John C. Portman Jr.


John Calvin Portman Jr. was an American neofuturistic architect and real estate developer widely known for popularizing hotels and office buildings with multi-storied interior atria. Portman also had a particularly large impact on the cityscape of his hometown of Atlanta, with the Peachtree Center complex serving as downtown's business and tourism anchor from the 1970s onward. The Peachtree Center area includes Portman-designed Hyatt, Westin, and Marriott hotels. Portman's plans typically dealt with primitives in the forms of symmetrical squares and circles.

Early life and career

Portman was born on December 4, 1924, in Walhalla, South Carolina, to John C. Portman Sr. and Edna Rochester Portman. He had five sisters. He graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1950. His firm completed the Merchandise Mart in downtown Atlanta in 1961. The multi-block Peachtree Center was begun in 1965 and would expand to become the main center of hotel and office space in Downtown Atlanta, taking over from the Five Points area just to the south. Portman would develop a similar multiblock complex at San Francisco's Embarcadero Center, which unlike its Atlanta counterpart, heavily emphasized pedestrian activity at street level.
The Hyatt Regency Atlanta, Portman's first atrium hotel, would lead to many more iconic hotels and multi-use complexes with atria, including the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles, the New York Marriott Marquis, and the Renaissance Center in Detroit, whose central tower remained the tallest hotel in the Western Hemisphere until the completion of 1717 Broadway in 2013.
His signature work in China, the Shanghai Centre, was the first of many major projects in China and elsewhere in Asia. The 5-star hotel inside, The Portman Ritz-Carlton, Shanghai, was named after him.
In 2009, Portman's work was featured in a major exhibition at Atlanta's High Museum of Art.
Portman was a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

Personal life and death

Portman married Joan "Jan" Newton. They had six children.
Portman died on December 29, 2017, aged 93, in Atlanta. Through his son Jarel, his daughter-in-law is actress Traylor Howard.

Portfolio

In chronological order by first listed completion date — for complexes, by completion date of first building in complex
An asterisk following a listing indicates a work done in partnership with H. Griffith Edwards.

1960s

  • AmericasMart, Atlanta
  • *AmericasMart 1, 1961*
  • *AmericasMart 2, 1992
  • *AmericasMart 2 West, 2008
  • *AmericasMart 3, 1979
  • Atlanta Decorative Arts Center, Peachtree Hills, Atlanta, 1961
  • Cary Reynolds Elementary, 1961
  • Sequoyah Middle School, 1963
  • 230 Peachtree Building, Atlanta, 1965*
  • Antoine Graves, Atlanta, 1965*
  • Antoine Graves Annex, Atlanta, 1966*
  • Spalding Drive Elementary School, Sandy Springs, Georgia, 1966*
  • Henderson High School, Chamblee, 1967*
  • Peachtree Center, Atlanta
  • *Peachtree Center North, 1967*
  • *Peachtree Center South, 1969
  • *Peachtree Center International Tower, 1972*
  • *Harris Tower, 1975*
  • *Marquis One, 1985
  • *Marquis Two, 1989
  • Hyatt Regency Atlanta, 1967*
  • Hyatt Regency O'Hare, Rosemont, 1969

    1970s

  • BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, Chattanooga, 1971
  • Embarcadero Center, San Francisco
  • *One Embarcadero Center, 1971
  • *Two Embarcadero Center, 1974
  • *Three Embarcadero Center, 1977
  • *Four Embarcadero Center, 1982
  • *Hyatt Regency San Francisco, 1973
  • *Embarcadero West, 1989
  • *Le Méridien San Francisco, 1988
  • The Mall at Peachtree Center, Atlanta, 1973
  • The Tower, Fort Worth, 1969–1974
  • Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel, Atlanta, 1976
  • Westin Bonaventure Hotel, Los Angeles, 1974–1976
  • Renaissance Center, Detroit
  • *Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center, 1973–1977
  • *Renaissance Center Tower 100, 1973–1977
  • *Renaissance Center Tower 200, 1973–1977
  • *Renaissance Center Tower 300, 1973–1977
  • *Renaissance Center Tower 400, 1973–1977
  • *Renaissance Center Tower 500, 1979–1981
  • *Renaissance Center Tower 600, 1979–1981

    1980s

  • The Regent Singapore, Singapore, 1982
  • , Emory University, 1983
  • Peachtree Center Athletic Club, Atlanta, 1985
  • Atlanta Marriott Marquis, 1985
  • Hyatt Regency Jeju, Jungmun, Jeju-do, South Korea, 1985
  • Marina Square, Singapore
  • *Marina Square Shopping Centre, 1985
  • *Mandarin Oriental Singapore, 1985
  • *Marina Mandarin Singapore, 1985
  • *The Pan Pacific Singapore, 1986
  • Entelechy II, Sea Island, 1986
  • New York Marriott Marquis, New York City, 1982–1985
  • , Emory University, 1986
  • Northpark Town Center, Sandy Springs
  • *Northpark 400, 1986
  • *Northpark 500, 1989
  • *Northpark 600, 1998
  • JW Marriott San Francisco Union Square, 1987
  • American Cancer Society Center, Atlanta, 1989
  • Riverwood 100, Vinings, 1989

    1990s

  • Shanghai Centre, Shanghai, China, 1990
  • *Shanghai Centre West Apartment
  • *Shanghai Centre Apartments 2
  • *The Portman Ritz-Carlton, Shanghai
  • Truist Plaza, Atlanta, 1992
  • Cap Square, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • *Menara Multi Purpose, 1994
  • *Capital Square Condominiums, 2007

    2000s

  • Bank of Communications, Shanghai, China, 2000
  • Shi Liu Pu Building, Shanghai, China, 2000
  • Bund Center, Shanghai, China, 2002
  • *Bund Center
  • *The Westin Bund Center, Shanghai
  • *Westin Residences
  • Westin Warsaw Hotel, Warsaw, Poland, 2001–2003
  • Beijing Yintai Centre, Beijing, China, 2002–2007
  • *Beijing Yintai Centre Tower 1
  • *Beijing Yintai Centre Tower 2
  • *Beijing Yintai Centre Tower 3
  • The Westin Charlotte, Charlotte, 2003
  • Tomorrow Square, Shanghai, China, 1997–2003
  • Taj Wellington Mews Luxury Residences, Mumbai, India, 2004
  • Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center Hotel, Schaumburg, 2006
  • ICON, San Diego, 2004–2007
  • Hilton San Diego Bayfront, San Diego, 2006–2008

    2010s

  • JW Marriott Hotel Shenzhen Bao'an, Shenzhen, China, 2015
  • CODA Tech Square, Atlanta, Georgia, Georgia Institute of Technology, Midtown Atlanta, 2017

    Awards and honors

  • 1968 Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement
  • 1978 Medal for Innovations in Hotel Design – American Institute of Architects
  • 1980 Silver Medal Award for Innovative Design – American Institute of Architects, Atlanta Chapter
  • 1984 Urban Land Institute Award for Excellence – for Embarcadero Center
  • 2009 The Lynn S. Beedle Lifetime Achievement Award – Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat
  • 2011 The Atlanta City Council renamed Harris Street in Downtown Atlanta as John Portman Boulevard at Historic Harris Street.
  • 2013 Four Pillar Award – Council for Quality Growth

    Criticism

Portman was praised for his "cinematic" interiors artfully relating interior space and elements to the individual. In the 1960s and 1970s the placement of such buildings in America's decaying downtowns was considered salvation of the city centers, but some contemporary city planners are critical of such insular environments that "turn their back" on the city streets. For example, the New York Marriott Marquis with its 8-floor high lobby was praised as a "town square", but is now criticized by some for turning its back to Times Square. Nonetheless, at the time the hotel was built, due to the still-seedy character of Times Square, Portman's style of inwardly-oriented spaces made logical sense. Also, he did, in fact, design buildings that heavily emphasized pedestrian activity at street level.