The United States Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgian Union of Architects and ARCI Gallery Host the American Roadside Architecture Exhibition
On May 15, at 17:00 the United States Embassy in Tbilisi and the Georgian Union of Architects open the photographic exhibition “American Roadside Architecture” at ARCI Gallery. The exhibition, created by architectural historian John Margolies, comprises 56 photos and four text panels that depict the early architecture of gas stations, roadside lodging, restaurants and eateries.
American roadside architecture is drawn from Mr. Margolies’s extensive series of books on the subject of popular American architecture. For more than 25 years, John Margolies crisscrossed the United States, camera in hand, to capture and preserve images of a vanishing tradition in American commerce. The photos displayed at ARCI Gallery document a unique and fast disappearing American architecture designed to appeal primarily to motoring tourists, one that relied heavily on local culture and sensibilities. They are the artifacts of a creative, whimsical and very inviting moment in American business and tourism.
The exhibit has been shown in Kiev, Yekaterinburg, Perm, Vladivostok, Athens, Chisinau, Prague, Ankara, Paris, Zagreb, Tallinn and most recently at UNESCO headquarters in Paris.
John Margolies’s more than 30-year career in architecture has included video and photo documentations, as well as many books and publications on architectural history. His annual lectures series at the Architectural League of New York and the Royal Society of Architects in London regularly draw large audiences.
American Roadside Architecture at ARCI Gallery will be open in Tbilisi May 15-May 22 at 21 T. Abuladze Street, Tbilisi. The exhibit will also tour the following cities: Telavi (May 24-May 29), Kutaisi (May 31-June 6), Batumi (June 8 - June 17), Poti (June 19 - June 24), and Zugdidi (June 26 - June 29). As part of the exhibit, Fulbright Professor from the Yale School of Architecture, Dr. Lena Kiladze, will give a lecture on the architectural design in each city. She starts her lecture series in Tbilisi on May 20 at 3:00 p.m.
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