High's Sky Bridge & Midtown Skyline

I've shared with you before the I love bridges. The Sky Bridge at the High Museum of Art is another sort of bridge, but I totally love it for the vistas it offers.

View from the Sky Bridge at the High Museum of Art

From the Sky Bridge looking south, you have a brilliant view of 1180 Peachtree (Symphony Tower, left) and Promenade II. Both are stunning buildings.

Keep your cameras at the ready...you'll have some amazing vacation photos if you do.

Terminus 100

As I'm sure is the case with some of you, I'm very curious about specific buildings when out driving around, either purposefully or leisurely (although there never seems enough time for the latter). There are a LOT of Atlanta buildings I find fascinating, including the 27-story Terminus 100.

Terminus 100 in Buckhead

And what a great name! "Terminus" was the first name given to the bustling railroad town that would eventually—after several name changes—become known as...the City of Atlanta.

Terminus 100 is located in the heart of the thriving neighborhood of Buckhead, where visitors will find the finest shops, phenomenal restaurants, and more luxury automobiles than I've ever seen. The subjects of Atlanta's society pages can be found in Buckhead.

If you're an architecture enthusiast, check out the building and you're also welcome to copy the above pre-sized for Facebook (Cover Photo) photograph for use on your own page. Stop by the wanderlust ATLANTA Facebook Page for more!

Remember to Look Up

Remember to look up once and a while. You might be surprised at what you see.

The Fox Theatre & Bank of America Plaza

I really like this photo. I'd been at this vantage point a bazillion times before, but never noticed how these two structures fit together like a puzzle, while showing the incredibly wide range of architecture in Atlanta. 

And I only would have noticed it at the exact point where I happened to look up. Remember the Swan House photo I made this summer when the moon was uncovered for just a moment? Again, this was superbly serendipitous.

Just for the record, this is The Fox Theatre (left) and the Bank of America Plaza (right). The Fox is Moorish in design and opened in 1939 and the Bank of America Plaza, Atlanta's tallest building (and the tallest in the Southeast as well as the tallest building in any state capital), is of postmodern design and opened in 1992. Quite a difference to fit together so well, right?

Remember to stop by the wanderlust ATLANTA Facebook Page for more tourist information and lots more photos!

ATLANTApix: Different View? Look Up!

Promenade II

One of the things that I love about Atlanta architecture, much like its skyline, is that it offers many unique and interesting views. I mean, just walk half a block, drive around the corner, or walk up to the base of the building and you're looking at something totally different...and probably even more impressive.

The stainless steel "fins" on top of the Promenade II building, in the heart of Midtown, are a spectacular design element. During the day they give a depth of field that teases one's visual perception, but in a fun way. At night, they're absolutely brilliant and offer a glowing 3D effect that pronounces the outline of the ziggurat-like tapering spire.

While I'm writing about tourist attractions all over the city, anytime I need an architecture fix, I just pop over to Architecture Tourist, the wildly popular architecture blog authored by my buddy Terry Kearns. He always, always provides an interesting look at our city's architectural marvels.

So, when you're making your vacation photos, remember to look around and take more than one photo of the subjects that interest you (so much easier with digital cameras and phone cameras!). Look behind you, look right and left, look up...you'll be surprised at some of the great shots you'll get.

ATLANTApix and ATLANTAvidz of the tourATLANTA blog features a daily photo or video relative to Atlanta. Come back tomorrow for a new one!

ATLANTApix: 191 Chandeliers




Chandelier at 191 Peachtree Tower


You may have noticed from previous posts that I really like cool chandeliers. Their designs are practically limitless!

One of my favorites, actually a set of four, resides in the lobby of the 191 Peachtree Tower, also called the Power Tower, a nod to its high profile tenants. To give you an idea of the size of these chandeliers, the lobby is flanked front and back by 70-foot archways and the lobby ceiling is a towering 100-feet high.

One of the things that I like about these chandeliers is that their Faberge-esque design takes me back to the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, where I toured a Faberge exhibition in 2004 where I saw a number of Faberge eggs and many other brilliant works of jeweled art.

Other chandeliers that I've posted include the Nepenthes Chandelier, the Mori Chandelier, and the Governor's Mansion chandelier, to note a few.

ATLANTApix and ATLANTAvidz of the tourATLANTA blog features a daily photo or video relative to Atlanta. Come back tomorrow for a new one!

ATLANTApix: Sharky's Machine

"Sharky's Machine" Record Stunt

Filmed in and around Atlanta, the 1981 blockbuster hit Sharky's Machine, starring Burt Reynolds, featured the highest free-fall stunt for a commercially-released film.

Based on a book by Atlanta native William Diehl, the scene takes place from the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel (photo, background) a 73-story glass cylinder. However, the "stunt double" building would be the nearly identical glass cylinder building, although considerably smaller, the Atlanta Hyatt Regency Hotel (photo, foreground).

The free-fall, immediatly following a dramatic smashing through an exterior window, is from 220 feet above Atlanta. Oddly, to me anyway, only the beginning of the free-fall is used in the movie, which was indeed dramatic, but I for one would love to see the stunt in its entirity.

ATLANTApix and ATLANTAvidz of the tourATLANTA blog features a daily photo or video relative to Atlanta. Come back tomorrow for a new one!

ATLANTApix: The Peachtree Building

The Peachtree Building

I've long admired The Peachtree Building for its spiraling architecture and have always thought it be a residential highrise. As it turns out, it's chock full of law firms and other businesses...it's an office building!

With that, you may wonder why I post architecture and sculpture photos on a tourism blog. When I'm a tourist in other cities, I often wonder what a particular building is or what the story is behind an interesting sculpture.

For example, have you ever wondered about the big red building or the kidney bean sculpture in Chicago? What about the obelisk in Central Park or, also in New York City, the glass building with all the planets hanging inside? Maybe you've wondered about the history of the red-orange monumental buildings with arches, a dome, and lots of sculptured ladies in San Francisco. Or even that massive cathedral in Washington, DC?

Learning answers to questions like those,  relative to Atlanta, is the reason why you see so many photos of buildings and sculptures in the daily ATLANTApix category of tourATLANTA. I do hope you enjoy them!
 
ATLANTApix of the tourATLANTA blog features a "photo-of-the-day" of Atlanta. Come back tomorrow for a new one!

ATLANTApix: Four Seasons

Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta

Atlanta's only five star, four diamond hotel, the Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta, stands proudly in the Midtown skyline. The hotel occupies the first 30 of 53 floors in the building with the remaining floors allocated for residential condominimums. Guest rooms and suites occupy the 5th through the 19th floor, including the 2,200 square foot Presidential Suite.

When originally completed in 1992, the building was known as the GLG Grand (for Swedish developer, G. Lars Gullstedt). Before being acquired by the Four Seasons, it was known as the Occidental Grand for a period of time.

The building's design is neoclassical with a facade of rose and pink granite. The building's interior is decorated in yellow, gold, and cinnamon colors, and the main lobby features a Baccarat chandelier.

In this photo, the Four Seasons is center, flanked by the Promenade II (left) and the 1180 Peachtree (right).

ATLANTApix of the tourATLANTA blog features a "photo-of-the-day" of Atlanta. Come back tomorrow for a new one!

ATLANTApix: Terminus 100

Terminus 100

The 26-floor, 32-story, Terminus 100 high-rise is a unique, ultra-modern structure in the Buckhead skyline in Atlanta, Georgia. It's part of the mixed-use Terminus complex offering office space, residences, and retail, including restaurants (Brick Top's, Flying Biscuit, William David Salon, Brides by Demetrios). Terminus 100 is primarily office space with some retail on the ground floor.

Of interest, the first official name of the settlement that would become Atlanta was "Terminus" (1837), named so for the railroad trade route that would be built.

At the intersection of Peachtree Road and Piedmont Road, the upper levels offer spectacular views of Buckhead and the downtown Atlanta skyline.

While out and about in Buckhead, you may catch a glimpse of a notable resident or two. Some of Buckhead's big names include current superstar, Justin Bieber; country music legend, Kenny Rogers; British pop star, Sir Elton John; football Hall of Framer, Fran Tarkenton; and owner of the Atlanta Falcons, Arthur Blank.

ATLANTApix of the tourATLANTA blog features a "photo-of-the-day" of Atlanta. Come back tomorrow for a new one!

ATLANTApix: Tower Place 100

Tower Place 100

You would think that Tower Place 100 is one of the newer skyscrapers in the Buckhead skyline, judging by its modern, octagon, glass design, but actually its construction was completed in 1974! Amazing, right?

The 29 floor (401 feet) building is primarily office space and is joined by a plethora of more recently erected also glass skyscrapers in Buckhead (one of the wealthiest zip codes in the nation according to Forbes Magazine), most of which are multi-use structures.

Just in case you're driving down Peachtree trying to spot Tower Place 100, although the building has a Peachtree Road address (3340 Peachtree Road, NE), it sits at least a block off of Peachtree on Tower Place Drive, NE. The Tower Place complex, home of several other skyscrapers and buildings, does in fact border Peachtree Road, thus the seemingly confusing address.

ATLANTApix of the tourATLANTA blog features a "photo-of-the-day" of Atlanta. Come back tomorrow for a new one!

ATLANTApix: Promenade II

Promenade II

I've learned a lot about Atlanta architecture since starting tourATLANTA. For instance, the Promenade II building (photo) is one of what was supposed to be three identical buildings, of differing heights, in the Midtown skyline. The other two were not built because of the collapsing economy. Promenade II, completed in 1990, is at Peachtree and 15th Streets.

Another point, vastly more important, is that building height doesn't necessarily translate into number of floors. At 691 feet, the Promenade II comes in at only 38 floors. Its fins at the top, dramatically lit at night (time stamp 1:57), make it a distinguished landmark in the Atlanta nighttime skyline...actually, it was built on a diagonal to emphasize its place in the skyline and to give it tenants optimal views of downtown Atlanta.

I love this particular photograph for its demonstration of Atlanta truly being a "city of glass"...the building being reflected is its neighbor, One Atlantic Center. Both buildings have former names...Promenade II was once called the AT&T Building and One Atlantic Center was originally known as the IBM Tower.

ATLANTApix of the tourATLANTA blog features a "photo-of-the-day" of Atlanta. Come back tomorrow for a new one!

ATLANTApix: Olympia

"Olympia"
(sculpture at Promenade II)

Atlanta is indeed a land of discovery. Beyond the magnolia trees, around every corner, in every neighborhood, below the majestic skyline, and in skyscraper courtyards are all sorts of treasures to be found. At the base of the Promenade II is "Olympia."

Created by (Albert) Paley Studios, Ltd. of Rochester, New York, in 1990, Olympia stands 30 feet tall and is fashioned of steel and polychrome. 

What's polychrome, you ask? I'm glad you did.

From Greek (as is the sculpture's name), polychrome translates as "many" and "color." You can see from the photograph, Olympia is indeed sporting many (vibrant) colors. I lived in Greece for more than two years and still remember a bit of the language, to my great surprise.

The Promenade II courtyard is but a brief detour on any Midtown Atlanta walking tour and is an excellent spot to make some great photographs of neighboring skyscrapers.

ATLANTApix of the tourATLANTA blog features a "photo-of-the-day" of Atlanta. Come back tomorrow for a new one!

ATLANTApix: One Ninety One

One Ninety One Peachtree Tower

In the 1970s Atlanta's skyline was largely filled with nondescript concrete buildings, except of course for the Westin Peachtree Plaza (from where this photo was taken), which was built in 1973. The 1980s ushered in an era of signature buildings and that era continues today.

The 50-floor One Ninety One Peachtree Tower (photo), sometimes written 191 Peachtree Tower, was completed in 1991. Of all the buildings in downtown Atlanta, the 191 is my personal favorite. Not only for its Gothic seven-story rooftop crowns made of columns, arches, and domes, but also for its seven-story atrium that features huge chandeliers that I think remarkably resemble Fabergé eggs.

One Ninety One Peachtree Tower also is an award winner. Twice it has received BOMA's "The Office Building of the Year" (TOBY) award, in 1991 and again in 1998.

ATLANTApix of the tourATLANTA blog features a "photo-of-the-day" of Atlanta. Come back tomorrow for a new one!

ATLANTApix: Centennial Tower is Thriving

Centennial Tower

It's difficult to believe that one of the more modern-looking buildings in downtown Atlanta was actually built in 1975. Centennial Tower, formerly known as Marietta 101 (for its street address), underwent a major renovation, inside and out, that left it a trademark building in the Atlanta skyline.

From what I've read in my research, when the chevrons were added to the top of the building during its 1998 renovation the total height was increased by 13 feet and the dramatic lighting of said chevrons makes it uniquely distinctive at night. 

To see how beautiful it is on the inside, check out the Jackson, Oats, Shaw virtual tour or you can always pop into the sleek, contemporary first floor restaurant Thrive and enjoy the euro charm of this upscale yet casual dining destination (it really looks like a lot of fun...I want to go!).

When I snapped this photo, I was downtown buying tickets to an Atlanta Thrashers game and clouds were coming in very quickly. Skyscrapers in cloudy downtown Atlanta at sunset can look rather ominous...and cool at the same time.

ATLANTApix of the tourATLANTA blog features a "photo-of-the-day" of Atlanta. Come back tomorrow for a new one!

ATLANTApix: Symphony Tower

1180 Peachtree (Symphony Tower)

One of Midtown's more remarkable signature skyscrapers, and one of Atlanta's top 10 tallest, is Symphony Tower, officially named 1180 Peachtree. Topping the building are unique "fins" that are illuminated at night to create a dramatic impact within the Atlanta skyline.

The fins have been described as "gothic," but being the sci-fi fan that I am, when I first saw the fins, I immediately thought Resurrection Ship from Battlestar Galactica...but then again, I see sci-fi everywhere.

The 41-floor Symphony Tower was completed in 2006. Occupying more than half of the building, the Atlanta-based law firm King & Spalding is the primary tenant of 1180 Peachtree. Also in the building are several commercial and retail establishments, including the always busy Tap (which has a great offer for High Museum of Art visitors).

ATLANTApix of the tourATLANTA blog features a "photo-of-the-day" of Atlanta. Come back tomorrow for a new one!