Portman, John Calvin, jun.

Portman, John Calvin, jun. (1924– ). American architect/developer known for his huge urban buildings, including the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Atlanta, GA (1964–7—with an internal multi-storey atrium surrounded by plant-filled balconies serving the rooms (instead of corridors) and with glass-enclosed capsule-like lifts running up and down the façades accessing the balconies and the revolving ‘Polaris’ restaurant above the main roof. The floor of the atrium was amply planted, and contained lounges, cafés, etc., like some sort of internal city square). With the added attractions of water and lighting effects, the formula proved a success with the public, and he employed it with variations in several other schemes. However, the exteriors of his buildings were perhaps less attractive than the internal spaces. With Jonathan Barnett he argued for the advantages of architect-developers (1976).

Bibliography

Kalman (1994);
Portman & and Barnett (1976);
Portman & Associates (2003);
Riani et al. (1990)