I call it the Octane Coffee District and I have a secret parking spot when it's busy over there. I take 8th street down from the Marietta Street ridge and park on Fiedler Avenue next to this nondescript little church building. (Note to self: Didn't I just blog a Neel Reid Mansion?)
Last week I peeked inside.
In the Brady-10th-Northside triangle of flattop warehouses this little gabled shotgun with stained glass is the "difference" that I often find irresistible.
Those magnolias were probably perfect for about 5 years then got too expensive to take down.
Where to park: Fielder Avenue.There's the Architecture Tourist-mobile.
I don't know about Christ Church Midtown, but in 2013 the House of Prayer Pentecostal Holiness Church sold it to a developer (a) "...recognized and respected leader of urban development in Atlanta, Georgia - focusing on the revitalization of under-utilized areas and transforming them into vibrant neighborhoods."
So it awaits mixed use-ification. Lot: 6,050 sf / 0.1389 acres, built 1955 3,360 sf.
My father's advice was that if you keep the grass mowed, it'll be fine. No foundation planting, no problem, no pesky pruning either.
Not fixing these.
Bushy on the west side.
Windows in fair shape over here. Are there dedications and memorials on these windows?
Last week the sun was shining just right and I realized I could hold my camera over my head to see inside the front windows.
Almost all of them were taller than me. And smarter. Even the quiet ones crackled with energy. It's as if their sensors were all dialed to 11 while most of mine have been shut down by age and experience.
It was Excursion Week at Galloway. Our 20-student group chose "Interaction of Art and Social Justice" with the theme of "separate but equal." With the help of Galloway artist in residence and Georgia State sculpture professor Ruth Stanford the group explored, researched, and made some art. Galloway teacher Mary Stuart Hall gave me Tuesday to "do something." Mary and former Galloway principal, Gordon Mathis, had two little buses at our disposal to take on the town.
My idea was to visit neighborhoods and corridors "below the line" in the morning then talk with Atlanta's city planners in the afternoon.
To compare the booming corridors like Peachtree Street
"Peachtree Corridor" Courtesy Atlanta City Studio, Ryan Gravel, Tim Keane, Jodi Mansbach, Vanessa Lira and more.
To compare booming Peachtree with the less booming west side.
To compare the booming Peachtree corridor with the less booming westside corridors of Donald Lee Hollowell, Joseph Boone, Ralph David Abernathy. Courtesy Atlanta City Studio, Ryan Gravel, Tim Keane, Jodi Mansbach, Vanessa Lira, and more.
"Prior to the construction of Washington Park in 1919, there were no recreational parks in Atlanta available to African Americans. The park started with a gift of six and a half acres and expanded to 25 acres (100,000 m2) when completed in 1928. It originally included a swimming pool, dance hall, pavilions, and tennis courts."
Washington Park
I did not know that the current SW BeltLine construction ends at Washington Park. This place will change!
We'll be able to bike to swim at the Washington Park Natatorium.
Next stop Brown Middle School and West End.
Formerly Brown High School.
Joseph E. Brown Jr. High School, located at 765 Peeples Street SW in Atlanta's West End neighborhood, was opened in 1924
Then we did a West End Walkabout, in my opinion one of the most charming neighborhoods in Atlanta.
My personal favorite activity: small blocks, styles that have been consistently popular for 150 years, mix of sizes, close to the curb in a way that enhances the beauty of the street as a public space for all passersby.
Tiny tips for touring with teens? I'll work on these for next time.
1. Get two experienced teachers for each 10 students.
2. Do lunch with options: Ponce City Market and the Sweet Auburn Market are superb.
3. Talk briefly to the group whenever you can get them together.
4. Stop talking before they stop listening.
5. Huddle with teachers at stopping points.They make it look easy but...
6. Find a way to integrate their phones. Students are superb at their phones.
7. Pretend that they can't smell you fear.
8. Enjoy the ride though it won't turn out exactly as planed.
I'd have never found these places but for TEDxAtlanta and the Inman Park Tour of Homes. I didn't actually attend TEDx, I just explored the building and bingo! These are Architecture Tourist knockouts, one a lot more cozy than the other.
Of course A Pattern Language has something to say about "covex" spaces:
"106. POSITIVE OUTDOOR SPACE
Outdoor spaces which are merely 'left over' between buildings will, in general, not be used. Therefore: Make all the outdoor spaces which surround and lie between your buildings positive. Give each one some degree of enclosure..."
This is the roundhouse at Atlanta Northyards re-purposed as lofty offices. They hold TedX Atlanta in this building. Bauder College is across the green to the left of this picture.
"All of the Southern passenger trains were
serviced at the North Avenue Roundhouse and Shops, light repairs were made
and excursion trains assembled, A turntable in front of the Roundhouse allowed
for an engine to be put in any of the bays inside. The steam engines were
watered, and coal loaded." - Marietta Street Artery
This is the round townhouse in Inman Park Village. This is rare: Townhouses NOT fronting a street or parking lot. The BeltLine and Rathbun's are behind these to the right of this picture.
The turntable was here. It's not a particularly comfortable place to hang. There's no transparency in these blackout windows. You feel like everyone is watching you. There's only one door. Very cool place though.
Here's how to find your way.
Even when no one's around this shows signs of life, many doors, many homes.
A great event in a great space and I almost didn't go. As we approached, ambient music wafted from Goodson Yard. From the door we could see the long line of laptopers beneath giant screens.
On Thursday I was eating at the Varsity next to a man and his teenage sons. Turns out it's music photographer Jim 'JT' Gilbert from upper New York state visiting Georgia Tech where his 18 year old has been accepted. They'd been told to eat the at the "V" while they were in Atlanta - good choice.
Y'all know me: We chatted it up and bonded over french fries. They'd spent a long day at Tech and were heading back to the hotel before driving home to New York on Friday.
So I asked if they wanted to go to the Goat Farm to hear the Georgia Tech Laptop Orchestra. They said yeah and we headed out.
My wife said, "They actually went with YOU? Didn't they know how strange you are?"
They didn't exactly go with me, they followed in their car. What were they thinking as we turned into the dark Goat Farm drive and parked in the grass?
It was odd and wonderful, thirty+ musicians and a few hundred fans in Goodson Yard.
It was dark, there were three giant screens, there were a few traditional instruments. I had no idea what would happen next.
A score.
Title: “Fusiform” Members: Chris Howe, Raja Raman, Ziwen Fan, Xinquan Zhou Description: A performance controlled by facial expressions, wherein laptop performers affect the acoustic musicians signal with various effects via web cam control.
This trio played over ambient music and it was wonderful.
Title: “Impossible Mission” Members: JUAN MARTINEZ-NIETO, Shuo Liu, IMANKALYAN MUKHERJEE, Cian O’Brien Description: A piece written for Trumpet, Tenor Saxophone, Euphonium, 3 laptop musicians and 3 puzzle solvers. The music tells a story of solving a jig-saw puzzle that eventually unfolds the score for the musicians to play.
Weird and wonderful and I almost didn't go. Thanks to JT and sons.
There's SOMETHING over there. I was going from Howell Mill to Inman Park and forgot that Deering is closed. So I reversed course on 17th at Reservoir Drive. and decided to have a look.
Does anyone know of Mr. Avery, how he lost his life? I can't find anything on the web.
Every designer headed for Forsyth Fabrics, every with-it dinner headed to White Provision, every west side commuter has been here. We're on 17th just northwest of Ikea, at the intersection of Northside. The waterworks lakes are ahead and to the right.
Even in the winter it's hard to see. But there's a flagpole in the trees.You'd never see this in leafy season.
As you head west to where 17th T-bones Howell Mill, you catch something to the right. At 30 mph you can't tell what it is but it looks more organized than it should.
It's a memorial garden in this noble setting, a place of honor.
It's easy to park here. It's quiet, as if you are in a secret place. There a lake to the west and a city view to the south and east. You are probably alone.
The fence is locked.
It's so overgrown I couldn't figure out the design.
Update: 2013-01-18 ...
That tiny park is surely a love story. I almost hesitate to
question/research it. But "gave his life" sounds like he may have died
on the job, in an accident at the waterworks. I shall keep looking, I've
alerted my brother who worked as a land planner for many years in ATL.
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