SMyrna's Market Village

Just recently I had made comments to another blog on "lifestyle centers" by C. B. Whittemore (see blog here). In this commentary, and after she asked me for images related to my comments on Smyrna's Market Village, I realised I hadn't been down there to take any pictures. This seemed odd, as I was involved in the master planning of the project, and that I live just over a mile from it. So, I decided yesterday afternoon that I would go down, once the sun started to set, and take some pictures.

What I thought was funny was that I thought I wouldn't have much to shoot. I am much more into modern design and modern architecture. I don't hate traditional, but I just see too much of it done very very poorly. Anyhow, I was pleasantly suprised that I really enjoyed shooting the village and its traditional architecture. You can view my Flickr photo set of the Village HERE.

Now, if your not familiar with the Village and you live in the Atlanta area you need to give it a visit. there are shops, restaurants, and they are always having festivals and stuff there. It has become a really great place. The city of Smyrna's municuple facilities can be found here too (planned and design by Sizemore Group). City Hall, the main library, the cities community center, and the police station, all within walking distance of each other. This development has won some urban planning national awards and is a fine example of how a small town or community can recapture a city center.

MAP - Graves Building

So, I have had some time to kill this weekend and decided to build another model for my Modeling Atlanta Project. This building is in Midtown Atlanta and is just south of Tenth Street along West Peachtree. The building was designed by Michael Graves and was completed in 1989. It stands as a "post-modern" landmark in Atlanta and is one of only two projects designed by Graves. There is a sense of permanence about this building and it has held up very well in its 17 year existence. Find out a bit more about the building HERE. Also, you can see some pictures of the building on my Flickr page HERE.

the 3D Warehouse link:
Ten Peachtree Place

Modeling Atlanta Update

It has been a while since I have done any MAP Models. I think July actually. Well, I've been busy :) Anyhow, this one is called Two Midtown Plaza and was design by the architecture firm of Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart Stewart & Assoc. These guys have done a lot of design work in Atlanta, some OK and some not so good. There is a second building to this complex but I will have to get to that later.

As I have mentioned before, and if you are coming by my blog and are hearing othis for the first time, I am hoping for others to jump on-board and do other models in the Atlanta area and add them to MAP (Modeling Atlanta Project). When you create a model and are putting in the info about the model for the 3D Warehouse just make sure to add the "Modeling Atlanta Project" tag Thats all I ask. You can view the models I have created so far to get an idea of the level of detail that the model should have.

Here is the direct 3d Warehouse link:
Midtown Plaza

Edit: I have added the second tower to the Midtown Plaza complex which is available in 3d Warehouse. 11-19-06

Below is a snapshot from Google Earth of the project so far. All midtown buildings at this point. Now off to enjoy the rest of my Friday evening, preferably not on my computer...

My first "guest blog" article

Recently I had a message from C. B. Whittemore (mentioned in an earlier post)that I had one of my images being used for a blog article discussing Atlantic Station. I made some comments (you can see these at the end of CB's article on Atlantic Station I linked to) in regard to her article about my opinions on the new development here in the Atlanta area. CB seemed intrigued with my ideas on planning and urban design and asked me to elaborate on some of my comments. After doing this she asked if she could publish the comments as a "guest poster" on her blog site. I agreed and she has made that post "live" as of Monday the 13th of November. You can check out the article HERE.

This interaction with CB and the whole Blogging thing has really been interesting. I have had some other contacts regarding my opinions in the article and other possible discussions on city planning and development. We will see if that goes anywhere. I have definetly caught the bug...

Project underconstruction

I just learned this week that a project I was involved in, during the design phase, is under construction. This will be the first building I have had a heavy hand in designing that will be built since graduating from school and joining CDH partners. Unfortunetly I didn't get a chance to have more influence in the document process but from what I have seen the design intent has been kept from our original design and I think this building will turn out to be a nice addition to the current church campus.

Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center

Just down the road from my condo is a new building rising along I-75 in the cumberland Mall/Galleria area. I hadn't heard about it until I saw the construction starting, as I frequently drive by the area. The building was designed by Smallwood Reynolds and has involvement with the Facilities Group, two firms not neccessarily known as "design" firms. So far I have been impressed with what I am seeing so far, as you can see from a few of the pictures I am posting along with this blog, and wonder, even though the building isn't being done by a starchitect that it will garner any respect in the architecture world. I will look forward to seeing more as the building gets closer to completion and will share images of the process from my Flickr page. You can see more about the building HERE.


So far I would say that this building has the potential to be a landmark building in Atlanta. It has a presence about it, from its context, that is Disney Hall-ish. Now I am not saying that the building has the ground-breaking aesthetic or methods of construction that Disney had, but what I am saying is that the presence of the building seems to respond, in its form and relationship to its surroundings like Disney (though in a much different kind of context). It seems foreign from its context, yet seems to belong too. If you live around Atlanta or are heading through definetly drive by and check it out, I think it is worth your while.