Atlanta Architecture in the 20th century

Introduction. For a city of its size and economic importance, Atlanta is embarrassingly poorly researched as an architectural site. The American Institute of Architects’ AIA Guide to the Architecture of Atlanta was published in 1993—before the 1996 Olympics changed the face of the city—and has yet to be updated. This project seeks to deprovincialize Atlanta’s design history through serious research and public-facing scholarship, to situate and celebrate our city’s architectural legacy.

This collection of building biographies contains short, richly illustrated texts initiated, researched, and written by Emory University undergraduate students in the seminar Atlanta Architecture in the 20th century. The accessible public-oriented texts are accompanied by archival and self-captured images, drawings, and documents. The specific tale that each student chose to tell was driven by their own interests and findings and should be understood as episodic rather than encyclopedic. [Intro and Acknowledgements continued below map.]

Students conducted two types of research for this assignment. Primary research took place in local archives and through visits to the site and conducting interviews with people who know the building well (architects, users, etc.). Secondary research consisted of seeking out books and articles that helped the authors situate their buildings within the context of both Atlanta’s history and 20th century architectural/urban history writ large. The site will expand with more pins on the map with the work of future student researchers. We hope that you will enjoy and share.

Acknowledgements. Huge thanks to the students of my   Emory Art History Department   seminar Atlanta Architecture in the 20  ^th   century, whose intellectual engagement, curiosity, and research skills resulted in these wonderful architectural micro-histories of notable Atlanta buildings. The seminar was a  LINC (Learning Through Inclusive Collaboration ) course sponsored by the   Institute for the Liberal Arts at Emory , and taught in collaboration with Making the International City: Atlanta, a seminar taught by my excellent co-conspirator, Assistant Professor of History,  Dr. Yami Rodriguez . I am grateful to Megan Slemons at the  Emory Center for Digital Scholarship  who taught us StoryMaps with remarkable efficiency and good spirits, Jacqueline Reed who patiently guided the students in archival research at the  Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library , and Emily Whitehead who expertly (lightly) edited and standardized the stories. Thanks to Arthur Clement for his stellar walking tour of the Atlanta University Center campuses and to the various architects, planners, archivists, librarians, and homeowners who fielded the students’ questions during their research. It takes a village!

 -- Christina E. Crawford, PhD MArch , Masse-Martin NEH Associate Professor of Art History