Kirkwood Firehouse Mosaic by Deanna Sirlin

Atlanta just finished Fire Station 18 in Kirkwood. It features Deanna Sirlin's "Falling Waters," a remarkable 29 x 14 feet mosaic.


Kirkwood isn't on the way to anywhere, not a hip destination right now, but it's worth multiple visits and rewards exploration. You'd need a guide like me to show you around. It has a quite good Wiki Page though, lots for Architecture Tourists to enjoy.

Downtown Kirkwood has the makings of a lovable town center. Parks, library, post office, police station, many churches (and Churches Fried Chicken), funeral home, mansions, bungalows. It is more like a small town than a real small town. It's mostly level ground, rare in Atlanta.

Studio ALA (Li Qi, Zhi Feng, George Hornbein and Nathan Koskovich) designed Fire Station No. 18. You may have stumbled by their Eureka Drive studios near ADAC.


Do you like the new Firehouse? I do. Modern and historic in one package. It keeps my eye moving. Did they build the fire house behind a waterfall?

Compared to Arden's Gaden, it's modest. Kirwook is funky enough to take it in.


It's certainly in keeping with the 1927 Sutton and Whisenant Building.


It looks great framed in a bay of the Kirkwood Car Wash next door. Is it a Mondrian?


Don't those doors look great? Inside, the fire trucks and firefighters are ready to help.


I feel cool and calm up close.


I wonder, what if Sirlin switched that red tile and the turquoise tile?


I hope you'll see it one day.

More Atlanta commisions by Deanna Sirlin
At Terminus 200 ( intersection of Peachtree and Piedmont Rd in the lobby.
Faraway Near, 2009 C-print transparancy on glass 6 x 30 feet Commission by Pope and Land, Atlanta, GA, at the building at Peachtree and Peachtree Dunwoody [3660]

P.S. Thanks to PB & J Gallery in Kirkwood for last night's reception. More pictures here.

P.P.S. Here is Kirkwood Car Wash's Facebook page. Thanks to owner Stuart Brady for saying hello last night. He was out on a Friday night making sure everything was clean and working properly.

49 Mosaics in Mr. Turner's Neighborhood on Luckie Street

Julia over at Hooked on Houses is hosting her "Hooked on Friday's" blog party. This is my 5th try. This week I'm hooked on the Luckie Street mosaics in downtown Atlanta.

I was photographing 49 little mosaics on Luckie Street (see the slide show at the bottom of this post, it's worth it ) and there was Ted Turner in front of the his downtown Atlanta home. I grabbed his hand and wished him a good day. Know what? He looks just like Ted Turner. We're not buds, but I've seem him around.

Mr. Turner lives on top of.....The Tuner Building. It is also the home of many organizations he supports. If you are visiting the Aquarium, have lunch at Ted's Montana Grill. It's a great room.

It's in the Farlie Poplar district of downtown between Peachtree Street and Centennial Olympic Park. They haven't replaced the tornado damaged windows in the round Peachtree Plaza.

Here is the east side of his penthouse, flying 3 flags. You'll need the birdseye view in live.com to see the balconies.

It's just across Olympic Park from CNN Center, the Dome, the Aquarium. Pretty handy but I don't know if he visits CNN much these days.

This is the view in the opposite direction, towards the heart of downtown Atlanta. (I've messed with the color on this picture). The red brick building with the little pediment used to be the Playboy Club. The low concrete building in the center of the picture is the back side of brutalist Marcel Breuer’s last building, Atlanta's Central Public Library. I preferred the building it replaced but I don't hate the Breuer as much as I used to.



The Turner Building is across the street from The Tabernacle. It's a rock music venue these days but it rocked just as hard when it was church.

The Tabernacle's facade is impressive and right on the sidewalk.

Great windows too.

Great doors, lantern, and wrought iron.

1910

This part of Luckie Street is just 4 blocks and a nice little stroll if you are downtown...

...and if you do visit, you'll be rewarded with 49 mosaics in the sidewalk.Do try the slide show in full screen.

History of Luckie Street
Named after Solomon "Sam" Luckie, an African-American barber killed in a bombing of Atlanta during the Civil War.

Thanks so much for visiting,
Terry

Back to --> Hooked on Houses is hosting her "Hooked on Friday's" blog party.

Mosaics on Highland View in Virginia Highlands

A few blocks from the Barnette Street Mosaic is this wonderful house. New mosaics pop up from time to time. They start at the street and continue to the roof. There are more that I can show in these pictures.

Opening Party for Atlanta's Barnett Street Mosaic by Donna Pinter

Today Ilene Brenner and Donna Pinter hosted an opening for the Mosaic, aka "Symphony of Color" These pictures don't do it justice. Go see it for yourself. It should be at it's peak in mid afternoon after all the leaves are gone. If you click on these pictures you'll go to Flickr and you can make them a little bigger. More pictures.

The Architecture Tourist was fortunate to be there and snapped the M&M guy:


Folks started gathering before the party.


Then Donna gave a tour and answered questions for fans, neighbors, mosaic helpers, and video folks.










Your Architecture Tourists


Here is the video:

Amazing Mosaic on Barnett Street by Donna Pinter

It's 100 (+ or -) feet long and new in 2008! Find Barnett Street. It runs north and south between Virgina Avenue and Ponce de Leon. By Donna Pinter and commissioned by a wonderful neighbor. My pictures are not worthy of this beautiful piece. You'll have to find it yourself.
It's huge. You can click on each picture to make it a little bigger, please do>


From north to south:




The end. Is it a dragon's head?