public art

Coming from a family that travels out of the country quite often, I have been exposed to great amounts of public art. However, I definitely notice great differences in the 'public art' that one can see in European cities and the 'public art' that one can see in the United States. I think one main reason for this is simply the amount of history that exists in Europe as compared to here. Off the top of my head, I can't think of numerous examples of public art in Atlanta, all though there is a good amount on campus. However, as a student in the College of Architecture, I am slightly biased in my opinion of buildings and furnishing as the most beautiful forms of art. In particular, my favorite has always been the Bank of America building, or what my friends typically refer to as "The Pencil Building".

Obviously, now that I have moved onto campus, the building is something that I have grown completely used to seeing on a daily basis (and all of my friends are completely jealous). I'm not sure what it is about the building that I love so much. However, the most appealing part is the top that glows with a warm colored light at night. When you actually get very close to building, you can see that it is made of a dark marble. After researching a bit, I learned that the Bank of America building was built in 14 months (record time) in 1992 becoming the 26th tallest building in the world, and costing 150 million dollars to produce. This is by-far a landmark of Atlanta and a beautiful example of public art.