Atlanta architect John Portman, FAIA, died on Friday at 93. Born in Walhalla, S.C., in 1924, Portman earned a B.S. in architecture from Georgia Tech. He worked at Ketchum, Gina and Sharp, H.M. Heatley Associates, and Stevens & Wilkinson before founding his firm, today known as John Portman & Associates, in 1953.
"No single architect shaped Atlanta’s skyline like Portman, who gave the city the Hyatt Regency, Peachtree Center, AmericasMart and the Westin Peachtree Plaza hotel," J. Scott Trubey wrote in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Saturday. "He also left his stamp from San Francisco to Shanghai, and helped revitalize Times Square with his famed New York Marriott Marquis."
Harvard Graduate School of Design's dean Mohsen Mostafavi, Intl. Assoc. AIA, published a book about Portman earlier this year in collaboration with photographer Iwan Baan.
"John C. Portman Jr., FAIA, is my hero, because Southern architects need Southern idols, and because he showed everyone how to invent a typology (“super atrium”) while mastering the architect–developer business model," Jennifer Bonner, director of Boston-based MALL, told ARCHITECT last year.
We are saddened by the loss of our founder John C. Portman, Jr. but are honored to carry on his legacy https://t.co/DAxsFvXZWe pic.twitter.com/C0erTlMGxJ
— John Portman & Assoc (@JPortmanAssoc) December 30, 2017
Yet another sad thing in 2017: architect John Portman has died, age 94. Pictured: His Marriott Marquis Hotel, completed 1985. #johnportman pic.twitter.com/80R3EH6a5P
— Glenn Adamson (@GlennAdamson) December 31, 2017
Mr. Portman is one of our city's great men. My heart goes out to his wonderful family and all who loved him. May God's grace cover and console them. https://t.co/nY3Jvv75fD
— Kasim Reed (@KasimReed) December 30, 2017
Very sad to have just gotten the news of John Portman’s death at 93. One of the unforgettable figures of 20th century American architecture, and a romantic modernist to the end. He made architectural drama accessible to millions.
— Paul Goldberger (@paulgoldberger) December 30, 2017
As a kid from the sticks, being in a John Portman atrium was one of the first times I understood the power of architecture https://t.co/oX1LZOKCfe pic.twitter.com/9cxMs7MByY
— Michael Bierut (@michaelbierut) December 31, 2017
Farewell to John Portman, architect that sculpted many American city centers--and gave us atrium hotels https://t.co/9L3FMQcixN (image: the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta in a 1967 photo by Alexandre Georges) #johnportman pic.twitter.com/iB7HrdFVN2
— Paola Antonelli (@curiousoctopus) December 30, 2017
Thank you John C Portman for bringing spatial awe to my Atlanta youth and thus paving the way for my own architectural adventure. pic.twitter.com/nwsubzcUHZ
— kai-uwe bergmann (@kaiuwebergmann) December 30, 2017
