Friday, October 31, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
The Built Environment in the News!
Repurposed Walmarts on NPR: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95788156
and Clark Howard rips on chain bank architecture: http://clarkhoward.com/liveweb/shownotes/2007/10/19/12794/
The Mall of Georgia
For our mall assignment I decided to go to the Mall of Georgia and see just how quickly mall security responded to reports of someone with a camera...they did not seem concerned at all until I actually left the mall and took a picture of a parking lot, that's when all hell broke loose. I managed to get away and found a new reason to hate malls.
This is also the main entrance...the space is architecturally unique, but it really feels like an airplane hanger. Its massive scale removes the individual from the equation. The massive window as well as the skylights admit a great amount of light which helps provide a distinct atmosphere. The skylights are repeated throughout the mall and provide an atrium-esque quality which is furthered by the openings in the second floor to allow light to reach the first. But again, the massive scale of the buildings makes it feel like an airplane hanger.
Traffic through the rest of the mall is often interrupted. These images show the variety of impediments to even traffic flow. First is a carousel inside the main entrance...as if the screaming children weren't enough to make you leave, they now have a carousel to increase the ridiculous carnival feeling of the mall. You can also see the crisscrossing escalators which move the herds up to the second and third floors of the mall. Since the mall is supposed to be the mall in the state, it has several displays depicting the history and culture of the state's various regions. Here one guy examines the Piedmont display looking at wood working tools and archaeological artifacts. I'm not sure how a few display boxes in the middle of an atrium can educated the public, but at least there is something unique in this approach. Not to worry though, the fountains and kitschy kiosks which are de rigeur for malls are not overlooked...they exist, but are really unattractive and/or awkward, especially the fountain which is designed to look like a gold panner's sluice box.
"... just a few miles down the highway ..."
In the three motels pictured below, the motel tradition which Liebs traces is clearly visible. The Royal Inn Motel, of post-war era construction, survives a road bypass which makes the pre-war Duffy Motel obsolete. Both display the mom-and-pop history of converting the family house/land into a motor court for travelers. The Royal Inn maintained that purpose while the Duffy Motel shifted into a residential space before becoming an uninhabited space. In contrast, the contemporary Jameson Inn balances both the traditional motel function with hotel expectations, drawing on regional architectural elements and technological amenities to attract travelers from two different markets.
In the photo of the Royal Inn Motel, a post-war motor inn located on Highway 41 in Calhoun (and two blocks away from the intersection with Highway 53), the motel history is clearly visible in the combination of a main house with an L-shaped building housing motel rooms. The domestic imagery pervades this motel, with the siding on the motel buildings and the "office" which is clearly a house converted into the management space for the motel. A carport has been added to accomodate visitors during inclement weather. The buttery yellow color scheme--balanced by the bright red signage clearly visible from the road (see inset picture)--emphasizes this domestic style. This space clearly is designed for the traveler in his/her car and most likely serves working and lower middle class travelers who drive a little further into town looking for the less expensive overnight stay. The functional hotel elements--separate rooms, outsi
de entrances, extras like air conditioning and parking--are present, yet the amenities associated with hotels (discussed later) are not in evidence. This era motel still survives because it is approximately one mile from an interstate exit and still on the main road through town.
In contrast, Duffy's Motel met the fate of many early motor inns, falling into disuse as the major roads bypassed an originally well-traveled site. Also on Highway 41 about two miles from the Royal Inn Motel, Duffy's Motel shows a similar design scheme of the main office building being a brick residence (and there's been no attempt to integrate the design of the house with the design of the motel buildings) and the separate buildings (three total) being long rows of rooms set at a perpendicular angle to the road (see first inset). 
This angle is one of the differences from the first motel and an element that Liebs addresses. Once, evidently, the land value of this stretch of 41 was high enough to make the road frontage small and the alignment of the motel be vertical. Interestingly, the buttery yellow color is still in evidence. The architecture of the separate buildings is extremely functional, again pointing to a choice Liebs discusses--that these families focused attention on the interior rather than 
the exterior. There are hints, however, of the pre-war era of this motel. The original signage (see second inset) has the streamlined moderne curves. This hotel would have served the leisure traveler; in its more recent history, it serves workers who need cheap, residential accommodations. It also has signs saying that it can be used for storage, but, as is clear, this motel has been all but abandoned.
The contemporary h/motel, the Jameson Inn, shows the evolution of highway motels. Drawing on regional architectural elements to inspire a pastoral, manor house, this inn advertises the expected, high tech amenities of the business and leisure traveler as well as projecting the family atmosphere (see inset with its Thanksgiving/Halloween display and landscaping) through such details as paned windows, dark shutters, chimneys, and dormer windows. The Jameson Inn draws from both the hotel and motel traditions. While it offers comforts and 
business support (such as high speed wireless) like a downtown hotel or a Holiday Inn Express specifically designed to accommodate business travelers, it is also a lesser-known chain which can seemingly draw on small-town charm, enhanced by its architectural design.
In the photo of the Royal Inn Motel, a post-war motor inn located on Highway 41 in Calhoun (and two blocks away from the intersection with Highway 53), the motel history is clearly visible in the combination of a main house with an L-shaped building housing motel rooms. The domestic imagery pervades this motel, with the siding on the motel buildings and the "office" which is clearly a house converted into the management space for the motel. A carport has been added to accomodate visitors during inclement weather. The buttery yellow color scheme--balanced by the bright red signage clearly visible from the road (see inset picture)--emphasizes this domestic style. This space clearly is designed for the traveler in his/her car and most likely serves working and lower middle class travelers who drive a little further into town looking for the less expensive overnight stay. The functional hotel elements--separate rooms, outsi
de entrances, extras like air conditioning and parking--are present, yet the amenities associated with hotels (discussed later) are not in evidence. This era motel still survives because it is approximately one mile from an interstate exit and still on the main road through town. 
In contrast, Duffy's Motel met the fate of many early motor inns, falling into disuse as the major roads bypassed an originally well-traveled site. Also on Highway 41 about two miles from the Royal Inn Motel, Duffy's Motel shows a similar design scheme of the main office building being a brick residence (and there's been no attempt to integrate the design of the house with the design of the motel buildings) and the separate buildings (three total) being long rows of rooms set at a perpendicular angle to the road (see first inset). 
This angle is one of the differences from the first motel and an element that Liebs addresses. Once, evidently, the land value of this stretch of 41 was high enough to make the road frontage small and the alignment of the motel be vertical. Interestingly, the buttery yellow color is still in evidence. The architecture of the separate buildings is extremely functional, again pointing to a choice Liebs discusses--that these families focused attention on the interior rather than 
the exterior. There are hints, however, of the pre-war era of this motel. The original signage (see second inset) has the streamlined moderne curves. This hotel would have served the leisure traveler; in its more recent history, it serves workers who need cheap, residential accommodations. It also has signs saying that it can be used for storage, but, as is clear, this motel has been all but abandoned. 
The contemporary h/motel, the Jameson Inn, shows the evolution of highway motels. Drawing on regional architectural elements to inspire a pastoral, manor house, this inn advertises the expected, high tech amenities of the business and leisure traveler as well as projecting the family atmosphere (see inset with its Thanksgiving/Halloween display and landscaping) through such details as paned windows, dark shutters, chimneys, and dormer windows. The Jameson Inn draws from both the hotel and motel traditions. While it offers comforts and 
business support (such as high speed wireless) like a downtown hotel or a Holiday Inn Express specifically designed to accommodate business travelers, it is also a lesser-known chain which can seemingly draw on small-town charm, enhanced by its architectural design. Sunday, October 26, 2008
The Downtown Piece of ATL's CBD
A stroll through downtown Atlanta presents a very different CBD than New York's, which is described in Larry Ford's "Cities and Buildings". Because the city isn't located on an island or a coastline, the CBD has wandered over the years, spending a good deal of its history downtown starting in the mid-18th century but eventually wandering up Peachtree Street to create present day Midtown and Buckhead.
This "wandering" combined with a much weaker popularity than first-tier cities like NYC, Chicago and San Francisco until very recently, has turned the downtown portion of Atlanta's CBD into a patchwork quilt of architecture.
Above we see the historic Candler Building juxtaposed by its more modern neighbor, the Georgia Pacific building. While the GP skyscraper displays all the characteristics of a 1970s post-modern highrise with all the technologies available to allow it to tower over the Candler Building (steel-frame construction, A/C, quicker elevators), the Candler Building's U-shape and double-hung windows date the building back to a time before central air and electric lights. In addition to the telling ornateness of the Candler Building, its facade is divided into thirds, as early skyscraper architects struggled with how to divide up these tall, new buildings.
Not only has Atlanta's less demanding CBD retained such early 20th century gems like the Candler Building, but also structures like this brick five-story industrial warehouse/factory. Even though Atlanta's downtown does boast skyscrapers like the Weston hotel in the distance, remaining structures like this warehouse, which now serves as a parking deck, demonstrate that its not necessarily real estate prices that are insisting on these mammoth structures...it is more likely just an attempt at creating another symbol for the downtown skyline.
Though Atlanta doesn't have the early 20th-century skyscrapers of New York and Chicago, it does have office buildings like the Candler along with 10 story structures like the one pictured above. Though the original intent of the building above isn't known, it easily reminds one of the early department stores seen in New York, with its wide footprint, large windows and 10-story limit. The modernized, 2-story building in the foreground is another example that downtown Atlanta's real estate prices still don't compare with those of NYC or Chicago. The 70s mid-rises at the back of the photograph, tower over their neighbors and remind us of downtown revitalization projects that attempted to lure residents back downtown in the 60s and 70s.
This "wandering" combined with a much weaker popularity than first-tier cities like NYC, Chicago and San Francisco until very recently, has turned the downtown portion of Atlanta's CBD into a patchwork quilt of architecture.
Above we see the historic Candler Building juxtaposed by its more modern neighbor, the Georgia Pacific building. While the GP skyscraper displays all the characteristics of a 1970s post-modern highrise with all the technologies available to allow it to tower over the Candler Building (steel-frame construction, A/C, quicker elevators), the Candler Building's U-shape and double-hung windows date the building back to a time before central air and electric lights. In addition to the telling ornateness of the Candler Building, its facade is divided into thirds, as early skyscraper architects struggled with how to divide up these tall, new buildings.
Not only has Atlanta's less demanding CBD retained such early 20th century gems like the Candler Building, but also structures like this brick five-story industrial warehouse/factory. Even though Atlanta's downtown does boast skyscrapers like the Weston hotel in the distance, remaining structures like this warehouse, which now serves as a parking deck, demonstrate that its not necessarily real estate prices that are insisting on these mammoth structures...it is more likely just an attempt at creating another symbol for the downtown skyline.
Though Atlanta doesn't have the early 20th-century skyscrapers of New York and Chicago, it does have office buildings like the Candler along with 10 story structures like the one pictured above. Though the original intent of the building above isn't known, it easily reminds one of the early department stores seen in New York, with its wide footprint, large windows and 10-story limit. The modernized, 2-story building in the foreground is another example that downtown Atlanta's real estate prices still don't compare with those of NYC or Chicago. The 70s mid-rises at the back of the photograph, tower over their neighbors and remind us of downtown revitalization projects that attempted to lure residents back downtown in the 60s and 70s.
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