Assignment 1 ~ Grace Lynis

Skyline Mash-up

The three photographs each mark the evolution of the American Downtown and as well demonstrate inherent design problems with the skyscraper Central Business District model.

Whether in a large international city like New York or in a regional center like Atlanta, a frequently seen design problem of the CBD has been the lack of uniformity of style, type or architectural period in the 21st century skyline. Below are images, which illustrate the jumbled visage of the urban visual landscape.

Picture 1

Columbus Square, New York NY. The below photograph is an example of semi-chaotic view of a one block section that includes Art-deco, Modern and Post modern office building styles that represent the variation and evolution in style, building material and construction technology during the twentieth century.

Picture 2

Interstate 75/85, Atlanta GA. This image provides an close range illustration of mid century highway construction through an existing CBD. In the foreground is the roadway, in the middle ground are the remnants of the mid-century Auburn Avenue CBD. Followed in the background are the modern and post modern skyscrapers of Downtown Atlanta. The visage, which can be glimpsed on the other side of the kayak on the Porshe, beyond the fog, and that certainly becomes easily visible when the weather is clear.

Picture 3

Central Avenue overpass over Interstate 20, Atlanta GA. This image captures the jumbled skyline of the government central district at the intersection of the CBD. The confluence of the two central districts interestingly parallels the transition in American society from a more governmental to a more corporate centered American economy. This is of course easily illustrated by the early to mid twentieth century building construction representing the government central district in the foreground and the modern skyscrapers representing the symbols corporate capitalism, towering in the background.