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Saturday, November 26, 2016

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.

20161125_135236 2016-11-25 Georgia Power Building  241 Ralph McGill Blvd NE, Atlanta GA 30308
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.

20161122_145455 2016-11-22 Georgia Power Building  241 Ralph McGill Blvd NE, Atlanta GA 30308
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.

20161125_134559 2016-11-25 Georgia Power Building  241 Ralph McGill Blvd NE, Atlanta GA 30308
Round here you need a fence and wall.

20161125_134636 2016-11-25 Georgia Power Building  241 Ralph McGill Blvd NE, Atlanta GA 30308
Shuttles park here.

20161125_135134 2016-11-25 Georgia Power Building  241 Ralph McGill Blvd NE, Atlanta GA 30308
Pedestrian entrance with nice private park to the right.

20161125_134628 2016-11-25 Georgia Power Building  241 Ralph McGill Blvd NE, Atlanta GA 30308
Lot's of fences. A suburban office park.

20161125_134954 2016-11-25 Georgia Power Building  241 Ralph McGill Blvd NE, Atlanta GA 30308
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.

Sunday, November 13, 2016

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.


Italicized text is from Michael's prize application.
Kleeman drawings NReid-2002 (3) Sansovino’s Library  Venice
Sansovino’s Logetta, Venice

 Kleeman drawings NReid-2002 (4) Sansovino’s Library and 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"

Kleeman drawings NReid-2002 (6)
Kleeman drawings NReid-2002 (7)
Basilica, Venice

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

Kleeman drawings NReid-2002 (8)

  Palazzo Porto, Vicenza, Italy
Kleeman drawings NReid-2002 (9) Villa  Rotunda



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."

Kleeman drawings NReid-2002 (10) Palazzo te
Palazzo Te

Kleeman drawings NReid-2002 (11)

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."

Kleeman drawings NReid-2002 (12)
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,

Kleeman drawings NReid-2002 (13) Palazzo Pandolfini
Palazzo Pandolfin 
 
Kleeman drawings NReid-2002 (15) Palazzo Pitti
Palazzo Pitti.

 Kleeman drawings NReid-2002 (17)

"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. "