After decades of decline, many historic downtown districts across Alabama...
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For three generations the Yeager family has been doing their...
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Reviews for the Chief Ladiga Trail, Alabama’s first rails-to-trails project,...
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Bib & Tucker Sew-Op in Birmingham is keeping the longtime...
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Standard Deluxe is both a graphic design shop that promotes...
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It took 18 years for owner and amateur designer Nathan...
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Inside the historic Lyric and Alabama theaters in downtown Birmingham’s...
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Though best known for its musical legacy, Florence is becoming...
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Though Silicon Valley may be the epicenter of tech companies today, one of...
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Discovering the best Alabama has to offer takes time, effort...
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Since 1992, the Forever Wild Land Trust has secured more...
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Designed by Williams Blackstock Architects in association with CannonDesign, the...
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Alabama is home to the remains of one of the...
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According to Guinness World Records, the nonprofit Barber Vintage Motorsports...
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For years considered the “face of industrial design in Alabama,”...
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Want a close-hand look at rock formation and a lesson...
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Simplicity is often best in graphic design. That certainly proved...
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The longest hiking trail in Alabama and Georgia is the...
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The former Guaranty Federal Savings and Loan was housed not...
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A turning point in Alabama’s history is the 1965 Selma...
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Talk about adaptive reuse. Decatur’s Princess Theatre was originally built...
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As any Tuskegee University alum knows, “Strollin’ down the Ave”...
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Before the wide use of railroads, Gainesville thrived as a...
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Recognized as Alabama’s oldest bank, the Bank of Brewton opened...
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Birmingham lays claim to the largest urban park in the...
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Standing tall at the main entrance of Alabama Power’s early...
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Alabama was not yet a state when the Leroy Pope...
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Eighteenth Street South is a traditional main street shopping district...
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The wide overhanging roof of the new two-story Birmingham-Jefferson County...
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Concerning architecture, Tuskegee University is best known for its Booker...
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Part of Birmingham’s flourishing beer scene is Steel City Taps,...
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A delight for every kid at heart (and who isn’t?)...
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“Architecture and landscape design…can give a community clarity, coherence, and order, as well as beauty and delight, and can help define a community’s identity and values. We can celebrate places that nurture our living together.”
Author Alice Meriwether Bowsher, Community in Alabama
Design Influencer
“Good design, smart planning, creative place-making are all pillars of progressive growth that occurs as part of creative problem solving, taking advantage of opportunities and having an elevated vision for the present and future.”
Al Head, retired Executive Director of the Alabama State Council on the Arts and Alabama Native
Design Influencer
One of the most hauntingly beautiful cemeteries found anywhere is...
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“Someone else can use these things again, I feel like I’m giving them back their purpose.”
Garlan Gudger, referring to doorknobs
Design Influencer
Auburn University industrial design graduate Hunter Foy has made a...
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Stone carving might be the world’s oldest three-dimensional art form...
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Eufaula has one of the state’s largest historic districts with...
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Whether traditional or modern, the best designed sacred spaces evoke...
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Bankhead Tunnel is a road tunnel in Mobile that carries...
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The 250-acre Wynton M. Blount Cultural Park offers three venues...
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Indigo dye is an organic compound that creates some of...
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Architects Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk are synonymous with New...
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In her studio adapted from a 100-year-old shotgun house in...
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There’s plenty to do and see along Mobile’s Eastern Shore...
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“We demand the very best from our clients!” This quote,...
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It’s been proven: well designed schools improve learning and that’s...
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While Auburn University’s Rural Studio gets plenty of attention, its...
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An issue of GQ magazine features a photo of actor...
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Alabama’s thriving brewery scene gets creative with logos found on...
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“Everyone in his own way is affected by his environment. The chords that are struck in people are not necessarily the ones which the architect anticipates. It seems to me the better the building, the more variety of chords that are struck.”
Paul Rudolph, Architect of the Tuskegee Chapel
Design Influencer
Across from the Alabama Theatre is the Lyric Theatre, the...
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When Prattville founder Daniel Pratt opened his cotton gin factory...
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Alabama has many movie palaces remaining from their golden age...
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Ruffner Mountain Nature Center is the centerpiece of the 1,011-acre...
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Many people can’t afford to purchase a Mercedes, but they...
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No place fits the proverb “necessity is the mother of...
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An example of Googie architecture – the whimsical, futuristic design...
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B.L. Harbert International, a construction company that builds U.S. embassies...
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The federally owned Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was created in...
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At Shakespeare Gardens in Montgomery, the sights and fragrant smells...
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Ever been curious to try woodworking, welding, ceramics or screen...
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Alabama graphic designers make a lasting imprint (no pun intended),...
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Sloss Furnaces was once the largest manufacturer of pig iron...
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Planned communities are common these days, but were a novel...
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Made in Alabama is a message that could not be...
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With its ancient live oaks, cast iron fountain, bandstand and...
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Every time you use your laptop or ThinkPad you have...
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The largest limestone spring in North Alabama is Big Spring,...
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“For me, the idea of a creation is not conceivable without invoking the necessity of design. One cannot be exposed to the law and order of the universe without concluding that there must be design and purpose behind it all.”
Wernher von Braun, engineer
Design Influencer
St. John’s was organized in 1834 by pioneer settlers and...
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When Montgomery-based Kershaw Manufacturing Company Inc. was incorporated in 1944,...
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With her commitment to preserving design and living arts traditions,...
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Birmingham’s first city plan in 1871 shows Linn Park as...
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Built in Tuscaloosa in the 1850s, Bryce Hospital opened in...
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Sounds like something out of Dickens. Twickenham Historic District gets...
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Alabama boasts many claims to fame and one is Rickwood...
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Southern Living magazine calls Magnolia Springs a small town with...
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Apple recently became the first company in the United States...
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One of Birmingham’s most appealing characteristics is how nature coexists...
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Among Birmingham’s many attributes are its city parks and one...
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“This is the workshop full of love, information and learning...
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In Renaissance Europe, “cabinets of curiosities” were rooms that housed...
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Alabama Power was founded on renewable hydro energy and manages...
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HERObike, a nonprofit bike shop in Greensboro, is dedicated to...
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When terracotta is used as a building material, it is...
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The focal point of the addition to Birmingham’s Temple Emanuel...
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Founded by Rachel Lackey as the first community print shop...
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A few miles east of Mobile is Malbis Memorial Church,...
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Dining at Spring House Restaurant in Russell Crossroads isn’t just...
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One of the oldest public squares in Alabama is the...
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Alabama Innovation Engine – the name conveys it all –...
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No wonder that St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Prairieville is...
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Three courthouses have flanked the Monroeville Courthouse Square over the...
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With her experience in design and development for major brands,...
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“Great cities have great parks!”
Frank Setzer, architect and Auburn University Professor
Design Influencer
Vintage architectural treasures – Edison bulbs, ceiling fans and decorative...
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A long-vacant Sears department store in Birmingham was transformed into...
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Indian Springs School, a 350-acre, private boarding school founded in...
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Though the creative process is often a solitary pursuit, design...
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Chefs and restauranteurs in Alabama and across the country love...
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During the Jim Crow era, the Most Worshipful Prince Hall...
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Built in 1847, the historic Grand Hotel Marriott Resort, Golf...
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An organization that was instrumental to the design career of...
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UAB’s Comprehensive Cancer Center was renovated in 2014 by Williams...
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No wonder that Jasmine Hill Gardens and Outdoor Museum near...
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In 1818, the White House officially reopened after being burned...
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“What is important is using ones talents and intellect and energy in order to gain an appreciation and affection for people and place.”
Sam Mockbee, Architect and Rural Studio Founder
Design Influencer
One of the last structures of its kind is located...
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At the entrance of Birmingham’s Rotary Trail is a 46-foot-tall...
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“I always wanted to be an inventor when I grew...
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“Everything that becomes mature and becomes heritable is subtle ... it takes a real strong and smart appetite to try to develop what's going to last.”
Bobby McAlpine, Architect and Author
Design Influencer
Children’s Harbor Lodge was designed to provide a haven for...
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“The nice thing about this kind of plan is you can show something that’s easy to follow. Its very real stuff. And its not just for big public project but for developments large or small. There’s more flexibility and that mean more value for property.”
Ken Groves, City Planner
Design Influencer
Several neo-Gothic landmarks adjoin the modernist Birmingham Downtown YMCA designed...
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The 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery March was a pivotal moment in the...
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Mobile’s historic urban squares may not be as well known...
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Thomas Jefferson’s plan for the University of Virginia was designed...
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Spirituality and symbolism are foremost in church design, and that...
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Fort Payne was once the Sock Capital of the World...
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Sandwiched by Huntsville to the east and Decatur to the...
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A cluster of early buildings on the campus of Mobile’s...
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“I love every nook and cranny of the building, and during the restoration I was here every single day in a hard hat with the contractors,” recalls the Alabama native. “I could envision what it could be. I didn’t want to break land and create something new. I wanted old bones.”
Heidi Elnora, fashion designer and Alabama Native
Design Influencer
Architecture critic Peter Blake wrote in 1960 that during the...
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Alabama is fortunate to have many organizations working to improve...
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Part of the historic Old Cloverdale neighborhood in Montgomery, the...
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Founded in 1888, Thomasville was in its infancy when a...
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Revitalizing towns should involve the entire community, and what better...
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Public libraries should inspire and inform, and the Linn-Henley Research...
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Alabama is home to the remains of one of the...
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A great place for a spelunking adventure is Russell Cave...
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Just east of Natchez Trace Parkway outside Florence is one...
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Community-led revitalization is challenging work and Main Street Alabama makes...
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When it comes to the DesignAlabama Journal, you certainly can...
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Among the most cherished crafts are those that are both...
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Nineteen acres of unused spaced along the railroad tracks between...
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Not been to Gulf State Park in a while or...
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According to legend, as a prank students once led a...
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Two professors of industrial design at Auburn University made important...
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The adjective “stately” is often used, and even overused, to...
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A pioneer in the plastics recycling industry, Troy-based KW Plastics...
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In the tiny hamlet of Pittsview – an unincorporated community...
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St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Cullman is proof that a...
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U.S. history changed twice on Montgomery’s six-block Dexter Avenue. At...
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When A.H. Cather Publishing Company in Birmingham closed its door...
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Alabama auto manufacturing keeps on rolling. Hyundai, Honda and Mercedes-Benz...
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Not only is Gee’s Bend home to world-famous quilters, but...
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A convergence of five streets sounds like a traffic nightmare,...
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Courthouse Square has long been a significant part of Huntsville’s...
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Neoclassical architecture is associated with many buildings such as the...
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On a busy corner of UAB’s campus is Heritage Hall,...
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On 26 acres along Little River Canyon National Preserve in...
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Ballparks are for watching baseball, but at Regions Field in...
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The Alabama 4-H Center in Columbiana has a strong identity...
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Gee’s Bend’s “eye-poppingly gorgeous” quilts, wrote New York Times art...
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Owen Foster, a 2005 graduate of Auburn’s Master of Industrial...
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Barber Motorsports Park is the brainchild of George Barber Jr.,...
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Wandering the streets of the Albany Historic District in Decatur...
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“We want good design in Alabama to be like breathing, a natural part of living and doing things”
Philip Morris, Writer, Editor and Design Enthusiast
Design Influencer
Communities across Alabama are thriving thanks to the ongoing efforts...
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Auburn University industrial design graduate Ken Musgrave is vice president...
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Tuscaloosa and Montgomery are two cities that have taken full...
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The hallmark of Birmingham’s Kelly Ingram Park is its many...
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If Hollywood location scouts ever need to find a superb...
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Nestled into a heavily wooded 27-acre site, the old Southern...
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Step into the main foyer of the Alabama State Capitol...
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Mobile’s Government St. Presbyterian Church is considered among the finest...
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Reuse and reverence for the land are evident throughout the...
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St. Michael’s and All Angels Church in Anniston would not...
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Hard to imagine that the Ross Bridge Renaissance Resort and...
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Condos and beachfront hotels aren’t all that face Alabama’s Gulf...
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Alabama’s Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail is the largest golf...
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Concerning architecture, Tuskegee University is best known for its Booker...
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Prayer and spiritual devotion come in many forms. For Brother...
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The National Memorial for Peace and Justice opened April 2018...
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What do New York City’s Central Park and the master...
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Sarah Conklin, founder of Feather Wild in Huntsville, starts the...
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Urban farms are springing up across America and one is...
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Step into the lobby and take in the magnificent multicolored,...
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The designs created by Mary Catherine Folmar for her hand-illustrated...
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“I remain in my own designs a minimalist and believe in trying to do the most with the least-simple, and one hopes, elegant design.”
Cheryl Morgan, FAIA, Architect and Professor, Auburn University
Design Influencer
Fifty-three illegally purchased West Africans were transported from Cuba in...
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In 1963, a Ku Klux Klan bomb exploded in the...
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No better place for the metal arts than Birmingham’s Sloss...
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Alabama’s only cable-stayed bridge is the Cochrane–Africatown USA Bridge carrying...
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Bold lines, geometric shapes and primary colors energize YMCA Youth...
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When it was constructed in 1909, the 16-story Empire Building...
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Nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Sylacauga...
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Known as a historic railroad town, the City of Opelika...
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On Smith Lake at the southern end of the Bankhead...
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A fine example of Birmingham’s long and rich legacy of...
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Fun fact: A rocket built in Alabama burned more fuel...
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Pennsylvania is the state with the most covered bridges with...
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Something is always blooming at Bellingrath Gardens in Mobile –...
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With its Classical-Revival façade, the Alabama Museum of Natural History...
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As Senior Innovation Strategist at Humana in Louisville, Kentucky, Anjuli...
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No surprise that Avondale Park is one of Birmingham’s most...
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Promoting all that Alabama has to offer was the aim...
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