Customer Reviews

AIA Guide to the Architecture of Atlanta

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Because this book was written before the 1996 Olympics and organized around the major architects (and firms) practicing in Atlanta, there are conspicuous omissions. Unless the structure you wish to research has a brand name architect (you know, John Portman, John Burgee, Philip Johnson, etc...), it won't be in here. And if it's a church outside the city center, even if it had a brand name architect, it won't be in here either. There's a heavy modernist slant to the book, and an inexplicable lack of coverage of Atlanta's important ecclesiastical and neoclassical structures, particularly outside the city center. Architectural historians and classicists will be disappointed, which is surprising considering that Elizabeth Dowling, classicist extraordinaire, was the senior consultant for the book. Perhaps a new edition can improve on these problems.

First let me say that I really enjoy these AIA guides and this one is good. Atlanta has grown tremedously in the last twenty years and its skyline reflects that fact. This guide does not compare with the best AIA guides like the guide to Chicago, New York, Detroit, or Houston, but it hits on most of the major buildings and I liked the fact it is sectioned into different areas. I would have liked to have seen more on the Buckhead area and Druid Hills. I would have also liked to have seen every building have been accompanied by an image, that is a must in books of this kind. If you are someone from Atlanta or are interested in the architecture of Atlanta I recommend this book, but if you are just looking for AIA guides then I suggest getting the afore mentioned guides before this one.