Architecture and design in the United States and, later, the preservation of each, have deep roots in the country’s history. The State of Massachusetts established its Historical Society in 1791 (two years after the official start of the new government). In 1850, the State of New York moved to preserve the country’s first historic house museum, Hasbrouck House – George Washington’s headquarters in Newburgh. And in 1857, Philadelphia opened Carpenter’s Hall to the public – the site of the first Continental Congress and the first privately-owned American building to be preserved. These, and many similar preservation efforts, laid the foundation for what we know today as the historic preservation movement.
The movement secured two significant legislative gains in 1949 and 1966 when Congress chartered the National Trust for Historic Preservation and passed the National Historic Preservation Act, respectively. Among other things, the latter established the National Register of Historic Places and authorized grants to the states and territories for the establishment of State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPOs).
In Atlanta, this federal action prompted the city to create a 15-member Atlanta Civic Design Commission (ACDC). Active from 1966 through the mid-1970s, Mayor Maynard Jackson’s administration replaced it with the Atlanta Urban Design Commission (AUDC) in 1975. Like its predecessor, the AUDC did not initially have regulatory authority to enforce its decisions – that would come later in the decade with new City of Atlanta ordinances. However, the new Commission began to bring attention to the city’s rich history and to weave together a more comprehensive and inclusive narrative.
Upholding the tradition of awarding excellence in a variety of areas that began in 1973 by the first Commission, AUDC’s first executive director and chair (Jenny Thurston and H. Randal Roark, respectively), held the first annual Awards of Excellence ceremony in 1976. Urban Walls (a public arts organization) and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Birth Home were among the first honorees.
Since then, the AUDC’s Design Awards celebration continues to recognize excellence in many categories related to historic preservation and design. The Design Awards event is comprised of two awards: the Awards of Excellence (awarded since 1976) and the more recent Community Design Awards. The two are distinguished primarily by the scope and reach of the project, site, property, program, etc. being nominated.
As the name suggests, nominees for Community Design Awards are put forward by local citizens. The awards focus on projects, programs, or people who have worked to make the city or a neighborhood a better place to live. Conversely, Awards of Excellence are given for physical projects, programs, and sometimes people located in the city of Atlanta that have improved the City’s physical character. Often, though not required, nominees for this award are recommended by industry professionals and stakeholders. Also, categories for this award are more defined than those for the Community Design Awards.
Both awards seek to identify, highlight, and validate the design trends that make Atlanta unique and give meaning to those who inhabit its many communities. Atlanta’s built environment reflects not only the nuances of the city’s history, but also it is a prism through which are refracted intense, if at times imperceptible, socio-cultural currents. In Carl Sauer’s 1925 book, The Morphology of Landscape, the author argues that landscapes are created as human cultures work with and on nature; thus, it is only by reading landscapes that we understand culture.
Each year, the Design Awards provide a snapshot of Atlanta’s culture – who we are, how we see ourselves, and what we value. Through the Design Awards, we get to define that vision. For ultimately, it is our responsibility to each other and to the city we call home.
2022 Design Award Winners
Awards of Excellence
Greg Cross, Smith Dalia Architects
Robyn Zurfluh
Ronnie Mabra, Mabra Law
Sue Brennan, Winter Construction
Olivia Pontiff, Kronberg Urbanists + Architects
Dick Anderson, Fulton County Manager
Bill Mason, Program Facilities Manager (accepting the award)
Armond Borders, Consultant – Department of Real Estate Asset Management
Joe Davis, Director – Department of Real Estate Asset Management
Tim Dimond, Deputy Director – Department of Real Estate Asset Management
Brett Laureys, Lead Design-Build Architect
Heba Elsayed, Design-Build Architect
Elizabeth Roberts, former County Attorney assigned to Courthouse Project
Michelle Blackmon, Grant Park Conservancy
John Sitton, Project Manager for the Historic Preservation Project
Alisa Chambers, Grant Park Conservancy
Nikki Zimmerman, Grant Park Conservancy
Jere Smith, Atlanta Public Schools
Sophia Tarkhan, Cooper Carry Architects
Katy Daugharty, Cooper Carry Architects
Matthew Wilder, Associate Vice President / Principal Landscape Architect – Pond
Adeline Collot, Program Director – Upper Westside CID
Peter Ferrari, Curator
John Dirga, Project Director
Lauren Standish, Principal – HGOR
Todd Fuller, Principal – HGOR
Chris Mutter, Principal – HGOR
Joe Greco, President – Lord Aeck Sargent
Shan Arora, Director – Kendeda Building for Sustainable Innovative Design at Georgia Tech
John Star, Principal – Lord Aeck Sargent
Britni Johnson, Director of Public Relations – North American Properties
Jay Yu, Director of Innovation & Digital Assets – North American Properties
Community Design Awards
Amber Knight, Virginia Highland District
James Hicks, Mozley Park Dog Park & The Lofts at Centennial Yards South
Jane Bradshaw Burnett, Festival Chair, Inman Park Festival and Tour of Homes
Editor’s Note: Camille Russell Love is taking a hiatus from Inside the Arts, so this will be her last column for the immediate future.