Know all About the Architecture of Atlanta

Atlanta's monument architecture design is distinguished by a fusion of classical, modernist, post-modernist, and contemporary architectural styles. Because Atlanta was completely destroyed by fire in 1864, the city's architecture bears no resemblance to its Antebellum past. Instead, Atlanta's architecture reflects its status as a largely post-modern American city, as the city has frequently been among the first, if not the first, to showcase new architectural concepts. However, Atlanta's embrace of modernism has translated into an ambivalence towards architectural preservation, resulting in the destruction of architectural masterpieces such as Atlanta's first skyscraper, the Commercial-style Equitable Building, the Beaux-Arts style Terminal Station, and the Classical Carnegie Library. The city's cultural icon, the Neo-Moorish Fox Theatre, would have perished if it hadn't been saved by a grassroots effort in the mid-1970s.

History - Antebellum

Atlanta's antebellum architecture was unremarkable in comparison to patrician Savannah or other older Southern cities because it grew from a planned railroad terminus and later a railroad junction, rather than being planned in a grand manner. The Atlanta, Trout House, and Washington Hall hotels, as well as the Atlanta Bank, were among the town's most important structures. According to an 1859 industrial journal, 19 commodious brick stores were built in 1858...along with a large number of fine residences, mostly of brick. Many of the new improvements are imposing structures that would stand up to the most elegant parts of our modern cities.

There isn't a single antebellum structure left in what was once Atlanta. The only remaining antebellum architecture within the city limits consists of four houses that were well outside the city limits in the nineteenth century, as well as the Tullie Smith House, which was relocated to the Atlanta History Center from North Druid Hills, an adjacent suburb. The Georgia Railroad Freight Depot is the city's oldest structure (1869).

Postbellum

During the Civil War, most of Atlanta was burned down, depleting the city of much of its historic architecture. Yet, architecturally, Atlanta had never been particularly "southern." Because Atlanta began as a railroad town rather than a patrician southern seaport like Savannah or Charleston, many of the city's landmarks could have easily been erected in the Northeast or Midwest, and this was one of the reasons Atlanta frequently referred to itself as "the New York of the South."

Throughout the American Renaissance and beyond, Atlantans were awestruck by successive waves of ever more impressive hotels, civic and industrial architecture, and office buildings, such as the Equitable Building (8 stories, 1892), Candler Building (17 stories, 1906), and Rhodes-Haverty Building (21 stories, 1929). A Ten Eyck Brown, Francis Palmer Smith, and G. Lloyd Preacher were among the most notable architects active in Atlanta between the Civil War and World War II.

Cold War Era

During the Cold War, Atlanta followed global modernist trends, particularly in the construction of office towers and commercial buildings. The Westin Peachtree Plaza (1976), Georgia-Pacific Tower (1982), State of Georgia Building (1966), and Atlanta Marriott Marquis are all examples of modernist architecture (1985).

The most notable architect of the era may be Atlanta native John Portman, whose Hyatt Regency Hotel (1968) made an indelible mark on the hospitality industry. Portman's designs for the Atlanta Merchandise Mart, Peachtree Center, the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel, and SunTrust Plaza reshaped downtown Atlanta. He graduated from Georgia Tech's College of Architecture.

Contemporary Era

Atlanta was an early adopter of postmodern monument architecture and design that reintroduced classical elements to the cityscape in the latter half of the 1980s. Many of Atlanta's tallest skyscrapers were constructed between the late 1980s and the early 1990s, with the majority of them featuring tapering spires or otherwise ornamented crowns, such as One Atlantic Center (1987), 191 Peachtree Tower (1991), and the Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta (1992). Atlanta's tallest skyscraper, the Bank of America Plaza (1992), is the 61st tallest building in the world and the 9th tallest building in the United States, standing at 1,023 feet (312 m).

Atlanta's built environment has recently become more eclectic and diverse. 3344 Peachtree (2008), for example, is more in the glass-walled modernist vein, whereas Millennium Gate (also completed in 2008) is the largest classical monument dedicated in the United States since the completion of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Repurposed industrial architecture

Many former industrial buildings were repurposed for residential and retail use as the twenty-first century began, many along the BeltLine, a former railroad right-of-way that became a ring of trails around the central city. Ponce City Market, Krog Street Market, Telephone Factory Lofts, Fulton Bag and Cotton Mills, King Plow and Goat Farm Arts Centers, and many others, especially in the Old Fourth Ward, Inman Park Village, Cabbagetown and Reynoldstown, and the Marietta Street Artery, are examples.