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MarathonMan

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Everything posted by MarathonMan

  1. MarathonMan
    NE corner of Fannin and McGowen — former site of Search Homeless Services.
  2. MarathonMan
    I’m not an architectural scholar, so the fact that Holl falls into the postmodernist/deconstructionist/formalist bucket has no bearing on my comments. Nor does his particular intent with this project. My observations are solely based on my gut reaction to seeing the building in person — walking around it, looking at the shapes, angles, scale, materials, etc. It just doesn’t do much for me. Not like the Glassell School does.
  3. MarathonMan
    Steven Hill has designed some really great stuff. I agree totally. I think the Glassell School building is VERY cool. It’s new neighbor, not so much. I do think the roof texture is very intriguing. Unfortunately, that will remain hidden from view from the street.
  4. MarathonMan
    When I see it, I don’t think, “WOW!” To me, the building’s lines are not very striking. Even though it’s footprint isn’t rectangular, it looks boxy. And I know that a lot of Holl’s work is boxy, but this is boxy in a not-so-interesting way. The tubes don’t Intrigue me, either. They do add texture, but the way the short tube segments are mounted, very conspicuous horizontal seams are created that disrupt the vertical flow of the walls. Hopefully they will do something to camouflage the seams. And, hopefully the illumination at night will really elevate the look. Renderings seem to indicate as much. Overall, I’m still hoping that it turns out better than my current expectation. Time will tell.
  5. MarathonMan
    Ugh! I feel like this is such a missed opportunity to create a truly iconic building. The final product is turning out to be soooooo mediocre. 😕
  6. MarathonMan
    Ugh! Why, why, why does RD have to construct a giant sarcophagus-like parking podium?!? It is so unnecessary and makes the building look incredibly disjointed. As for the limestone cladding — I give it zero chance of happening. That podium has Cosmo-Astoria-Arabella-Marlowe-esque stucco written all over it. 😕
  7. MarathonMan
    I don’t think the Kinder building is brutalist. Whatever the style, though, I have to say that the overall aesthetic falls flat for me. The tubes on the outside are not very striking (hopefully they’ll be lit well at night — the evening photos above offer SOME hope) and the most interesting lines are the curved contours on the roof, which you can’t see. 🤷🏻‍♂️ I think the new Denver Art Museum is a lot more bold. IMHO the Glassell topples the Kinder Building aesthetically.
  8. MarathonMan
    RD should have anticipated an eventual high rise development just south of The Cosmo when he built it. It was a no-brainer thing to have planned for. Instead, he assumed The Cosmo would have unobstructed views straight down Post Oak indefinitely. Not smart on his part or on the part of those that bought into The Cosmo. I can’t feel very sorry for them.
  9. MarathonMan
    Just a layman here. . . but. . . I sn’t it usually an either/or proposition? Either there is a piling foundation or a mat foundation, but not both? If memory serves me correctly, Aris Market square has a piling base whereas Market Square Tower is built on a mat.
  10. MarathonMan
    Isn’t phase one a medical office building to replace the Mann Eye Institute on the adjacent block? If memory serves me correctly, any residential high rise was way down the road.
  11. MarathonMan
    Any word on how quickly they’re leasing these units?
  12. MarathonMan
    So it just took the competition making them look like idiots to get them to actually move forward?!?
  13. MarathonMan
    That’s a little mean. . . 😕
  14. MarathonMan
    Looks like they’ve got a looooooooong way to go before the piling is complete.
  15. MarathonMan
    Interesting that the recently finished TCH tower across the street is missing from this rendering.
  16. MarathonMan
    I’ve seen it in person and I think it looks much nicer than the renderings. It’s consistent with the overall vibe of the campus. Yes, the faux arches/keystones may be confusing/disappointing in their lack of purpose, but as a whole I like it. What I don’t like is it’s setting. It’s surrounded by a parking lot on two sides (I’m sure the eventual landscaping will help). And the front face is suffocatingly close to the existing music school. There’s no opportunity to take in the front of the building from any distance. The building is not showcased optimally.
  17. MarathonMan
    I understand you’re perspective, @Luminare. I, too, respect the intention of the illustrator to dramatize the image for effect. I also respect someone else’s attempt to show it slightly differently. I don’t think @MidCenturyMoldy thought his version was somehow better than the original, as he used the term “fixed” in quotations. He just wanted to show what he thought was a less-dramatized version. I interpreted your response to his post as a bit condescending — specifically the comment that his method “isn’t even clever”. If I read your intention wrong, I apologize.
  18. MarathonMan
    What’s with all the shade being thrown in this site as of late? One image may align with architectural standard practices, while the other may seem more pleasing to the eye. MidCenturyMoldy was just trying to provide a different perspective . Is it really necessary to belittle him/her for it?
  19. MarathonMan
    These look like the previous design, yes? Not the current one — at least as far as the residential tower is concerned.
  20. MarathonMan
    This project started long after Pearl Marketplace in Midtown did, and it’s opening long before it’s counterpart. This developer ran circles around Pearl!
  21. MarathonMan
    I agree that we don’t have the right geography, historical pedigree, or cultural significance compared to other tourist-dominated destinations. However, I would assert that we could create something significant that would draw people to our city, but we don’t think big. I’ve always thought that Houston could do something really grand — something comparable to the Eiffel Tower in its time — that could define the city and make people see us. Architecture is a great way to build an identity. It just seems that nobody here wants to stick their neck out to be bold. I agree that Houston has great food, museums and arts, but those are hard to sell to outsiders all by themselves.
  22. MarathonMan
    The area is not lacking parking now. . . But it will be lacking parking not too far down the road, especially with the parking requirements placed on developers being lifted in Midtown.
  23. MarathonMan
    In my opinion, putting a parking garage between Fannin and San Jacinto (i.e. where it’s planned) makes the most sense. Those are the two major thoroughfares serving this area and provide the most efficient traffic flow into a parking structure. As for proximity to the transit center, I don’t think that it is important. The parking garage and the light rail transit center serve totally different segments of the population with different needs. The garage, in particular, will be to serve people driving in to work at the Ion, not for people using it as a park-and-ride facility to access downtown or the TMC by train. That said, if someone WOULD choose to use the garage as a park-and-ride, the site where they plan to construct it is only two blocks from the Red Line. Not very far at all.
  24. MarathonMan
    My impression from the Chron article is that they are putting up one building at a time. If true, the build-out would take just under a decade for four buildings. That seems like a long time for a development like Laneways, which hinges on the concept of a cohesive ground-level pedestrian experience. If you keep the area a construction zone for years and years, that concept suffers. It seems to me like it would be more advantageous to get the whole thing done as quickly as possible. . . assuming funding is available.
  25. MarathonMan
    I think the facade testing has been up for months, if my memory serves me correctly. This one is taking a loooong time to get going.
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