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Sonit Bafna discusses why Central Atlanta Library must be preserved

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It is no secret that Atlanta is experiencing significant growth and change throughout the city. The Central Atlanta Library, designed by Marcel Breuer, was completed in 1980, and now in 2018, will be undergoing a $50 million renovation. Sonit Bafna, Associate Professor in the Georgia Tech School of Architecture, sat down with Curbed Atlanta to discuss the preservation the library’s Brutalist façade. 

“For a time about 10 or 20 years ago, it became fashionable to criticize Brutalist buildings because they did not age well; they looked a little bit depressing; they were grey in tone, and they sort of were associated with architects imposing their will on the community,” Bafna said. “[The Central Atlanta Library] is Breuer trying to rethink postmodernism in his own terms—and very late in his career.”

Bafna often shares Breuer’s work in his courses at Georgia Tech. In 2016, his design studio used the Central Atlanta Library for a project in which his students created their own versions of the library.

To view Sonit Bafna’s discussion with Curbed Atlanta and to view student projects from Bafna’s 2016 studio, click here.

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  • Created By:cwagster3
  • Created:05/10/2018
  • Modified By:cwagster3
  • Modified:05/10/2018

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