...Atlanta...Invisible...Accident...Random...Slogans...Testing Ground...Cities within Cities...Flows...Places...Quotes... Background

Atlanta is an invisible metropolis. By day, the city is a panoramic carpet of trees spreading toward the horizon, interrupted only by tall buildings glistening in the distance. Rivers of automobiles flow on HIGHWAYS finding routes through the forest city like ancient Indian paths once moved through the wilderness. At night, Atlanta is a dark forest, revealing itself only with movements, sounds and lights. The daytime rivers of automobiles become nighttime RIBBONS OF LIGHTS. Tall buildings become beacons orienting late night travelers in space and time and guiding them on their way to hot spots, whether shopping malls or night clubs, with names like Lenox Square or Blind Willie's. When we think of great cities, our habit is to imagine grand streets and boulevards, parks and parkways, and plazas and civic centers. In ATLANTA, we find only a great forest, a landscape. The forest alone gives Atlanta its visible civic identity
Atlanta Essay