So, on the AWFUL scale this hotel provides 3 block faces with 2 - 3 stories (depending on the elevation) of blank concrete and a total disconnect from any pedestrian realm. It was so bad I didn't even bother taking any pictures. Add to this the multiple skybridges and lack of obvious ways to find the street, and you have the usual Brutalism era hatred of the ground level, save access for automobiles and trucks.
The auto entry itself is pretty cool (see pic just below) but even this space is a bit oppressive for the average pedestrian.
More photos on their website.
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Now, on the AWESOME side of the equation, we consider the soaring interior spaces the architect created... One cannot help but be impressed with the volume, the tapering balconies and the glass roof, 48 stories above. 1663 rooms and suites ensure a population guaranteed to fill the cantilevered Pulse Loft bar and the sail-like Pulse lobby bar. It obvious the interior decor has been tastefully and expensively updated in the recent past. If only the architect and the planners involved had given the same love to the ground level surrounding the hotel, this building would be long regarded as one of the best in Atlanta.
Sadly, the era in which this was constructed dictated that it was not to be so.
More photos on their website.
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John Portman who designed the Atlanta Hyatt and most of the ones found around the country (including New York) was considered the saviour of cities since he brought the "Mall" mentality to downtown. His designs allowed you to get into your car and never have to deal with the urban scene. You could sleep, eat, shop and in the New York Hyatt, see a Broadway show without having to get your feet dirty in the surrounding evil city. Energy was cheap in those days so it diddnt matter how much you used to heat or cool the huge open spaces. (An interesting fact. The original World Trade Center in New York was designed without light switches so it could glow 24 hours a day.) If there is one architect that should win the award for doing the most damage to the fabric of cities, it is John Portman.
ReplyDeleteInteresting - thanks for that tip. Now that I read his Wiki page, I can see the swath of damage he is responsible for.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Portman,_Jr.
More on John Portman - a NYTimes article that really frames the debate over his inward looking buildings.
ReplyDeletehttp://ehotelier.com/hospitality-news/item.php?id=A8637_0_11_0_M