The Shutze Driving Tours from the Institute of Classical Architecture Classical America Southeast Chapter are missing.
Atlanta's fastest growth came in the suburban age, the age of edge cities.We don't have blocks and blocks of beautiful turn of the century town-homes and commercial buildings.We do have some! Many have connections to a Atlanta's own extraordinarily talented and productive
Philip Trammell Shutze. So in anticipation of the 2010 Shutze Awards (
here's my post about the 2009 awards), I'm blogging about the many Shutze structures that are a regular part of my life. Taking a close look has been quite a joy.
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Based on St. Stephen Wallbrook (1678) by Sir Christopher Wren it's certainly "little," about 33 feet square. Yet, it soars. It seems small enough to take in at a glace. But to my eye, it's monumental. It's extravagent in every way but it makes me feel welcome, worthy. It's open to the pubic, yet nearly unknown. Read the article. |
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You could spend a lifetime cruising Peachtree, Pharr, and Piedmont Roads in Buckhead yet never see it. It's tucked away a block east of Peachtree in Garden Hills. It's Atlanta International School now and looking its dignified best. Read the article. |
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Goddard Memorial Chapel at Grady Hospital (1956) is probably the least seen public spaces designed by Shutze. It's also the least expected: at the end an antiseptic corridor of Atlanta's colossal modern public hospital. Yet there it is, offering a haven for folks often facing difficult times. It's in perfect condition. The Goddard Chapel restoration won the Shutze Award for Craftsmanship in 2010. Read the article. |
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"The Thornton- Jones House (1936) on West Paces Ferry Road Shutze’s inspiration for this home was from the late 18th and 19th century English and American neoclassical forms which he updated with his own personal interpretation. The front of the house was designed in the English Regency style and the rear is in the American Federal style." West Paces Ferry Road is so impressive it's hard to notice this house at 35 mph. It just seems to fit on the large lot. It's beautiful but quiet, relatively modest, not overwhelming. Read the article. |
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"The great Atlanta architect, Philip Trammel Shutze, must have had a very good time. We see him here in his prime, sketching pencils in hand, perched on a window ledge of the Palazzo Venezia in Rome with the column of Trajan beyond. That’s architectural bliss! A fortunate architect indeed. And that’s what we are doing this evening: honoring that tradition and continuing that tradition. The Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America, through its Southeast Chapter, is proud to affirm the tradition and standards by which Philip Shutze directed his practice by recognizing new expressions of beautiful classical and traditional architecture." Read the article. |
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Grady is the most "seen" Shutze building. It's across the street from Piedmont Park after all. Generations of students, teachers, and parents had memorable years here. I'm sure folks don't pay much attention though. You might have caught a glimpse from the Charles Allen park gate when you saw Paul McCartney, ran the Peachtree, or did the Dogwood Festival. This is an elegant neoclassic school house. Read the article. |
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In his long, productive career, Mr. Shutze was a match for anyone in his field. He attracted clients who filled Atlanta with remarkable homes, apartments, schools, churches and commercial buildings. It's only fitting that Southeast Chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America named these awards in his honor "...to recognize the excellence of artisans and designers... about the enduring excellence, appeal and importance of traditional design." Read the article. |
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It looks better now than it has looked since 1969 when I first laid eyes on it. It was a seedy looking hotel, a flophouse. It deteriorated from there, abandoned for more than a decade. Even at the bottom, the Manor kept its dignity. It's looking great now, part of our resurgent Midtown. Read the article. |
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It's a terrace level +2, U-shaped little building on a sharp corner amid big pines. I imagine it's a 400 year old Roman building teleported to Atlanta just before I drive by. Read the article. |
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Rich's and Davison's were the premier department stores in Atlanta. I think they elevated the folks who shopped there. I can't say I ever looked closely at the extraordinary entrances. The best architecture makes humans feel good and we don't have to understand why. Read the article. |
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Today Bank of America runs the banking floor. The building is home to Georgia State's Robinson College of Business. Important things still happen here. But very few Atlantans have any occasion to visit here anymore. Read the article. |
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It's big, beautiful, nearly invisible, almost completely walled in by hospital expansions. I don't know if it's still the maternity ward. Unless you are in the new hospital tower, or on the top floor of the parking deck, you'll never see it. I've had the good fortune to visit the loggia. Read the article. |
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It's the main pedestrian entrance. But folks don't really visit hospitals on foot. Too bad because the usually empty courtyard is one of my favorite places at Emory, maybe in the whole city. Read the article. |
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It get's better with each visit, with each drive by. We expect our steeples to be tall and pointy. Here we have a dome. Read the article. |
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Within view of the Haygood Hopkins Gate and next door to the Glenn Methodist Church, is the Rich Memorial Building (1947), part of Emory's business school. The facade aims west into a campus woodland. It feels almost isolated. Read the article. |
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Fraternity row is a stately street of mansions on grand lots, the perfect setting for Greek temples with a southern tinge. Two are by Philip Trammell Shutze. Read the article. |
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The central section could be an elaborate townhouse in any ancient European City. It's a palace where 18 year old students live. Read the article. |
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It's Emory University's front door per the master plan by Henry Hornbostel. This particular gate has been here since 1947. It may be Emory's gate but it has a direct connection to Georgia Tech. Read the article. |
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Shiny brick? On Sunday while taking pictures of Shutze's Grady High School (where my kids went to school, where I've been 100's of times), I had my first brick epiphany. Read the article. |
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I took nearly 100 pictures at Emory University, home of several Philip Shutze designs. Well, "designs" is an understatement. I hope to blog about each of them. Here are some hints: Read the article. |
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I've been cruising it for decades, always noticing but never knowing. This must be Mr. Shutze's most straightforward and least likely to become a white elephant. Many families have lived here. It's probably been enjoyed by more residents than any other of his houses. Read the article. |
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I recommend
American Classicist: The Architecture of Philip Trammell Shutze by Elizabeth Meredith Dowling, Rizzoli 1989. This is a scholarly book that is quite good on the coffee table.
Unfortunately Shutze was not the primary or sole architect to work on either the Andrew Calhoun house or the Villa. I would like to see documented evidence for the claims of Prof. Dowling. If this work is to be scholarly, then their must be objective evidence for the conclusions, not opinion.
ReplyDeleteSo noted. Anonymous
ReplyDeleteIf I'd known you had this many links to Shutze, I'd have linked my most recent post on the Swan House. Mind if I do?
ReplyDelete