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