The Rio Shopping Center was a open-air shopping center in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. It was located at the southeast corner of Piedmont Avenue and North Avenue in the northwesternmost part of what is now the Old Fourth Ward, at its border of SoNo and

Midtown Atlanta Midtown Atlanta, or Midtown, is a high-density commercial and residential neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia. The exact geographical extent of the area is ill-defined due to differing definitions used by the city, residents, and local business ...

. It was designed by

Arquitectonica Arquitectonica is an international architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, and urban planning design firm headquartered in Miami, Florida’s Coconut Grove neighborhood. The firm also has offices in ten other cities throughout ...

in postmodern style, landscaped by

Martha Schwartz Martha Schwartz (born November 21, 1950) is an American landscape architect and educator. Schwartz is the founding principal of Martha Schwartz Partners, an architecture firm based in London, New York City, and Shanghai. She is also Professor in ...

and opened in the Fall of 1988."“Hip, but Not Hopping: Flashy Rio Mall Generates Few Sparks”, Burritt, Chris. ''Atlanta Constitution'', 03 June 1990: H1, as published on The Midtown Archive (blog)
/ref> It was the first free-standing complex of its kind to be built in central Atlanta in more than twenty years.

Architecture and features

The architectural style was postmodern incorporating whimsical (also called kitsch or pop art) elements such as a fountain with gold colored frog sculptures. The '' Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' criticized what it termed Arquitectonica's "compromises". Rio had a 25-screen video wall playing a variety of video, from television shows to a specially commissioned site-specific artwork. The custom design of the video wall, the installation and the programming was completed by Visioneering® International, Inc. Stores and services included Benetton, Camp Beverly Hills, Enrico's, High Country Outfitters, Carmine's, Coyote Cafe, Patio Hut Cafe, Wolf Camera, Tic-Tac-Toe T-shirts and The Crab House.

Awards

Rio was awarded "The Best New Development - Retail" award by the ''Atlanta Business Chronicle''. ''Business Week'' selected Rio for "The Best of Architecture" award in 1988 and the Fulton County Developers Award was presented to Rio for best new retail project, 1988. "Ackerman Development Highlights: Shopping Centers", Ackerman website
/ref> Despite its awards, the center was not successful in attracting customers and closed about a decade after opening. In 2002, Creative Loafing looked back on Rio, stating:"30 years of the good, the bad and the weird-as-hell", Scott Henry, Creative Loafing, June 5, 2002
/ref>

"The golden frogs were funky, the fountain was cool, the wall of TVs was eye-catching, but Rio -- hailed as an architectural prize when it debuted in 1989 at the corner of Piedmont and North -- was just too quirky and Gap-free to catch on with conservative Southerners, despite its intown location."

The site now contains a strip mall with a

Walgreens Walgreen Company, d/b/a Walgreens, is an American company that operates the second-largest pharmacy store chain in the United States behind CVS Health. It specializes in filling prescriptions, health and wellness products, health information, a ...

pharmacy and

Publix Publix Super Markets, Inc., commonly known as Publix, is an employee-owned American supermarket chain headquartered in Lakeland, Florida. Founded in 1930 by George W. Jenkins, Publix is a private corporation that is wholly owned by present and ...

supermarket dedicated in 2001 as well as the Savannah Midtown apartment complex.Page on Shopping Mall Museum website
/ref>

References

External links

Gallery on Martha Schwartz site
{{coord, 33.7706, -84.3813, type:landmark_region:US-GA, display=title Demolished shopping malls in the United States Defunct shopping malls in the United States Shopping malls in the Atlanta metropolitan area Postmodern architecture in the United States Old Fourth Ward