Antecedent of the stucco box in Atlanta: The Wigwam Building

The developer's take on the Wigwam design. The thoughtful rehabilitation of the Wigwam Apartments gained the developer an award for design from the AUDC and the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation. This building draws on elements from the original Wigwam next door such as the piped railings, wrap around corner windows but was built in 2006.


Wigam Apartments (now condominums) Randolph street side with view of garages


Wigam Apartments in green and cream pastels on Auburn Avenue (notice dramatic palm)
The Second building from the right is the redeveloper's new infill done in a contempoary but conpatible architectural design. Next to it is a two story house more indicative of the other Victorian-era homes in the MLK Landmark District.

In my mind, stucco as a housing material always seems out of place unless located in some sunny, warm beach environment or anywhere in Florida and Southern California. Call this a by-product of summer family vacations or an oversimplified view of the built environment, but the Wigwam Condominium is no exception to this personal opinion. Within the MLK National Historic Site, I was surprised to find a wonderful example of International Style Architecture next to Queen Anne Homes and converted industrial buildings that constitute the majority of the housing stock in this urban Atlanta neighborhood. The Wigwam building may also be construed as an example of Streamline Moderne architecture, which Chase explains “used rounded corners, pipe railings and flat roofs to suggest the excitement of the machine age.” (pg 8)

Detail of the piped railings and stepped terraces.

Built in 1940, the development of the Wigwam building pre-dates Chase’s definition of the stucco boxes construction during the golden years of the 1950s in Los Angeles. Nevertheless, it shares many of the same attributes of stucco boxes as outlined by Chase.

• It was constructed as infill housing in an established neighborhood (pg 4): Cornelius King owner of the property tore down his home on the lot in 1940 and constructed a cement block apartment building. The International Style design was created by architect Vincent Daley. The final cost of the building was $16,000.
• Typically 2 or 3 story with 4 to 16 units (pg 4): The 7600 square foot apartment building was converted into 8 condominium units during a 2003 rehabilitation project.
• Applied ornamentation is an important element to decreasing the austerity of the stucco box (pg 17): Cornelius King placed a three foot-steel cut out of an Indian in full regalia that once stood at his Kennesaw resort on the corner of the building’s roof (this is how the apartments subsequently got its name). Today there is a cupid cut out in the place of the Indian.
• Easter egg, Christmas ornament and odd color combinations gives the austere stucco material a sense of style and personalization (pg 8): The Wigwam buildings pastel color palette, reminiscent of sherbet ice cream, instantly lifts the block’s atmosphere and further pronounces the uniqueness of the building.
• The stucco box derived its landscape vocabulary from courtyard housing designs and suburban garden apartments. The plants chosen appealed to the idea of an exotic escape by using tropical varieties of plants with dramatic silhouettes and bright plumage (pg 9-10): The original Wigwam building and the neighboring development enclose a courtyard with a fountain and communal area (as well as off-street parking). The landscaping elements are decidedly tropical especially in the temperate climate of Atlanta—small palms, cacti, etc.
• The flat roofs capped the tops of most stucco boxes, with hipped or low-pitched roof lines appearing less of the time to denote a more mainstream vision of the home-place (pg 8): The flat roof of the wigwam is concealed by a rising parapet.

Dissimilar, but close

• Windows were mass-produced, metal frame units placed at the surface of the wall with no reveal (pg 4): The wrapping corner windows animate the stucco exteriors of the Wigwam and are rolled open and close by a hand crank.
• Appreciation for stucco as a building material came into its own when its pragmatic versatility was demonstrated by apartment designers in the 1950s and 60s (18): The exterior surface of the Wigwam building exposed the concrete construction until sometime as late as 1977, the building was sprayed with a cement-stucco veneer that remains today.
• The influence of the automobile not only in designed architectural elements but practical space of parking an automobile led stucco box developers to incorporate the voids of the garage space as part of the overall complex design(pg 14): The Wigwam has a limited number of garages, with actual doors and walls, on the grade level of the building facing Randolph St.