Sticking with library issues, Book Patrol posted about a public library in Atlanta which may be bulldozed to make way a huge new mixed-use development. The problem with this is that the building is a work of art. The Buckhead library, built in 1989 and designed by Scogin-Elam, has won multiple awards for its avant garde architecture. Now a developer wants to buy it from the city and replace it with... wait for it... a parking garage. It's not all bad news, though. The developer has very generously offered to build a new library on top of the parkade, with access via an elevator.
(I'll just wait while you all finish wailing in horror and despair...)
You can help by signing a petition to save the library. And do pop over to Flickr to see more photos of Buckhead's exciting architecture. Atlantans don't seem to know how lucky they are to have a building like that in their midst. I suppose the developer has to get rid of it because it would make the rest of the development look cheap and soulless. People will accept crap if they don't know anything better is possible.
UPDATE: There is a detailed news article about the library's impending doom at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Here's a colourful quote:
"That library, to my way of thinking, was an abortion the day it was dedicated," Fulton County Commissioner Tom Lowe said. "I am a lover of art. I can even stand abstract art. But God darn, who in the world would build something like that? There ain't no damn artistic value to that library."
Oy.
Photo Scott Moore
