Add a comment with your John Hancock to join the petition to save the Buckhead Branch Library in Atlanta.
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- UPDATE ON BOC AGENDAFrom Library Director John Sza...
- Fulton County Board of Commissioners>WEDNESDAY, MA...
- BOARD VOTES TO DECLINE BEN CARTER'S OFFER!The Boar...
- Board Meeting TODAY!From David Hamilton, AIA, MPAC...
- Presentation fromThe Forum on Saving the Library Y...
- Library Board of Trustee Meeting WEDNESDAY, FEBRUA...
- Sidewalk Protest!.Saturday, February 23 @ 11 AM.Bu...
- OPEN FORUM TO DISCUSS SAVING THE LIBRARY THURSDAY ...
- JUST TO CLEAR UP ANY CONFUSIONSIGNING ON IPETITION...
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February
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113 comments:
let's save the library like we saved the Fox in '74.
Cera Carter
save the library!
Tom Malone
apparently atlanta cares as much about saving architecture as water conservation...
god darn, save the freakin library!
It will start with the library, then all the bars and all the restaurants and all the mom-and-pop shops and everything else that makes Buckhead special will be replaced by schlock that looks more in place in Alpharetta than midtown. The culture is the reason people move to Buckhead, not EIFS covered historicist main-street U.S.A. post-modern detritus.
Ben Carter, Tom Lowe, and Charles Loudermilk have to be the most ignorant scum on earth to want to demo this nice work and replace it with parking and some EIFS crap...
SAVE THE LIBRARY
"I am a lover of art. I can even stand abstract art. But God darn, who in the world would build something like that? There ain't no damn artistic value to that library." WTF Tom Lowe this shows how dumb and narrow minded you really are...
This building is one of the most important works of art in Atlanta. To do destroy it because a few people who don't know anything about art think it's ugly would be a crime. The developers can easily find a way to develop as much square footage as they want to while still keeping the library: build around the library! Integrate it into your development without compromising the existing significant building!
I'm with nicolas, it would be much more interesting to see the developers build adjacent to the library and maybe even respond to it with their building.
Save the library
Save the library!
Ana Maria Leon
save the library!
a. nawacharoen
I do believe it's official. I'm moving to Europe, where architecture is still appreciated!
Save the library!!
agreed build something that responds to libraby allowing for a public / civic / commerical interaction of space would be far more succesful for all party's
Save the Library!
m.graham
Save the Library!
Molly Egan
Save the library.
Aaron Plewke
save the library.
Cristy Arthur
The buckhead library is a great work of architecture and must be saved!
Save the library.
G. Dorminey
Save the Library
A. Chellis-Omedo
Save the Library.
-John Cantrell
save the library!
PLEASE Save the Library!
I would encourage everyone to forward comments to :
bcarter@bencarterproperties.com
Save the Library!
Save the Library!
David Gange
Save the Library
Doug Glasgow
It's just a shame that this has to even be considered or fought over. But this is what developers and money will do to a city, culture, and its people. Lets hope that good sense will prevail - though I am not holding my breath :(
Scott Moore
Down with Haughty Buckhead EIFS Architecture! Save the library!
Save the library
Grant Gibson
Flattening this library will be an embarrassment to the good people of Atlanta. They deserve better.
Ben Loescher
To think that developers can swoop in with check in hand and the city of Atlanta will bow down for a buck. It is a shame. The education of young architects is threaded by buildings like this. It is Fulton County's civic duty to not only protect this building from demise but to uphold a standard of care to other such important community art and architecture. Atlanta doesn't have enough parking decks already? Are you kidding me? I think they can do without tearing down a priceless piece of the Atlanta urban fabric.
Grace Harriett
The idea that an important building like the Buckhead library could be razed should be a major embarrassment to this "world-class" city.
Or perhaps "world-class" is meant to imply accepting only of the lowest common denominator of globally market-driven developer's crap.
fight to save our library and send a message that the forces of greed and ignorance will not go unchallenged in atlanta anymore.
Fulton County Commissioner Tom Lowe: "I am a lover of art. I can even stand abstract art. But God darn, who in the world would build something like that? There ain't no damn artistic value to that library."
Charles Loudermilk, the founder of Aaron Rents: "I see it from my window. I think it's ugly," Loudermilk said. "I like brick and limestone, stuff that looks like quality."
sarah s. blair
Tom Lowe is the santorum dripping from Atlanta's greedy backside.
save the library. don't settle for cookie cutter architecture to be built in it's place!
Let's save the library! One of the few inspiring buildings in atlanta.
Remember that Bellsouth wanted to raze the Fox in the 70s. I think everyone can agree that the decision to save it was the right one. That was an important example because it shows how rallying support can help prevent disastrous decisions made for purely economic reasons (like this one). The proposed development can surely accommodate the existing library.
We need to remind the City that it has a responsibility to provide art and culture for its Citizens.
carter, the developer, will spend millions on acquired public artworks for his manufactured "streets of buckhead," but there's already a large scale, useable artwork in his neighborhood, for free. the buckhead public library is art, and should be protected. . .at the very least built around, or over.
this would be a symbolic save, y'all.
I've returned to Atlanta anticipating a thriving modern environment. To say its disheartening that Atlanta would let this icon of contemporary architecture succumb to the pressures of banal overdevelopment would be a tremendous understatement. grab the chains and tie yourself to the nearest canted column.
Don Whitten
I'm convinced that there is a special rung of hell reserved for Developers. Thank you for bulldozing the bars with their cocaine and rat infested shells, but at some point you can no longer praise these jerks. Unfortunately, men with money aren't always men with a brain or a sense for common decency. Save the library.
-L.M.D.
I have no idea why everyone can not see the value of having this building remain a part of Atlanta's landscape.Down with retail mono-culture! Up with diversity of the imagination! Buildings like the Buckhead Library are what makes a city a city and not an amusement park. -Sloane Robinson
Atlanta is being controlled by developer hacks who wouldn't know design if it ran up and pimp slapped them in the face. Regardless of how you feel about particular design, this Carter guy should not be permitted to raze one of the few examples of modern architecture we have in Atlanta and put a parking lot there!
This is not about public opinion...this is about a developer getting what he wants.
Yes, the library is funky looking - but in a good way. It's nice to be able to ride around Buckhead and notice it because it's different. I'm tired of the generic buildings that seem to be popping up everywhere. Save our library!
Save one of the few architectural assets we have in that area
Reguardless of your personal aesthetic taste, this building is truly unique in Atlanta. The library was there first, surely the design for 'The Streets of Buckhead' project could be (should have been) worked to integrate with the site context of the library... There should be a compromise somewhere. The pleasentness in conformity of modern buildings may be nice, but it is the unique gems such as this, and the Fox theatre, which truly make a city shine!
I wrote two essays about the Buckhead Library at the time of its completion, one of which was solicited by a national magazine. It is unthinkable to have it demolished without public outcry.
I can't beleive they want to raze a buildign that has gained much more recognition and brought so much mroe to Atlanta than most everythign else in the city. All this to replace it with something fake. Something that uses painted foam to imitate brick, limestone, stucco, etcetera. This would never be thought of in Europe, there Ben carter and his cronies would be publicly flogged. Save the library and stop worrying about your wallet. What exactly are you going to do with a few extra million in your pocket...how about be a good citizen and give back to the city. Give the library back.
It's a startling and beautiful thing. And disturbing. Even to consider destroying it is mind-blowing.
Think of the lost tourist dollars (if the money is what's important).
Save the library!
Laura Coyle wants the library saved!
something on the atlanta landscape worth saving.....cant we build around it?
Don't turn Atlanta in to Anytown, USA.
Leave it as Atlanta, please and thank-you.
I am a Fulton County taxpayer, and I would like the library saved.
~Vikram Sami
Save the library... we need to hang on to our history and cultural so we don't lose our identity!!!
Katy Malone
Please save the library! I agree with the 'anon' --there are fewer and fewer of the old 'mom and pop' places that made B'head special. I'm embarassed to tell people I live here!
Sure. Save the Library!
pretty soon, all of these standout disruptions will be demolished so that the common "run-of-the-mall" crap can cover the entire USA- and we can all drive the same car to our local wal-rget and buy all-new home furnishings.
Don't y'all realize that only about 4% of us can tell the difference. Sad but True.
Save our ability to give a s..t!Save the Library.
Save the World.
For some of us this was a very important piece of architecture that we were exposed to in our education. For others it is a piece of Atlanta culture. Let's do all we can.
Are you freaking kidding me?
Save it - can't believe it is even a question!
Save The Library!!!
Save interesting architecture. Why does Atlanta want to tear down everything!
E. Woodling
Suzanne Struble - Fulton County Tax Payer
Save it, but PLEASE write the AJC, Fulton Co. commissioners, and the Library people about it, too!
save the library, darnnit.
the founder of aaron rents knows quality?
save the library.
Well, as someone who's always kinda-sorta liked the library (for it's "hey, that's neat" factor as I drive by), I have to say that the elitist, name-calling, anti-capitalist nastiness I'm reading here doesn't really persuade me.
Maybe if some of you tried to make a case instead of just calling Mssrs. Lowe, Loudermilk and others (who kinda-sorta have a point) "narrow-minded", "ignorant" and the "forces of greed", I might find it easier to "save the library".
Removing this building would be like destroying family heirlooms?
Buckhead resident says SAVE THE LIBRARY...incorporate it into The Streets if you have to.
Scott Rose
Save the library!!
When I first moved to Atlanta and saw the library, my reaction was WOW. It's a wonderful surprise when walking around Buckhead and deserves to be saved. The proposed plan of 'High-end' retail only serves 2 or 3% of the area population. We don't need it or want it. We do need and want inspiring architechture. I can see the proposed buildings in hundreds of other cities. SAVE THE LIBRARY!!
PLEASE SAVE THIS LIBRARY. ARCHITECTURE IS ART ! It is an asset and very creative work. Let's not ruin another chance to have an architectural legacy (like we did for the '06 Olympics)- we already do not have much ! Developers are more responsible than Sherman for us having such a small ammt of actual historic or notable works.
As a current architect in Tampa FL, a previous student of Atlanta Archtecture and a graduate of SPSU, this library meant much for me in regards to local modern architecture. I find it very disturbing that there is plans to remove such an interesting and learning building.
Please save the Buckhead library!
Chris C.
I agree. Demolition for the sakes of financial motives alone would be a regretable mistake. Buildings such as this library add significant character to any environment and for someone who claims to be developing an urban neighborhood, I would think that Ben Carter Properties would understand that the value of such buildings as neighbors are potentially priceless.
Save the library.
Brian Buchalski
save it,
don't raze it!
save the library!
Collin Curry
save the library! i used to think that developers always underestimated the sophistication of the general public. now i realize that developers simply have no measure of taste at all.
-d kane
Mr. Lowe,
I am an architect first and foremost and a resident of Atlanta second and I must explain that the news of possibly tearing down the Buckhead Public Library is an outrage. Losing a civic building for a parking lot, or any other use is a major loss and an act against our constitution, worse than burning the flag. Atlanta is plagued with bad buildings that go up on every corner made out of stucco and cheap building materials, and the Buckhead Branch Public Library by Scogin Elam and Bray is one of five buildings I respect in this city, the Downtown Branch Library by Marcel Breuer at the top of the list. I have read that some people do not like the look of the Buckhead Branch Library and this only further portrays the level of ignorance of the City of Atlanta to the arts of our community and it is time that we take a stand and do not let people destroy the few beautiful buildings we have. Even if you do hate it, and think it is ugly, you have to appreciate it for being unique and different: No one liked the Pompideau Centre in Paris, France when it was constructed and now it is one of the most popular museums in the world. It is the not the Buckhead Branch Library’s fault that Atlanta is artistically inept and it should not be punished for such inadequacy. Public outcry is mounting and it would be a huge mistake to let this occur.
Sincerely,
John Moores, AIA
InhabitAtlanta.com
Someone please set up a petition on Petitiononline.com with a clear statement of why we don't want demolition...& post address to this list...it will be easier to count names, etc.
SAVE THE BUILDING!!!
I mean of all the things that Atlanta doesn't need to do is destroy this building. Save the money needed for demolition and put it to better use like TRAFFIC ISSUES!
This is not just another library... its a symbol of architecture. Obviously GA has no respect for art, all they care about is becoming a cookie cutter town like rest of USA. This library should be saved not only for its architect but also for the beauty this library holds.
Please save the library. Buckhead needs character and architectural variety to be interesting. The library gives us just that!
I am completely against it's demolition for the sole reason that if that building is demolished and I do nothing to stop it, I am allowing ignorance a victory. It would be one thing if the building were taken down by people that understood the impact of such an action. It is, however, a completely different situation when it is being taken down by people who proclaim that "There ain't no damn artistic value to that library."
this library is a sliver of culture that is lacking in atlanta. PASS ON THE PETITION TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW WITH ANY SENSE OF CULTURE!!
distruction to a beautiful bldg of resource is devestating...save the library. Many students, teachers, and kids have made it their home.
frank andre, aia, leed ap
Jessica Geier
Save the Library! Books for Everyone!
As a memeber of the design feild
i wish i could petition some of the bad moves of my own firm.
its is tough being a good designer shadowed by insipid principles/owners. Buildings like the ScogginElam libraries are some of the few that helped legitimized
my move to atlanta to pursue arch.
For me, razing them would set the city and my faith in it back miles.
Save the library now as we continue to catch up architecturally with smaller cities like seattle or even cincy.
When my child asks to go to the library, I do not want to take him to a storefront in a condo tower. I want to take him to a place that inspires imagination. It doesn't matter if it's limestone and columns, or slate shingles and steel, a distinguished building still denotes the importance of public buildings.
Sarah Butler
Stop reinventing history! Cherish it, work with it, appreciate it! Save the Library!!! - Justin Schultz, St Simons Island. GEORGIA TAXPAYER
It is very disheartening to be let down so badly by the Atlanta leadership, some of the comments in the AJC article are sickening. Save the library. Please.
Colin Slaten
The Challenge:
How about you figure how to integrate this significant building into your design instead of killing it? It would be a design challenge that could enhance this development (Rodeo drive, not). Now that all the trash has been cleared out of Buckhead why would your want to get rid of a public library that encourages comunity spirit?
Think about it....
Save the Library!
Down with EIFS, save the library!
The last thing we need as Americans is to have another symbol of our culture and history demolished. No wonder every other country says we have no history since our buildings are always being demolished.
SAVE THE LIBRARY - if not for your, for your heritage!
Alexandra O'Brate
The streets of Atlanta are dominated by generic placeless buildings - we must save the few pieces of true architecture that we have! Don't allow the money hungry developers which rule this city to deface such an internationally important landmark! This is a terribly sad discussion, there shouldn't even be an option...the library must stay!
stacy wyman
(why can't you edit on this blog)
Save the Library! Joel Aviles
Save the Library!
Emily Kindlin
Someone stop the cookie cutter EIFS travesties...Save the library!
Leave us some character, let there be history, and uniqueness of design, valued architecture with courage to stand alone. Let her remain standing for future generations to know and appreciate... PLEASE!
AFranke
The ongoing diluting of Buckhead’s character by a few people with money and no appreciation for diversity is unsettling. Modern architecture or not, available books or not, this oversized (and still growing) grossly homogenous project of Ben’s seems to be void of integrity and lacks regard for any interest besides vulgar, pretentious materialism. What a sad set of principles to instill in our children- let's go shopping instead of reading.
Save the library.
Please do not bulldoze the Buckhead library!
How can you destroy such an amazing building and a piece of public art as well as of cultural service for the community?!!
PLEASE, SAVE THE LIBRARY!!
I grew up in this library!
Christina Wood
Save the library! As a former native Atlantan now living in Philadelphia, I can't tell you how important the preservation of buildings, no matter how young or old, is to preserving and maintaining the character of a city. Please do everything you can to save the library. Shame on the developer for not thinking of more creative ways to incorporate it into his redevelopment plans.
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