Adapting with Atlanta

In this studio, we collaboratively explore to uncover the complexities of one of America’s complicated urban landscapes. As designers, we are often tasked with understanding cities and sites not only as static elements but as living, evolving systems. Every location carries a unique blend of political, social, and environmental histories that shape its character, challenges, and opportunities. Our focus will be the adaptive transformation of sites within a carefully selected transect across Atlanta, Georgia.

Our exploration follows a four-mile transect through Atlanta’s core, extending west from Washington Park and the Beltline, including residential neighborhoods and downtown, and east to Cabbagetown and the Beltline. With a diverse population of over six million (projected to reach 8 million by 2050) Atlanta is a multi-faceted city. It is uniquely American and cosmopolitan - both  emblematic of the South - and a national center of commerce with a lasting focal point in the American socio-political discourse. This transect provides a snapshot of Atlanta’s historical and contemporary fabric, from its origins as a vital railroad hub and Civil War battleground to its legacy as a civil rights movement center and an ongoing evolution as a modern metropolis. The study area intersects a topography that defined Atlanta’s origins at the crossroads of several rivers, directed its growth, and continues to underpin the systems that define an urban landscape unique to Atlanta but relevant across America.