Built in 1989, the provocative, slate-clad 22,000-square-foot Buckhead branch of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System was utterly cool for its time, and, now, looking back on it, an obvious design classic. Designed by legendary Atlanta-based architects Mack Scogin and Merrill Elam, the structure attracted a riot of midlife attention in 2008 when a local developer proposed demolishing it to make way for an outdoor mall. Dropping into the ensuing fray like a caricature of a good old boy politician, Fulton County Commissioner Tom Lowe seized the opportunity to offer this sparkling piece of architectural analysis: "That library, to my way of thinking, was an abortion the day it was dedicated. I am a lover of art. I can even stand abstract art. But God darn, who in the world would build something like that? There ain't no damn artistic value to that library." Ultimately, the activities of an impassioned group of preservation-minded residents saved the library from destruction (the signed petition from an international coalition of recent Pritzker Prize winners probably didn't hurt the cause). Unimpressed with deconstructivist porte cocheres and colonnades? Make your way through the stacks toward the back of the building: the massive rear window commands a spectacular view of downtown Atlanta and remains a wonderful perch for taking it all in, air-conditioned and detached.