The AIA Convention was held in Atlanta this year. Being the host city is important because it's often up to the local architects to organize tours of what they consider significant architecture in their city. I participated in a tour of a "modern" condo development in a fringe area of Atlanta, just to the west of downtown in an area of train yards and industry.

While the development was an interesting study in urban design, the architecture was not what we in Austin would call "modern". There were some trendy colors and a modern mix of materials but nothing like what we experiment with in Austin. The development would be a pleasant place to live and promotes social interaction among the residents, however provocative architecture it was not. Sometimes architectural tours in other cities give me a greater appreciation of the high quality of design that comes out of our home town.