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When it opened 50 years ago, theĀ Hyatt Regency on Peachtree StreetĀ felt like the architectural embodiment of the Space Age. Visitorsā14,000 came one opening weekendāgazed up in awe at the 22-story atrium, designed to provide āspatial reliefā from the hassles of air travel and city life. That was according to the hotelās architect (and developer) John Portman. Visitors sipped cocktails in Le Parasol Lounge under the watch of macaws, parrots, and cock-of-the-rock birds housed in a three-story aviary. Guests queued for a rocket ride in glass elevatorsāthe most expensive of their timeāto Polaris, the blue-domed rotating restaurant on the roof. Today, the entrance tunnel is a wall of glass, the aviary is gone, and the fountain was long ago replaced by Richard Lippoldās āFlora Rarisā sculpture. But Polaris,Ā which reopened in 2014 after sitting vacant for 10 years, is spinning again, showcasing the downtown that Portman, the cityās most influential architect, helped define.
COPYRIGHT 1967 ALEXANDRE GEORGES, HYATT REGENCY ATLANTA COLLECTION, THE PORTMAN ARCHIVES, LLC