The Age of Atlanta's buildings (Nashville: house, construction, university)

[cqholt]

Few buildings the first Atlantans may have known still survive. But a map and building tour with architects and historians of Atlanta can show where we’ve been — from the first university halls to suburban growth to building upward Downtown.

We can get a visual idea of when and where Atlantans have built and rebuilt, on this map, which matches a construction year to about 118,000 homes, offices, shops and other buildings.

Take the data with a little grain of salt, however. It comes from records created, and sometimes lost or damaged over more than 100 years: tax records, maps, even aerial photography, gathered by humans and computers in two counties for generations. Especially where buildings are very old or close together, there are some shortcomings.

Interactive map: https://saportareport.com/age-atlant...ings-visiting/

[Need4Camaro]

It seems as though most of the high rises are new and most of the homes and smaller buildings are older. Atlanta is unique in the aspect that most of its Downtown district and even suburban district carry a fairly modern theme. In comparison especially to cities up north it makes Atlanta feel more fresh in that regard. After getting north of Nashville alot of CBD's start feeling quite old. I have always been under the impression that this was caused by two things...

#1 It was burned down and incurred alot of re-development just pre-modern theme...
#2 The bulk of its development (literally nearly 3 million additional residents) were incurred within the last 3 decades.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

It seems as though most of the high rises are new and most of the homes and smaller buildings are older. Atlanta is unique in the aspect that most of its Downtown district and even suburban district carry a fairly modern theme. In comparison especially to cities up north it makes Atlanta feel more fresh in that regard. After getting north of Nashville alot of CBD's start feeling quite old. I have always been under the impression that this was caused by two things...

#1 It was burned down and incurred alot of re-development just pre-modern theme...
#2 The bulk of its development (literally nearly 3 million additional residents) were incurred within the last 3 decades.

Most of what would now be considered historic buildings in Downtown Atlanta (if they still existed) were not burned down. They were torn down by modern developers. With some exceptions, what was burned down was a bunch of crap that most likely would have fallen down on its own by now and wasn't worth saving to begin with.

[primaltech]

The sad irony is that a lot of what is now surface parking lots in the city, that people now envision to transform to urban street-fronting buildings, used to be urban street-fronting buildings. And they were probably built to last, with lots of brick and quality construction materials.

[JoeP]

Atlanta was a town when it was burned down.

Regarding older buildings, they add character to a city. Atlanta views too many structures as expendable. I hope that it's older buildings even the more modern era ones don't get demolished.

[cqholt]

Atlanta tore down the Kimball House for a parking garage.

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Atlanta tore down the Kimball House for a parking garage.

Probably no one asked the question at the time, but I wonder if it was sufficiently structurally sound to be saved. So many of the grand mansions along Peachtree were torn down as well, not just commercial buildings. A scant few remain to this day. It is a shame to see so much beautiful architecture go the way of the Do-Do.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

Probably no one asked the question at the time, but I wonder if it was sufficiently structurally sound to be saved. So many of the grand mansions along Peachtree were torn down as well, not just commercial buildings. A scant few remain to this day. It is a shame to see so much beautiful architecture go the way of the Do-Do.

Why wouldn't it have been structurally sound, while buildings of similar or much older age using similar construction techniques all over the world still stand?

[demonta4]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Atlanta tore down the Kimball House for a parking garage.

That is a historic atrocity. Somebody should've went to jail for that along with Terminal Station being demolished. (sarcasm if you can't tell)

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by demonta4

That is a historic atrocity. Somebody should've went to jail for that along with Terminal Station being demolished. (sarcasm if you can't tell)

-Few saw their historic, aesthetic and intrinsic values.
-Postwar lifestyles were changing in favor of air and car travel and motor court lodging; suburbanization was becoming the norm both for home, retail and office.