John Portman
Looking up into atrium of the Hyatt Regency Atlanta, first of Portman's atrium hotels Embarcadero Hyatt Atrium, San Francisco Renaissance Center, Detroit, MI Shanghai Centre Beijing Yintai Centre Tomorrow Square, Shanghai Hilton San Diego Bayfront John Calvin Portman, Jr. (born December 4, 1924; Walhalla, South Carolina) is an American architect and real estate developer widely known for popularizing hotels and office buildings with multi-storied interior atria. Portman also had a particularly large impact on the cityscape of his hometown of Atlanta, with the Peachtree Center complex serving as downtown's business and tourism anchor from the 1970s onward. The Peachtree Center area includes Portman-designed Hyatt, Westin, and Marriott hotels.