Union Tower

Academic - Atlanta, GA

Atlanta has deep roots in film. The city petitioned to hold the premiere of Gone With the Wind in Atlanta, and, in 1939, the movie premiered at the Lowe's Grand Theater in downtown. Today, Atlanta is ranked as one of the top cities in the United States for film production, and overall the creative economy in the city is exploding. This studio explored the architectural consequences of the relationship between working and living. Our site was Downtown Atlanta, specifically Broad Street: a north-south street that was historically the spine of Atlanta's development as a frontier railroad town. With partner Jennifer Johnson, we began with a Kevin Lynch-inspired exercise, producing a short film our site explorations, compiling an "image" of the neighborhood from the people at South Broad. From these interactions and further research, we discovered that Broad Street was seen as two streets divided by Five Points MARTA station. This division had effectively cut-off South Broad from the rest of downtown. Though currently a thriving arts community, the disconnect from the rest of Atlanta's urban fabric has suppressed traffic, pedestrian or motorized.

Our proposal seeks to reconnect North Broad and South Broad back into one Broad Street. We began by subdividing the over-sized Five Points block to stitch the grid back together. Moving the station a block over, we introduced our architectural intervention, Union Tower (the name being a call back to Atlanta's Union Station, as well as an homage to our proposed union of Broad Street). This site being the epicenter of Atlanta's birth, we proposed the tower to be the tallest tower in the city (at 1138 feet).

The tower is programmed as a vertical film studio, interweaving film spaces, including production studios and post-production offices, with housing units. Historically the original topographical level of Atlanta, we proposed production sets to be located at the basement of the tower, filling in Atlanta's past with its present and future identity as a film hub. At street level, Atlanta gets its premiere downtown theater: Union Cinemas. We looked to films, such as Blade Runner, for precedents of vibrant, active downtowns. Light and sound are scattered throughout the neighborhood through large monitors and LED signs. The podium of Union Tower includes back-projected textile skin showcasing local art and culture.

Historically, Broad Street was the center of action and entertainment; department stores, restaurants, and carnival games and rides could be experienced along the street. Our proposal revives Broad Street with the similar fun, entertainment, and kitschiness of a carnival. This is highlighted by our vertical transportation system, dubbed the "Wonka-Vator." Atlanta has always had a history of showcasing and being the best at the newest form of transportation, from the train to the automobile. Union Tower showcases the future of vertical transit with a cyclical elevator system. Using Willy Wonka's Glass Elevator as our precedent, our "Wonka Vator" takes patrons in a ferris-wheel like ride in a glass elevator up and over the top of the building, allowing for full views of the city.