta

Also known as the Centennial Tower, this The building interior was recently renovated building is located in downtown within a by Perkins+Will, a famous architectural irm walking distance to the Centennial Olympic who designed the front lobby, winner of the Park. Georgia Merit Award in Interiors. This 140m (460ft) buidling was built in 1975 and completely renovated in 1999, it is now owned by The Diwleg Companies, a real estate investment irm. 07 08 Westin 191 Peachtree Peachtree Plaza Tower

This 220m (723ft) skyscraper is one of the Winner of the BOMA Building of the Year tallest hotels in the world (it opened as the Awards 3 times, this tower was Atlanta's tallest) and is owned by Westin Hotels. major business address until 2006. Built in 1976, the building was designed by This is a 235m (771ft) postmodern tower John Portman, a very famous architect from designed by Johnson/Burgee and Kendall/ Atlanta who also designed the Mariott hotel Heaton architectural irms built in 1991. and the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta. 09 Concourse at Landmark center

Most commonly known as the King and Queen They were designed by tvsdesign, a world- Towers, theses 174m (570ft) and 169m (553ft) renowned architectural irm from Atlanta who buildings were built in 1988 and 1991. also designed huge projects like the Georgia They are located in Sandy Springs, GA, part of Dome, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium and the Atlanta's metropolitan area and are the tallest Galaxy Mall in Tianjin, China. suburban buildings of the United States and are owned by Building and Land Technology. 10 Georgia Paciic Tower

Located in Downtown, the GP tower is 212m This skyscraper was designed in a modern (697ft) tall and was the second tallest building architectural style by Skidmore, Owings & in the city when it was built in 1982. (now the Merrill, an architectural irm who also 6th) designed the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, known as Georgia Paciic is a pulp and paper irm based the world tallest skyscraper and the One in Atlanta and one of the biggest around the World Trade Center in . world, now owned by Koch Industries. 11 The Equitable Building

The Equitable Building, also known as Skidmore, Owings & Merrill designed this 100 Peachtree is a 138m (453ft) tall oice building too but in an International building located at the heart of downtown. architectural style. Constructed in 1968 for the Equitable Life The glowing sign will probably be replaced Insurance Company, the building was sold in soon with the Georgia's Own Credit Union 1997 but kept his "Equitable" glowing sign. logo. 12 Coca-Cola One Coca-Cola headquarters Plaza

Home of the Coca-Cola Company in Midtown, This modernist, 123m (403ft) tall, building was close to the World of Coca-Cola and Georgia achieved in 1980 and designed by FABRAP Tech. architects, an architectural irm now owned by Coca-Cola, founded in Atlanta in 1886, is one Rosser International. of the most inluent companies around the world. 13 Atlanta's 1996 Olympic Village Now a part of Georgia Tech's campus, the The village is composed of 6 buildings Olympic Village was constructed in order destined to host thousands of people. to host the olympic athletes during the Olympic Games of 1996 14 URBAN PLANNING.

The American Urban Planning has To continue, we can talk about the some notables diferences with it's fact that the American cities have a French counterpart. tendency to grow taller with buildings, skyscrapers and diferents sorts of tall In the irst place, in France, public constructions. transportation is holding a big place in On the other hand, the french cities urban planning, bus, train, tramway, are growing larger for the most of velib and co. are very common while, them. in America, having a car is absolutely I think personnally that the American required if you live outiside the city way seems more logical, buildings are and need to move. taking less land for the same result in Also, because of this public term of space, are attracting tourists transportation politic, cars are being and raising the price of the real estate forbidden in more and more city around them. centers, according more space for pedestrians.

Blocks

American cities are recognizable as they're composed of square blocks. While french cities are very sinuous, their American counterpart seems very well organized as we can see on this map of Atlanta. We can explain this by the fact that the american cities were built really fast and that the lands were sold square by square. 15 Roads

Cars are the most common mode of This big diference between French and transportation in Georgia. Commuters American urban planning is also because dependent on cars to get around. of the big car culture in America. As a result, Atlanta has some of the worst traic in the country. In this picture, we can see that the roads have up to 4 lanes on each side in the The Georgia Department of suburb of Atlanta. This is something Transportation continuously maintains uncommon in France where roads and improves the roads to manage traic typically have up to 2 lanes on each side. in and around the city. American roads are also wider because of For example, they have expanded the the presence of larger vehicles like big city's major highways, added more lanes SUV's. and implemented the new Peach Pass system. 16 Neighborhoods

In America, houses are organized by neighborhoods also known as subdivisions unlike France where houses are organized by street.

A subdivision is a group of enclosed residential streets with a light traic. The size and style of the homes are unique to the area.

In Georgia, architects are designing the entire neighborhoods before the construction begins, this explains why the houses are very look alike in their neighborhoods whereas the houses in France are built one by one.

While you can have shops, oices and houses in the same street in France. American subdivisions are more regulated and are almost only residential.

Neighborhoods are the archetypal American streets with very well-organized and symmetrical houses, sidewalks, trees, etc. 17 Urban Vegetaion

Also called "The City in a Forest", Atlanta is one of the greenest cities in the United States because of it's native forest and it's urban planning. Trees are dominant in Atlanta's landscape.

Atlanta is covered by trees with more than 350 parks, trees are also put everywhere in the urban design.

The forest is envelopping the city all around and the man infrastructures, giving a very diferent look with other big cities.

It is explained by the fact that the city leaders wants to increase the tree canopy to 50% of the land in the city (actually around 36%).

This big vegetation helps depolluing the air but also cooling the sidewalks and buildings during summer. 18 THE JOB OF AN ARCHITECT. George Johnston

Professor of I went to Georgia Tech, College of Architecture in order to Architecture at Georgia Tech and principal of meet George Barnett Johnston, a well known architect, the Johnston+Dumais architectural irm. teacher, cultural historian and writter.

George has a 35 years experience as an Asking him questions about his career, his point of view architect and is the about French and American architecture but also about the writter from Drafting Culture : A Social architecture in Atlanta. History of Architectural Graphic Standards, an award winning book from The MIT Press. 19

CAREER STYLES

Question: For how long have you Q: What is your favorite architectural been a teacher in architecture ? style ? Answer: For over 30 years. A: That's tough, i have a lot of things Q: Is it a passion for you ? that i like, i mean, i love walking A: Yeah, i mean architecture in the through baroque churches in Italy and irst case inspires a lot of passion and the ancient Roman ruins. teaching is the other thing. I love thick walls and gothic churches Working with people and try to take too. To say only one particular building all the challenges of design is very is tough for me because i feel like i engaging. experienced a lot of them. Q: Why did you chose to become a teacher ? A: I probably always liked school, i mean, it's not that i didn't liked the world outside of school, it's just that i always enjoyed school and interacting with people. 20 FRENCH ARCHITECTURE ATLANTA

Q: What do you think about the French Q: What is your favorite building in architecture in general ? Atlanta ? A: I have a very high opinion of french A: If you were asking me what i would architecture. There's a strong recommend you to see, we could start relationship between French architecture making a list. I think you have to go see and the way architectural education was the High Museum of Arts, designed by established in the United States because Richard Meier and Renzo Piano. of the Ecole Des Beaux-Arts. Some of the earliest American individual architects studied in Paris and then came back to the U.S. they had an ideal about what the profession in the U.S. could be, based upon their experience in France. Q: What do you think are the bigger diferences between French and American architecture ? A: There's a big vision of how the INNOVATION architecture is an expression of the French culture. In the U.S., i dont think it's so strong, the buildings are constructed Q: Do you think that Atlanta is in under european and asian inluences and forefront in term of architectural the result is a kind of american innovations ? architecture but i don't think that the A: That's a good question, there are architects are thinking "We're trying to couple ways you can talk about that. do American architecture". John Portman who died recently, was one that, in the 1970's, had an idea that was not very popular which was that the architects could be their own client and, at the time, that was seen as almost unethical but it came as a new standard. There is other individuals that are less recognized who tried to advance alternative ways for architects joining with builders instead of being separate with builders. This tendency where architects and builders are combined again in partnerships to deliver projects in new ways might realize kind of better eiciency. In that way there're things happening that are innovative. In term of design, i think you have to look harder, ther're some individual irms here who're doing very innovative work like Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects.