Atlanta Symphony Center

Sad to say, the new Atlanta Symphony Center will not be open when my son and I head out to Atlanta this April.

Based on the current rendering the concert hall should be stunning. And, for a modest $300 million, the hall should feature one of the best listening environments in the world.

The new Atlanta Symphony Center is being designed by renowned architect, artist and engineer Santiago Calatrava.

The structure will occupy 279,600 square foot. Remarkable vision and an inspiration in terms of taking the long view on change. So many times I see similar amounts of money being spent in disconnected and ad hoc activities such as urban sprawl or the development of complex information technology systems. Rarely does the endpoint result from a deliberate view of the future. More often the endpoint is merely a collection of random actions taken without context and without vision. You do get something at the end and, I suppose, that is the difference between great achievements like the Atlanta Symphony Center and mediocre achievements like Toronto’s urban sprawl.