John Portman Exhibit at High Museum
January 28, 2010 by Paul McParland
Filed under Featured
“John Portman: Art and Architecture” is a wonderful exhibit that can now be viewed at the High Museum through April 18, 2010. This venue features some of the extraordinary projects designed by the incomparable Atlanta native.
High Museum Photograph by Paul McParland
In addition to many of John Portman’s design plans, large-scale photographs, articles and detailed architectural models will be shown.
Perhaps the most interesting works in the gallery are John Portman’s paintings and sculpture. Most of these have never been publicly presented at an exhibit before.
John Portman graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1956. In 1967 he garnered international acclaim for his design of the 22 story atrium, the first of its kind, in the Hyatt Regency Atlanta.
Downtown Atlanta is home to many of his other landmark projects including the Westin Peachtree Plaza, The Atlanta Marriott Marquis, AmericasMart, and the Peachtree Center Complex. AmericasMart is currently the largest wholesale marketplace in the world.
Even more compelling are his international projects such as the Incheon 151 Tower at Songdo Landmark City, Incheon, Korea which will be the world’s secong largest building when completed, or the Zhe Jiang Fortune Finance Center in Hangzhou, China. Other works include Tomorrow Square, Shanghai, China; Beijing Yintai Centre, Beijing, China; Marina Square, Singapore; Jin Hongqiao International Center, Shanghai China; and the Wenzhou Zhixin Plaza, Wenzhou, China.
Other projects highlighted at the fascinating High Museum event, titled John Portman: Art and Architecture, comprise of Entelechy I – his stunning Atlanta home built in 1964; Entelechy II his sprawling home in Sea Island, Georgia; Sun Trust Plaza, Atlanta; the Embarcadero Center and Hyatt Regency, San Fransico, the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, Los Angeles, California; and the magnificent Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan.
To learn more about the John Portman Exhibit and the High Museum of Art, please visit www.High.org.
