Assignment 3: Steve

What recycled uses can an old service station serve? Well, in Macon, GA they can be remodeled to serve as the neighborhood’s visitor center. What you are looking at in image one is a recycled automobile service station. In a unique convergence of Liebs and Davis, the old “filling station” had its maintenance bays filled in, the ground to roof line store windows altered and a sign placed out front announcing to the motorist the “Future Home of the Fort Hawkins Visitor’s Center.” Yet, the viewer gets the impression that the recycled building hasn’t quite gotten its new purpose off the ground. Located in an area known for economic dislocation, the re-packaged service station awaits its “new” unveiling.

In the second image, the typology should look familiar but it isn’t what you think it is. Here we see the all too ubiquitous box mall. Located diagonally from the soon-to-be Fort Hawkins Visitor’s Center, the old mall inhabits the same economically disadvantaged area of Macon. But, unlike the automobile service station turned visitor center, the mall has a thriving new purpose- the building houses the Bibb County Public Health Center. Instead of shopping for designer goods and middle-class consumer emblems, the shopper finds a wide range of government subsidized health care “products.” One form of consumption is replaced by another…

Finally, back in Atlanta, we encounter a more typical repackaged strip. This image was taken at the cross-roads of Ashford-Dunwoody and Johnson Ferry Roads (interestingly, a historic marker sits at the roadside easement of the property announcing that this area was known as Old Cross Keys. One has to wonder what “strips” occupied the area in the antebellum period). Anchoring the ends of the strip are a dry cleaners (of course) and a brick box with an unidentified function (perhaps a night club???). In between these anchors, the discerning consumer can choose a meal from an English pub (interesting strip choice), sushi, Mexican, a wing joint, Indian and Thai. The viewer gets the impression the authenticity of these restaurants is suspect. However, the site is unique. Aside from the dry cleaners and the box, the assortment of eateries is a different arrangement than a traditional strip. Usually, the businesses are far more mixed.