Assignment 1: Steve

In the first image, we see an example of the developmental arch of the CBD. Moving left to right, we encounter a mélange of examples from different architectural periods: neo-classical, Modernist and Post-modernist. What we encounter is a classic example of the high-density, specialized downtown environment (“segregation”). In the background, we can see two specific examples of the post WWII “redevelopment” of the CBD: the office tower as corporate symbol (G-P Building) and the repurposing of the CBD for tourist and visitor traffic (Westin). One can surmise the wind tunnel effect of the Atlanta CBD…Also, we see the ordinary (CVS) existing along side the extraordinary (the skyscrapers).



In image two, we are presented the Five Points MARTA station. As part of the CBD in image one, the Five Points station provides accessibility to the district. Thus, the PLVI of the buildings in image one are maximized. Atlanta attempted to create a “where the action is” CBD through placement of a major node of mass rail transport.

The problems of the CBD are apparent in the final image. Rich’s was a department store that was a vital element of the Atlanta CBD in the pre- and post- WWII period. With suburbanization and CBD replication in Midtown, Buckhead and Perimeter, the viability of a downtown department store waned. Exacerbating the problem is the placement of the Five Points station. In an effort to spur PLVI, the city inadvertently (perhaps purposely???) isolated the large department store from regular pedestrian traffic. The station serves as a physical and emotional barrier from the traditional CBD, thus facilitating the building’s demise. However, the Rich’s story does have a happy ending. In an ironic twist, the National Park Service, with its Southeast Regional Office Cultural Resource Division, occupies two floors of the old building. Luckily, this relic of the CBD has found an adaptive reuse.