Civil rights center gets ‘green’ design

The Center for Civil and Human Rights will make an iconic statement when it opens in 2012 in downtown Atlanta.

A design by the Freelon Group and HOK Atlanta was announced Thursday as the winning entry in the architectural competition for the city’s newest cultural institution.

It features a pair of interlocking structures that suggest the linked arms of civil rights marchers. The form of the $125 million downtown facility also symbolizes solidarity among individuals that advances all human rights struggles.

Clad in terra cotta sunscreens, the building aims to balance the dignity and drama that befit an important attraction that could cement Atlanta’s growing reputation as a destination for cultural tourism and serious civil rights study.

Doug Shipman, executive director of the center, announced the winning design at the Central Atlanta Progress annual meeting. He said the proposal was a great starting point.

“It will evolve in conversation with stakeholders and the public,” Shipman said.

This same participatory approach was used in developing the content of the exhibits. They will encompass pre-movement history, the modern civil rights movement in Atlanta and Georgia, and global human rights efforts inspired by the American civil rights movement.

The exhibits, which will be experiential and interactive, cluster around a central courtyard on the lower floor of the split-level facility. The courtyard will orient visitors as they weave through exhibits and bring light into the halls.

Although the center is not an artifact-oriented institution, access to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s papers will be an important feature. That display will occupy the highest point of the building.

Its location at Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard and Techwood Drive nods in the direction of King’s home, church and the civil rights history of Auburn Avenue.

Because the center is intended as a place of dialogue and action on issues related to civil and human rights, it will include a theater with its own entrance and an event space overlooking Pemberton Place.

Arguing that environmental safety is a human right, lead architect Philip Freelon, whose 60-person firm is based in Durham, N.C., pledged to deliver a building that would exemplify the best practices for sustainable design. Its striking “green” roof, topped with sustainable vegetation, is only the most visible evidence.

Freelon, who received the 2009 Thomas Jefferson Award for Public Architecture from the American Institute of Architects, brings experience gained from projects devoted to similar topics. Among them: the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco and the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture in Baltimore. The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Art & Culture in Charlotte opens this fall.

His firm worked on the master plan for the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington and is on a team vying to design it.

THE CENTER FOR CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS

> Where: On a sloping 2.2 acres north of the World of Coca-Cola and across from the Georgia Aquarium

Cost: $125 million, including $25 million endowment. $60 million raised so far

> Groundbreaking: Late 2009, if fund-raising reaches $85 million to $90 million

> Projected opening: 2012

 Staff
Map locates the civil rights center site. Inset map outlines area of detail in metro Atlanta.