Archinect - News

Marcel Breuer's Central Atlanta Library to receive exterior renovations

2019-07-29T12:37:00-04:00

The library, which opened in 1980, has been undergoing needed interior repairs and upgrades since last summer. But changing Breuer’s historic facade has been a point of contention since architecture firm Cooper Carry proposed cutting holes into the building to make way for the windows.

After an Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System survey found that 72 percent of participants "were interested in seeing more windows added to the building," it was insisted to become a reality. Naturally, with such an iconic building, there was cause for concern. The renovations are estimated to conclude "by September 2020 at the earliest."

Atlanta Central Library: preservation groups nominate Marcel Breuer building to National Register of Historic Places

2018-09-10T19:03:00-04:00

On August 24, 2018, the Atlanta Fulton Central Library was unanimously nominated to the National Register of Historic Places and listed on the Georgia Register of Historic Places by the Georgia National Register Review Board. It will now be sent to the National Park Service for listing on the National Register. Fulton County spoke in opposition to the nomination. [...] Atlanta’s Central Library is currently closed for extensive renovations.

Previously: Central Atlanta Library: debate over adding windows to 'dark' Marcel Breuer building

Central Atlanta Library: debate over adding windows to 'dark' Marcel Breuer building

2018-05-14T14:50:00-04:00

Drilling holes—for windows, granted—into famed architect Marcel Breuer’s final project could cost $1 million, and preservationists are peeved such plans are still on the drafting board. But despite community pushback, the window plans are still very much alive. Tuesday night, a crowd again convened at downtown’s Central Atlanta Library, a Breuer-designed Brutalist building, to argue against aspects of the $50 million plan to renovate the 38-year-old structure.

Current state of the Atlanta-Fulton Central Library building. Photo: Aleksandr Zykov/Flickr.

To drill or not to drill—that's at the center of a heated debate between the Atlanta–Fulton Public Library System, who would like to see additional windows to bring some natural light into their aging Marcel Breuer-designed Central Atlanta Library building, and preservationists, who insist that the concrete shell of the brutalist structure from 1980 must not be altered.

"What we’ve always heard about this building is it’s dark; it’s dingy; it’s dank, and the windows are a way to enliven this," Atlanta library director Gabriel Morley said about the building that once faced demolition not too long ago. "It’s a way to bring some inside out and some outside in."

Brute Force: Atlanta's endangered Breuer, Ban's disaster relief efforts, and a honking huge lobby for driverless vehicles on Archinect Sessions #63

2016-05-05T14:31:00-04:00

This week on the podcast, Donna, Ken and I discuss the uncertain future of downtown Atlanta's brutalist Public Library (the last building Marcel Breuer designed), how Shigeru Ban's relief efforts in Ecuador relate to his celebrity, and the emergence of a heavy-hitting lobbyist group for driverless cars in the US.

Listen to episode 63 of Archinect Sessions, "Brute Force":

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The campaign to save Marcel Breuer...

Breuer's Brutalist library in downtown Atlanta faces demolition

2016-04-29T12:40:00-04:00

The uncertainty looming over the building’s future is serving as a call to action for preservation groups in Atlanta and around the world who are beginning to mobilize. [...] Ironically, to gain the Breuer building, Atlanta lost its original Carnegie Library. [...] As evidenced by the transformation of the former Whitney Museum into the Met Breuer, it is clear that with a careful restoration, Breuer’s works can be an iconic piece of the urban fabric in which they reside

The Architecture and Design Center has begun a petition to protect the library, and has since garnered 1,023 signatures of 2,000 needed.

The petition states: "We ask that the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System Board of Trustees take actions to protect the Central Library and Library System Headquarters Building, located at One Margaret Mitchell Square, from demolition and damaging renovation, whether the Library System maintains ownership or sells the building. We also ask that the building is renamed to honor its architect, the internationally renowned Marcel Breuer."

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