IN MEMORIAM: JOHN CALVIN PORTMAN, JR.
IN MEMORIAM: JOHN CALVIN PORTMAN, JR.
John Calvin Portman, Jr., an Atlanta-based architect world renowned for his hotel designs featuring soaring atriums with glass elevators, passed away on December 29 at the age of 93, various news outlets, including The New York Times, report. Notable buildings he designed include the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta and the Embarcadero Center in San Francisco, as well as others throughout the U.S., Europe and Southeast Asia. Portman never stopped working, and spoke with ELEVATOR WORLD in 2014 about the role of atrium elevators in architectural design, calling them part of the “living room of life." Survivors include wife, Joan; sons, Michael, John, Jeffrey and Jarel; daughter, Jana; 19 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
ESCALATOR FALL AT AIRPORT FATAL FOR BABY IN INDIA
A six-month-old girl fell from her mother's arms on an escalator at the airport in Kolkata, India, on December 30, 2017, succumbing to her injuries shortly afterward at a local hospital, The Telegraph reports. The mother reportedly was holding a bag in one hand and the child in the other when the accident occurred, resulting in fatal head and neck injuries. Parents and child were riding a down escalator on their way to board an early-morning flight.
PROPOSED TORONTO CONDO PLAN ADDS 20-STORY BUILDING, MORE
The City of Toronto has received an updated proposal for a group of primarily condominium buildings at 2180 Lawrence Avenue East that has grown from several blocks of townhomes and a 12-story building to three blocks of townhomes, and a seven-story and 21-story building, UrbanToronto reports. Designed by Kohn Partnership Architects for Lalu Canada, the buildings would provide nearly 230 residential units of various sizes, retail, an underground parking garage with 322 spaces, and indoor and outdoor amenity space. Future phases would see a trio of 20-story condo buildings rise across Birchmount Road from the site, contributing to continuing urbanization of a suburban area.
FIVE INJURED IN NYC HOME ELEVATOR FALL
The New York Daily News reported that five people were injured when an elevator inside a brownstone building in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of New York City (NYC) “suddenly dropped from the third floor to the basement.” Taking place around 3 a.m. on January 1 in a four-story home, it reportedly fell 20-30 ft. and landed at the bottom of the hoistway. A 26-year-old man had a broken right leg, a 45-year-old man and a 54-year-old woman suffered broken ankles, and two other men, both 52, suffered gashes to their heads.
