Atlanta Architecture—Art Deco to Modern Classic, 1929–1959 by Robert M. Craig

Abstract

62 ARRIS Volume 6 1995 Marye, Alger, and Vinour , Southern Bell Building, Atlanta, 1929. Figural sculpture of line repairman (Robert M . Craig collection, Atlanta History Center). Robert M. Craig, Atlanta Architecture-Art Deco to Modern Classic, 1929-1959. Gretna, LA: Pelican Press, 1995, 160 pp., 140 b&w illus., 26 color plates. In Atlanta Architecture-Art Deco to Modern Classic, 1929-1959, Rob Craig has written a fascinating, chronological account of a city's architectural history during the mid-twentieth century. Because I have a number of criticisms to make of the volume, I think it is important to say at the outset that I liked this book very much. Craig writes with passion and enthusiasm about his city's architecture; it is obvious that he admires these buildings and knows a great deal about them. However, he seems to appreciate the commercial and institutional buildings much more than the houses. In his discussion of the wonderful Art Deco Evans-Cucich house of 1934 by A. F. N. Everett, he says, "The aesthetic squirms uncomfortably as it sits on a shaded suburban street lined with historic revival homes" (54). Surely, its restrained symmetrical form, its residential scale, its sensitive detail, and its elegant landscape treatment are enough for it to be at horne in a traditional neighborhood of varied eclectic houses. His historical research seems to be comprehensive in spite of the meager bibliography. The photographs (most of which were taken by the author) are excellent; they illustrate the buildings both in whole and in detail. It is possible, almost without exception, to see in the illustrations exactly those features or characteristics that the textdescribes. Thereader comesto know and appreciate the buildings almost as well as is possible without actually visiting them himself. Only plans are missing. While it is true that surface ornament and building form are the author's primary concerns, site plans and contextual information for the buildings discussed would have been welcomed additions to the text. Craig augments architectural description and analysis with considerable historical and anecdotal information; why not also include those drawings that best describe the buildings' interior, formal organizations along with text that establishes the context into which they were inserted? In chapter 1, Craig describes four "modern" styles used by architects in the design of Atlanta's buildings during the 1930s, 40s, and 50s: Art Deco, Modern Classic, Streamlined Moderne, and Modern. Although all four styles are discussed in some detail in this chapter, only buildings classified as either Art Deco or Modern Classic are described in this volume. Craig indicates that the latter two styles will be the subject of a second volume. This division of material is frustrating. The four-styles overlap in time and share characteristics in a way that makes discrete discussion of only two styles virtually impossible. Craig confronts this difficulty in attempting to differentiate Art Deco from Modern Classic. It is possible, for example, to quibble with his categorization of buildings like the Kress and McCrory stores and the Evans-Cucich House as Art Deco, while other buildings with similar form and decoration, such as the Federal Post Office and theThornton and Volunteer State Life Building, are listed as Modern Classic. Even Craig himself seems to be confused when he describes the Police Station and Jail of 1934-35 by Burge and Stevens as a "Modern Classic [(of)] archaic Deco" (102). Art Deco and ModernClassichave a commonclassical heritage. Art Deco architecture is classical architecture on which polychromatic ornament based on geometric or natural patterns (plants, vines, leaves, and flowers) has replaced traditional classical ornament. Modern Classic architecture is classical architecture with its ornament stripped away. Buildings in these styles differ only in their decoration; they retain symmetrical, classically proportioned forms and plan organizations. The same can be said of Streamlined Moderne, which was not included in this volume. As it rarely includes modern asymmetrical composition or free-plan spatial organization, it would seem to have much more in common with Art Deco and Modern Classic than with Modern architecture, in spite of its use of machine-age, decorative elements. Craig suggests that Art Deco architecture is a modern application of Ruskinian architectural philosophy. I have trouble with this...