1981 - Georgia Power Moved Four Blocks & Abandoned Downtown

All the folks I knew at Georgia Power / Southern Company worked at the corner of Peachtree and Baker. In 1981 they moved to the new Georgia Power Corporate Headquarters. Georgia Power moved out of downtown while technically staying downtown. Many of our big corporate citizens follow suit. They aren't coming back downtown.


I like the place OK. I've been to a meeting in the top floor boardroom, nice with a terrific view. Way better than the Jackson Street bridge.

But these folks aren't on Peachtree any more.


Seemed like a cool idea at the time. The utilities were growing with the region, security was a big issue, and the energy crises. They decided to build an energy conscious landmark between the downtown connector and the Civic Center.

And hey, nearly 300,000 vehicle occupants see it every day.


Round here you need a fence and wall.


Shuttles park here.


Pedestrian entrance with nice private park to the right.


Lot's of fences. A suburban office park.


But more private.

This has bugged me for 35 years.

Would they do this today? I think not. They'd just build in Midtown like NCR or at Permeinter like State Farm or Sandy Springs like Mercedes-Benz.

Michael Kleeman - J. Neel Reid Prize Winner, 2002 focus on Sebastiano Serlio

Heck of a night August 13. It was the BlackCatTips (Kyle Brooks) solo show for the Art Institute of Atlanta. I met Kyle's mom and dad, I met Nicole Jacobs, and I met Michael Kleeman, the Academic Department Director for Design, Leading Interior Design, Illustration, Graphic and Web Design for The Art Institute of Atlanta.

I've wanted to blog Michael for the last five years because...


Michael Kleeman is the J. Neel Reid Prize winner for 2002 and I'm trying to blog all the prize winners.


Because this is the kind of work Neel Reid Prize winners can do. Hat tip to the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation who awards this prize and to author William R. Mitchell whose book, J. Need Reid Architect helps fund the prize.

The application deadline for the 2017 Neel Reid Prize is February 10, 2017.

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Italicized text is from Michael's prize application.

Sansovino’s Logetta, Venice

 

Sansovino’s Library and Logetta, Venice

"Venice to study the work of Sansovino
Vincenza to study the work of Palladio
Verona to study the rok of Sanmicheli
Mantua to study the work of Romano
Florence to study the work of Vasari and Ammanati
Rome to study the work of Vignola and da Sangallo the Younger"



Basilica, Venice

"I hope to complete my research of Sebastiano Serlio through first hand recording of the works of his contemporaries throughout Italy."



  Palazzo Porto, Vicenza, Italy




Villa Rotunda.

 "The conferenacse that I attend and present at, the classes that I instruct currently at Georgia Tech...lead to my goal of becoming a professorof architectural history and promoting that field within the schools of architecture."


Palazzo Te



Palazzo del Te or Palazzo Te is a palace in the suburbs of Mantua, Italy. It is a fine example of the mannerist style of architecture, the acknowledged masterpiece of Giulio Romano.

"I remember...seeing only one slide of some buildings folowed by research in textbooks showing the same view again."


The Palazzo degli Uffizi (Uffizi Palace) was built between 1560 and 1580 to house the administration of the government of grand duke Cosimo I de' Medici. The elegant building was designed by the duke's favorite architect, Giorgio Vasari,


Palazzo Pandolfin 
 

Palazzo Pitti.

 

"By allowing me to gain a first hand understanding I take a step coloser to bringing that information back though my sketches, photographs, notes. and memories. "