Presented by the Buidings Worth Saving
Committee of the Atlanta Preservation Center:

2003 List of Endangered Buildings:

The Alcoa Building (aka The Davis Building at The Temple), 1955-57
Address: 1615 Peachtree Street
Owner/Contacts: The Temple, (404) 872-8726
Threat: Demolition

One of the city's best examples of mid-20th century modernism, the Alcoa Building may soon fall victim to the expansion of The Temple. Designed by Pittsburgh Architects Schell, Deeter and Scott and Atlanta Architect George A. Fuller, the building is an early example in Atlanta of the influence of such ground-breaking designs as Skidmore Owings and Merrill's Lever House in New York City in 1950-51. 

Establishing its impact through the rhythm of repeating rectilinear patterns, the aluminum grillwork of the spandrel panels, which act as a showcase for the company's product, help to maintain human scale and interest through material, proportion, and texture. Variety is provided to the linearity of the façade by the cantilevered arched canopy at the entrance. The historian Nicholas Pevsner postulated that the quality of variety, as illustrated by Atlanta's Alcoa Building, was one of the major evolutions in 20th century modernism. 

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