HIGH MUSEUM OF ART

Atlanta, GA

In 1926 Harriet High donated her family’s Peachtree Street residence to be used as a museum, which was named in her honor – The High. It was later replaced with this 135,000-square-foot building designed by Richard Meier, which was funded by a grant from former Coca-Cola president Robert Woodruff. Following this project, Meier won the 1984 Pritzker Prize, recognizing his body of work and contributions to the profession. The museum contains 18,000 works of art ranging from the classics to the contemporary. In 1962 during a museum-sponsored tour, 106 Georgia arts patrons died in an air crash near Paris, France. In memory of those who died there, the French donated a number of well-known works of art to The High, including the Rodin sculpture, The Shade, seen to the left in this sketch.

Meier’s designs are notably white and geometric. White has been used in many architectural landmark buildings throughout history, including grand cathedrals and the white-washed villages of the Mediterranean regions of Spain, southern Italy and Greece. Much of Meier’s work builds on the concepts of other architects of the early to mid-20th century, especially the early works of Le Corbusier. Meier is said to have designed more buildings inspired by Corbusier than anyone, including Corbu himself. His work also reflects influences of other archtects such as Mies Van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright.