The following is an excerpt from Joseph Amisano's obituary, written by Jon Buono and Robert Craig, PhD. To read the full obituary, please click here.
Atlanta architect Joseph Amisano, FAIA, was a partner of the firm Toombs, Amisano, & Wells whose work defined the progressive period of post-WWII Atlanta.
Born in New York City, Amisano went on to study at Pratt Institute, where he received his Bachelors (1940) and Masters of Architecture degrees (1941). His early practice was in the Manhattan firms of Sanders & Breck and Harrison, Abramowitz & Fouilhoux. In 1942, a job designing facilities for Pan-Am airways brought him to Brazil, where he had his first experience with the built work of Oscar Niemeyer. In 1950, he travelled throughout Europe and the Mediterranean as a recipient of the prestigious Rome Prize.
In 1954, Amisano joined the partnership of Toombs & Wells in Atlanta. In the 1960s, Amisano’s design work included the Visual Arts Center (1962) [now Lamar Dodd School of Art] for the University of Georgia, the original Fernbank Science Center (1963-5), and the Atlanta Memorial Arts Center (1965-8) [altered]. The John Knox Church (1964-5) was one of Amisano’s most celebrated Atlanta projects and won the 1967 AIA Award, the only church in the nation honored that year.
Amisano was recognized as one of the dominant urban form givers of 1960s-80s Atlanta. To the extent that an architect may change the face of a city, Amisano’s impact on Atlanta may be said to have been substantial. He designed some of Atlanta’s best known works of the period, an era labeled Late Modern and Brutalist, and the range of this work is noteworthy.
Reproduced with permission of the authors
Atlanta architect Joseph Amisano, FAIA, was a partner of the firm Toombs, Amisano, & Wells whose work defined the progressive period of post-WWII Atlanta. Born in New York City, Amisano went on to study at Pratt Institute, where he received his Bachelors (1940) and Masters of Architecture degrees (1941). His early practice was in the Manhattan firms of Sanders & Breck and Harrison, Abramowitz & Fouilhoux. In 1942, a job designing facilities for Pan-Am airways brought him to Brazil, where he had his first experience with the built work of Oscar Niemeyer. In 1950, he travelled throughout Europe and the Mediterranean as a recipient of the prestigious Rome Prize.
In 1954, Amisano joined the partnership of Toombs & Wells in Atlanta. In the 1960s, Amisano’s design work included the Visual Arts Center (1962) [now Lamar Dodd School of Art] for the University of Georgia, the original Fernbank Science Center (1963-5), and the Atlanta Memorial Arts Center (1965-8) [altered]. The John Knox Church (1964-5) was one of Amisano’s most celebrated Atlanta projects and won the 1967 AIA Award, the only church in the nation honored that year.
Amisano was recognized as one of the dominant urban form givers of 1960s-80s Atlanta. To the extent that an architect may change the face of a city, Amisano’s impact on Atlanta may be said to have been substantial. He designed some of Atlanta’s best known works of the period, an era labeled Late Modern and Brutalist, and the range of this work is noteworthy.
Reproduced with permission of the authors