John Portman
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John C. Portman, Jr. (born December 4, 1924) is an American architect, sculptor, and developer known for creation of the multi-storied atrium hotel. A native of Atlanta, Georgia, home to much of his work, he graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1950.
Portman scored an immediate popular success with his innovative atrium hotel form, but has been widely criticized for later projects like the Los Angeles Bonaventure and the Detroit Renaissance Center for creating user-hostile spaces that utterly ignore their urban context and are literally disorienting. Portman is said to be the model for the protagonist Charlie Croker in Tom Wolfe's novel "A Man in Full".
Portman is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.
Important buildings include:
- Hyatt Regency, Atlanta, Georgia
- Peachtree Center, Atlanta, Georgia
- the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, downtown Los Angeles, California
- Renaissance Center, Detroit, Michigan
- Embarcadero Center, San Francisco, California
- SunTrust Plaza, Atlanta, Georgia
Awards
- Award for Excellence for Embarcadero Center - Urban Land Institute, 1984
- Silver Medal Award for Innovative Design - Atlanta Chapter, American Institute of Architects, 1980
- AIA Medal for Innovations in Hotel Design - National American Institute of Architects, 1978
External links
- Portman's firm (http://www.portmanusa.com/)
- An appreciation of the first Hyatt atrium and its futuristic impact (http://jetsetmodern.com/hyatt.htm)