John Portman is known for the mixed-use complexes that transformed the downtowns of several American cities in the second half of the last century. The architect, who died in 2017 at the age of 93, had a peculiar brand of inward-looking urbanism that combined office space, retail, and hotels (often with thrilling atria) in interconnected, multi-building developments. The most famous such “city in a city” project is Peachtree Center in Atlanta, where his practice was based. In San Francisco, during the 1970s and ’80s, he completed Embarcadero Center, a Brutalist ensemble in the city’s financial district—initially developed by Trammell Crow and David Rockefeller—that grew to encompass nearly 10 acres, comprising five office towers and two hotels, on top of a shopping mall.