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Architecture
Architects: Toombs, Amisano & Wells
Joe Amisano (1917–2008)
American architect, especially known for his work in Atlanta. Born in New York, he graduated from Pratt Institute in 1940 and won a Prix de Rome in 1950. He joined the Atlanta firm that became Toombs, Amisano and Wells in 1954. | Obituary (AJC)
Projects
Henry Toombs (1896-1967)
Architect and sculptor, was born in Cuthbert, GA; attended the U.S. Naval Academy, 1913-1916; received B.S. (1921) and M.A. (1923) degrees from the University of Pennsylvania in architecture; worked for McKim, Mead, and White, New York architects; began independent architectural work for the Roosevelt family, ca. 1926; associated with Eric Gugler, architectural offices in New York City; served as architect for Georgia Warm Springs Foundation; opened offices in Warm Springs and Atlanta, GA, 1937; Capt. U.S. Army Air Corps, 1941-1944; established partnership of Toombs & Creighton, 1946; terminated that partnership in 1949 and established Toombs & Company, which later became Toombs, Amisano, and Wells, Architects, with offices in Atlanta.
Mr. Toombs was architect for a wide variety of buildings and projects during his lifetime; some of the more important are: residences for President Franklin D. Roosevelt at Hyde Park, NY, and Warm Springs, GA (the Little White House); Memorial Library, Hyde Park, NY; buildings and grounds at Georgia Warm Springs Foundation; alterations for various Federal Reserve Banks; additions to Rich's Inc., Atlanta; American Military Cemetery at Draguignan, France; Atlanta Memorial Cultural Center; C & S Bank Building, Atlanta; and numerous private residences.
Joe Amisano (1917–2008)
American architect, especially known for his work in Atlanta. Born in New York, he graduated from Pratt Institute in 1940 and won a Prix de Rome in 1950. He joined the Atlanta firm that became Toombs, Amisano and Wells in 1954. | Obituary (AJC)
Projects
- Lenox Square mall (1958)
- Regency Square Mall (Jacksonville) (1967)
- Woodruff Arts Center (Atlanta Memorial Arts Building) (1968)
- Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta (1968)
- Peachtree Summit (1975)
- Peachtree Center (MARTA station) (1982-1983)
- Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center (1983)
- Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta (1985)
- Christian Church Buckhead (built 1986; demolished 2017)
Henry Toombs (1896-1967)
Architect and sculptor, was born in Cuthbert, GA; attended the U.S. Naval Academy, 1913-1916; received B.S. (1921) and M.A. (1923) degrees from the University of Pennsylvania in architecture; worked for McKim, Mead, and White, New York architects; began independent architectural work for the Roosevelt family, ca. 1926; associated with Eric Gugler, architectural offices in New York City; served as architect for Georgia Warm Springs Foundation; opened offices in Warm Springs and Atlanta, GA, 1937; Capt. U.S. Army Air Corps, 1941-1944; established partnership of Toombs & Creighton, 1946; terminated that partnership in 1949 and established Toombs & Company, which later became Toombs, Amisano, and Wells, Architects, with offices in Atlanta.
Mr. Toombs was architect for a wide variety of buildings and projects during his lifetime; some of the more important are: residences for President Franklin D. Roosevelt at Hyde Park, NY, and Warm Springs, GA (the Little White House); Memorial Library, Hyde Park, NY; buildings and grounds at Georgia Warm Springs Foundation; alterations for various Federal Reserve Banks; additions to Rich's Inc., Atlanta; American Military Cemetery at Draguignan, France; Atlanta Memorial Cultural Center; C & S Bank Building, Atlanta; and numerous private residences.
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Photos
John Portman / Peachtree Center
Covering 14 city blocks in downtown Atlanta, Peachtree Center is Atlanta’s largest mixed-use development. Portman Holdings worked with Prudential and Ehrenkranz Ehrenkranz & Schultz to finance this development, and build it in phases over fifty years. The complex has won numerous awards, including: a 1991 TOBY from BOMA for a Rehabilitated/Modernized Office Building; a 1988 Shaping of the City Award from the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau; and a 1986 Community Development Award from the Atlanta Business League.
It was featured in an exhibition selected by the United States Department of State to represent the US in the 2010 Biennale Architettura in Venice Italy—illustrating how development and design can cooperate to create a lasting, positive impact on the world’s urban environments.
The 19.6 million square foot Peachtree Center complex includes ten office buildings, three convention hotels, four trademart buildings, four parking garages, a retail mall, health club, and a MARTA transit station.
Source: Portman Holdings
It was featured in an exhibition selected by the United States Department of State to represent the US in the 2010 Biennale Architettura in Venice Italy—illustrating how development and design can cooperate to create a lasting, positive impact on the world’s urban environments.
The 19.6 million square foot Peachtree Center complex includes ten office buildings, three convention hotels, four trademart buildings, four parking garages, a retail mall, health club, and a MARTA transit station.
Source: Portman Holdings
JOHN PORTMAN
John Calvin Portman Jr. (December 4, 1924 – December 29, 2017) was an American neofuturistic architect and real estate developer widely known for popularizing hotels and office buildings with multi-storied interior atria. Portman also had a particularly large impact on the cityscape of his hometown of Atlanta, with the Peachtree Center complex serving as downtown's business and tourism anchor from the 1970s onward. The Peachtree Center area includes Portman-designed Hyatt, Westin, and Marriott hotels. Portman's plans typically deal with primitives in the forms of symmetrical squares and circles.
Portman was born to John C. Portman, Sr. and Edna Rochester Portman. He has five sisters. He graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1950. His firm completed the Merchandise Mart (now AmericasMart) in downtown Atlanta in 1961. The multi-block Peachtree Center was begun in 1965 and would expand to become the main center of hotel and office space in Downtown Atlanta, taking over from the Five Points area just to the south. Portman would develop a similar multiblock complex at San Francisco's Embarcadero Center (1970s), which unlike its Atlanta counterpart, heavily emphasized pedestrian activity at street level.
The Hyatt Regency Atlanta, Portman's first atrium hotel, would lead to many more iconic hotels and multi-use complexes with atria, including the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles (1974–1976), the New York Marriott Marquis (1982–1985), and the Renaissance Center in Detroit (first phase 1973-1977), whose central tower remained the tallest hotel in the Western Hemisphere until the completion of 1717 Broadway in 2013.His signature work in China, the Shanghai Centre (1990), was the first of many major projects in China and elsewhere in Asia. The 5-star hotel inside, The Portman Ritz-Carlton, Shanghai (formerly Portman Shangri-La Hotel), was named after him. In 2009 Portman's work was featured in a major exhibition at Atlanta's High Museum of Art.
Portman was a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.
Personal Life
Portman married Joan "Jan" Newton. They had six children, Michael Wayne Portman, John Calvin "Jack" Portman III, Jeffrey Lin Portman, Jae Phillip Portman, Jana Lee Portman Simmons, and Jarel Penn Portman. Portman died on December 29, 2017, aged 93.
John Calvin Portman Jr. (December 4, 1924 – December 29, 2017) was an American neofuturistic architect and real estate developer widely known for popularizing hotels and office buildings with multi-storied interior atria. Portman also had a particularly large impact on the cityscape of his hometown of Atlanta, with the Peachtree Center complex serving as downtown's business and tourism anchor from the 1970s onward. The Peachtree Center area includes Portman-designed Hyatt, Westin, and Marriott hotels. Portman's plans typically deal with primitives in the forms of symmetrical squares and circles.
Portman was born to John C. Portman, Sr. and Edna Rochester Portman. He has five sisters. He graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1950. His firm completed the Merchandise Mart (now AmericasMart) in downtown Atlanta in 1961. The multi-block Peachtree Center was begun in 1965 and would expand to become the main center of hotel and office space in Downtown Atlanta, taking over from the Five Points area just to the south. Portman would develop a similar multiblock complex at San Francisco's Embarcadero Center (1970s), which unlike its Atlanta counterpart, heavily emphasized pedestrian activity at street level.
The Hyatt Regency Atlanta, Portman's first atrium hotel, would lead to many more iconic hotels and multi-use complexes with atria, including the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles (1974–1976), the New York Marriott Marquis (1982–1985), and the Renaissance Center in Detroit (first phase 1973-1977), whose central tower remained the tallest hotel in the Western Hemisphere until the completion of 1717 Broadway in 2013.His signature work in China, the Shanghai Centre (1990), was the first of many major projects in China and elsewhere in Asia. The 5-star hotel inside, The Portman Ritz-Carlton, Shanghai (formerly Portman Shangri-La Hotel), was named after him. In 2009 Portman's work was featured in a major exhibition at Atlanta's High Museum of Art.
Portman was a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.
Personal Life
Portman married Joan "Jan" Newton. They had six children, Michael Wayne Portman, John Calvin "Jack" Portman III, Jeffrey Lin Portman, Jae Phillip Portman, Jana Lee Portman Simmons, and Jarel Penn Portman. Portman died on December 29, 2017, aged 93.
Art
At this time, there is are official works of art inside the Peachtree Center Station. There are, however, some magnificent pieces within walking distance of the station...
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Neighborhood
John Portman/Peachtree Street East
- Mall at Peachtree Center
- Hyatt Regency
- Marriott Marquis
- Hilton Atlanta
- AmericasMART
- Georgia Aquarium
- World of Coca-Cola
- Children’s Museum
- Westin Peachtree Plaza
- The Tabernacle
- Centennial Olympic Park
- Atlanta Streetcar
- Georgia Pacific Building
- Ritz Carlton
- Hard Rock Cafe
- Woodruff Park
- Residence Inn Downtown Atlanta
- Courtyard Atlanta Downtown
- Ellis Hotel (formerly Winecoff Hotel)
- Atlanta Fulton County Public Library
- Rialto Center for Performing Arts
- Centennial Olympic Park
- Fairlie Popular Historic District
Transit-Oriented Development
The MARTA Transit Oriented Development Guidelines typology classify Peachtree Center Station as an URBAN CORE station. The Guidelines define Urban Core stations as “…metropolitan-level destinations, at or near the center of the transportation system, where peak hour congestion is most challenging and where the region’s highest transit and pedestrian mode shares are achievable.”
- Download Station Profile (PDF)
CURRENT DEVELOPMENT
- Peachtree Center
- Banyan Street Unveils Retail Hub, Central Courtyard at Peachtree Center
- Ascent Peachtree (residential tower at 161 Peachtree Center Avenue)
- Ellis Hotel Expansion
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