As you may recall, I wrote an open letter to Atlantic Station a few weeks back about its oh-so-lovely Millennium Arch.  We then had a lively debate about it…”Does it reflect Roman ideals or Atlanta’s identity crisis?”  We kicked a few butts, wrote down a couple names, and then moved on.

But surprisingly, despite our learned discussion, the Arch still stands!  In fact, its undeniable strangeness is even beginning to get national attention.  The Christian Science Monitor actually attended the opening of the arch and asked locals and its creator for their opinions.  (There’s even an accompanying video, in case you’ve got time to kill and you like videos that make you feel slightly awkward.)

Though the article gives its creator some air time, its hard to ignore the general undertone of skepticism by the author towards the project.  A quote is even pulled from a critic on the Skyscraperpage.com forum that calls the Arch “a kitschy McMonument that bespeaks a cultural inferiority complex.”

So just add this article to the pile that frames Atlanta on the national stage, as a city that lacks identity.

But take heart!  Even at Atlantic Station there are efforts to tie the development to the city and its site.  Take this great piece of factory equipment from the old Atlantic Steel Mill that now serves as a statue in one of the development’s parks.

Unfortunately, these pieces don’t get the same kinda press as the silly Arch.

[h/t: Fresh Loaf]

(photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

‘Sup Atlantic Station? It’s been a while since we last talked. (Apparently I’m into taking to buildings today. That’s normal, right?)

I believe the last time our paths crossed I questioned why no one seemed to walk down your streets outside the shopping district. Since then you’ve opened an H&M and continued on your quest to build glassy condos, regardless of whether there’s demand.

But that’s not what I’m interested in today. Today, I’m wondering…what the hell is this?

No…not the guy or the mailbox with the hand-written number. I’m referring to that thing behind him. Is that the Arc de Triomphe? Did you steal the Arc de Triomphe from the good people of France and add an observation deck at the top?  Why would you do that?!

Oh…its not the Arc?  It’s a $15 million Arch financed by Atlanta families that was first supposed to be built in D.C.?  And you let them build it amidst two walls of distinctly 21st century-style condos?  Why did you do that?  What about Atlantic Station screams “we need an over-sized Roman arch?  And why did you put it in the residential district?  Any why is it named the Millennium Gate when it was built in 2007/8?

I’m wondering what it symbolizes and says about Atlanta other than “We have no identity!”?  It doesn’t evoke its history or its character.  Heck, you can’t even drive under it!  Instead, its just another $15 million man-made object that says to the world unconvincingly yells “Atlantic Station is the Paris of brownfill development!”

But this is a good lesson for the kids.  If anyone ever offers to build you a $15 million arch because he likes Roman architecture, think first about whether it makes ANY sense at all.

(Photo courtesy of the AJC)

I’ve been asking myself this question ever since the over-hyped, mixed-use, mega-city first opened to the public in 2005. At first I chalked it all up to on-going construction. “Once this place is finished, kids will play in the fountains, elderly couples will walk hand-in-hand along the wide sidewalks, and 20 somethings will sunbathe in the parks.”, I thought. But that hasn’t been the case. In the two plus years since its opened, Atlantic Station has continued to look as dead as its ever been. Which has led me to speculate that either no one lives here or the homes and apartments are inhabited by some sort of mole people straight out of the 1956 sci-fi movie.

Tell me you don’t have the same experience? Whenever I drive across the 17th street bridge into former brownfill country for an embarassingly frequent Banana Republic fix, all the residential areas are a wasteland. Sidewalks? Empty. Porches? Empty. Apartment balconies? Empty. Parks? Empty.

Maybe I just don’t know where to look. Maybe all the families hangout away from where all the chainstore junkies congregate. I wouldn’t blame them if they did. But I have a sneaking suspicion that’s not the case.

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