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John C. Portman, Jr., one of Atlanta’s greatest champions, died Friday, December 29, 2017, at the age of 93. As an architect, real estate developer, entrepreneur, artist and altruist, Portman had a dramatic impact on Atlanta’s success and growth as a major international city and similar impact on other major cities throughout the world. He is internationally recognized for significant urban mixed-use complexes wherein his understanding of people and their response to space translates into enhanced environments and award-winning architecture.
For Portman, design decisions were always rooted in the interpretation of basic human needs. Portman believed that architecture was created for, and exists to serve, life – to serve people – and Portman recognized that all people, wherever they live, are more alike than different. From Embarcadero Center in San Francisco and Times Square in NewYork, to Marina Square in Singapore and Shanghai Centre in China, he took people away from the congestion of urban life by creating spaces that are open and uplifting to the human spirit.
Portman pioneered the role of architect/developer, weathering tremendous criticism from members of the architectural profession who viewed this as a conflict of interest. The first project for which he served in this dual role was in the design and development of the initial Atlanta Merchandise Mart, now AmericasMart.
When Portman founded the Atlanta Merchandise Mart in an old converted office building in 1957, Atlanta was experiencing “white flight,” as were many cities throughout the South. As the city core was abandoned in favor of the suburbs, vacant buildings became empty eyesores or were leveled for parking lots, and no new construction was happening downtown.
Portman was raised in Atlanta. His family lived adjacent to the downtown area; his dad worked downtown and, as a teenager, so did Portman. He always had a great love of the area and for all of its people. When success dictated building a new, larger building for the Atlanta Merchandise Mart, he made the decision to build it downtown to encourage further development, reenergize the city and save the area for future generations. In spite of many obstacles and huge financial risks, he did it.
Before the Mart’s new million-sq.-ft. building opened in 1962, Portman made...