Atlanta once had a beautiful train station. Not like Midtown MARTA Station with its large, colorful bird statues, nor Five Points station with its vibrant exterior mural. The now-demolished Terminal Station had a regal Beaux-Arts facade, accented by two ornate towers. Completed in 1905, the structure looked almost European, a striking contrast to the architecture of downtown today.
But it didn’t last long; Terminal Station was demolished in 1972. The Richard B. Russell Federal Building now stands in its place, its cubelike, utilitarian design forever altering the character of the block it occupies.
“We had something that was so beautiful,” said Atlanta architect Melody Harclerode. “[Terminal Station] would have been an amazing landmark… We destroyed it. We tore it down.”
She continued: “Are we gonna build again, knowing our roots, knowing what we had before? Are we gonna do something that elicits beauty and awe and is a memorable experience, or are we just gonna do something mundane, bland, benign?”
Obviously, Harclerode is an advocate for the former, and the possibility motivates her. Named an American Institute of Architects (AIA) Fellow in 2018, she is a leader in the design community. Over the course of her decades-long career in architecture spent mainly in nonprofits, Harclerode has championed design education, equity and sustainability. She currently serves as executive director of SPIKE Studio, a K-12 design education nonprofit based in Atlanta.
Harclerode is also an Activator with Atlanta Way 2.0 (AW2.0), where she originated the idea for the Atlanta Design Roundtable, now an established recurring event that convenes the city’s design community for conversation and ideation.
Last year, Harclerode approached AW2.0 leadership with an idea: to create a group with a shared interest in elevating design in Atlanta. As a longtime member of the city’s design community, she saw Atlanta’s potential to be a hub for exemplary design, but despite being home to design giants like Georgia Institute of Technology and Kennesaw State University, Atlanta was “underachieving” compared to other U.S. cities.
For 15 years, Harclerode had a column in Atlanta Intown called “Perspectives in Architecture,” where, as the name suggests, she gathered perspectives from experts in her field — empirical data indicating that despite Atlanta’s nationally respected university programs and architecture firms, the city has fallen behind. It’s missing an x-factor; it’s something that could push Atlanta over its architectural plateau into excellence.
As it is now, Atlanta’s design community is siloed, Harclerode said: “They’re doing marvelous things separately. We should find more ways to collaborate for a greater good.”
“I don’t think there’s gonna be one person, one organization, one university that will advance design in this city,” she said. “If we were this hub of design in the South, we would be it. But we’re not. I think one of the reasons is because maybe we’re not coming together… Where can we find common goals and aspirations and vision?”
Perhaps at a roundtable – a forum created for discussion and community-building.
“There’s definitely a hunger for this kind of convening,” AW2.0 COO Britton Edwards said. “In the design community specifically, it seems like a lot of the convenings were focused on a specific type of design, and this is more conversational and community-building.”
“Cross-sector collaboration is a big thing for us, and looking at things from a different angle,” Edwards added. “How do we empower groups, conversations, push a cause forward?”
The Roundtable decenters professional affiliation, opening space for broader conversations.
“We never want to reinvent the wheel,” Edwards said. Instead, AW2.0 guides Activators to existing resources for their interests, or, in a case like Harclerode’s, facilitates a project like the Atlanta Design Roundtable to make cross-sector connections.
And the Roundtable is still growing. It began with a small convening at the Southface Institute in April 2025. Since then, a subcommittee has worked to schedule and plan future convenings. Edwards said Atlanta Way 2.0 hopes to host a larger community convening in 2026 for Activators interested in design and preservation.
There have been three official roundtables thus far, the most recent being a Fireside Chat with Mayor Andre Dickens held at architecture firm Perkins & Will on Dec. 2. The bright atrium, encased in floor-to-ceiling windows, situated attendees before a vista of midtown Atlanta, a fitting backdrop for a discussion about elevating the city’s design. If ever a building could inspire hopeful buzz about the future of the built environment, this was it.
The day’s conversations included ideation about a Chief Architect or Chief Design Officer position for the city and the potential for an Amtrak station in downtown Atlanta. Atlanta’s 200-year anniversary, to be celebrated in 2037, acted as a beacon for the roundtable’s discussion.
“The Amtrak has a far greater potential than being a strictly utilitarian structure,” Harclerode explained. It could be a landmark. “It’s not just that building, but the development around it.”
Harclerode also stressed the importance of elevating design across the whole city: “We want to be sure that we’re not just focusing on just the more visible places, but being sure that what we’re doing has citywide benefits.”
“This is not just about talking,” Harclerode said. “It’s about results. Design can have the ability to elevate the human experience. It can be the difference between mediocrity and greatness. It can be the ability for Atlanta to gain positive feedback. It’s about buildings being healthier. For us to have higher standards about design, and not just what you see from above with a skyscraper — also at the pedestrian level.”
Harclerode’s energy never strays far from education and her work at SPIKE Studio, where she works to motivate young people interested in design.
“I hope what we do sets the groundwork for students that are strong designers, architects and planners … [to] feel excited … like they don’t have to go to L.A. … New York or Chicago, and if they are some of the best in this country, they can stay in Atlanta and be all that they want to be when it comes to design,” Harclerode said.
“What will Atlanta be?” she asked at the conclusion of our interview, a beaming smile on her face, with marked enthusiasm — a tone of throwing open a great, wide window to a flurry of projects yet untapped.
Note from AW2.0: If you are interested in learning more about how Atlanta Way 2.0 can support your innovative approach to community building or cross-sector collaboration, please reach out to our Community Engagement Manager, Tori Druilhet, Tori@atlantaway.org. We hope you will consider becoming an Atlanta Way 2.0 Activator to keep up with all of our initiatives.
Oli Turner is an Atlanta Way 2.0’s 2025/26 Journalism Fellow. She is exploring the intersection of media and community engagement. The fellowship is a practicum on civic journalism, which is defined by covering our communities accurately and constructively, exposing what’s wrong and showcasing what’s working. Part of AW2.0’s mission is to foster the next generation of journalists while ensuring that local news thrives, keeping communities informed and engaged.
We are also accepting applications for our summer PIN Internship: “Strengthening the Civic Fabric of Greater Atlanta – The Future of Journalism.
