Word: portmans
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...architects and developers have reshaped the American city as dramatically as John Portman has done in the past quarter-century. From the hulking Marriott Marquis hotel in Manhattan to the sprawling Embarcadero Center office % complex in San Francisco, Portman has left an imposing mark on urban skylines. But the Atlanta-based master of the vaulting atrium and the skylighted ceiling faces a severe cash crunch. In October, burdened by more than $2 billion in debt and hurt by low occupancy rates in many of his buildings, Portman surrendered to creditors his control of Atlanta's 13-block Peachtree Center...
Despite the generally balmy weather in Atlanta, Architect-Developer John Portman loves nothing more than connecting his bombastic towers and atriums with skywalks: one running through Peachtree Center is 640 ft. long. "People moved to the suburbs because they want low anxiety," Portman says. "We must bring them back to the center city. The pedestrian bridge is a part of that." Now, however, Atlanta zoning officials are considering a recommendation by the 300-member Central Area Study group to prohibit further skywalk construction downtown. As the novelty value of skywalks palls and as more cities realize that downtown vitality...
...Seventh Avenue. The planned buildings are of varying heights (29, 37, 49 and 56 stories) but otherwise identical: grand colonnades, red and pink granite, glass mansard roofs. These will be hulking structures, with more than twice the square footage of the area's current most egregious behemoth: John Portman's 50-story Marriott Marquis hotel a few blocks up Broadway...
...exclusive Sea Island, expensive homes with white columns or wrought-iron grillwork face the Atlantic, reflecting understated elegance. But now they are being joined by an intrusive newcomer, a sprawling collage of concrete and glass. The 12,500-sq.-ft. extravagance is the creation of Atlanta Architect John Portman, whose atriums and glass elevators have entranced visitors in hotels from Los Angeles to Manhattan...
...Portman's $8 million vacation house is not yet finished, but sightseers are flocking to it, and some of his neighbors are knocking it. "This bad taste is being foisted on us for the sake of an ego trip," sniffed one. Protested another: "I'm a fan of his architecture, but this abuses the environment." Dismayed by the reaction, Portman refuses to discuss the project. Still, the opposition has its social limits. Asked if residents would snub the Portmans when the family moves in, one islander replied, "Lord, no. We'll be waiting / at the door for an invitation...