Mister X

Great work!

I bet a lot of people will be very happy with this tower after it's built. 

Love 'em both. I think if built, they will complement each other very well. Two different themes. One celebrates a culture. One celebrates science. Just like in Southern California, one park celebrates dreams and the other celebrates history.

Houston is not known for it's family friendly entertainment venues. It is amazing to me that anyone (other than those who live near the park) would have any problems with a theme park being built near Houston, when we have NOTHING like this nearby.

I still think beggers can't be choosers when it comes to this sort of thing. Theme parks are just about IMPOSSIBLE to build these days. New ones don't come along everyday. Some people look at the lame video and think Grand Texas will be cheezy, hokie and cheap and maybe it will be, but I am just excited that there will finally be a place started that may have the possibility to grow and compete with the big guys one day. Getting it started is no small feat. Adding to it will be simple by comparison.

DISCLAIMER: This is not meant to be taken as a personal attack on King Owl or anyone else. It is a simple friendly observation and opinion. 

...Of course they could have done better. Name one project that couldn't have been "done better" and I'll give you 10 reasons how it could have been done better. "Done better" is a rather lame position. It can always be done better.  And better to who? Just because some people are perfectly happy with this project (as per the rendering) doesn't necessarily mean that they have bad taste. Maybe YOU and your i-buddies have bad taste. Maybe if the tower you envision is built, it would ruin the skyline, maybe not. It's all subjective. 

King Owl, if people are allowed to be unhappy with this tower. They are also allowed to be happy with it too for any reasons they want. And if you have the right to repeat your objections until you feel that you have been perfectly understood, then so do others. 

'People talking' is also subjective. People ARE talking about it, maybe not the people you want to be talking about it, and maybe not for the reasons you want them to be talking about it - but they ARE talking about it, and I agree with Kinkaid, they will continue to be talking about it at Haif and elsewhere for a good long time (if built).

Probably.

Now I know what Johnny Guitar must have felt like every time some two-bit character with a chip on his should blew into town looking for a fight. When will you punks ever learn? Oh well, I guess this is what happens when one's reputation precedes them.

Now go do your homework and let the adults talk about amusement parks in peace.

I won and you can't spell.

That's how it might appear to people who have some reading comprehension issues. You "srsly" might want to go back and re-read the thread. I won that battle hands downs as I always do. 

If I got 'owned' then you got dementia.

http://www.click2houston.com/news/former-astroworld-gm-at-helm-of-new-theme-park-grand-texas/-/1735978/20889098/-/ka3dyf/-/index.html

I don't expect that this park will be everybody's cup of tea but I have to admire Chuck Hendrix for trying to make it up to Houston for the loss of AstroWorld.   Just think, if everything goes right, Houston won't be the largest metro in America without a theme park anymore. Welcome to the big time, Houston!

Oh, I mean - this sucks. It looks cheezy. It will be hot and full of annoying, rude, ugly people. I hate their guts. I hate everything.

The new improved Mr. X relates to all! 

I'm extremely disappointed. I wanted the building to be shorter and a little more boxy. Also, can't they wait until 2025 to build? Why would they want to build this tower before they have enough tenants? What's the rush anyway? What the hell is wrong with everybody?  Why can't they ever do anything right in Houston. Traffic everywhere. Insufficient rail. Summer is too hot. I hate the mosquitos too. 

The problem with exterior features is all related to the cost of curtain wall.  About 5 years ago the bottom fell out of the glass market and something called unitized curtain wall started to become the norm.  Unitized curtain wall has a ton of benefits beyond traditional stick built glazing including: (energy performance, structural performance, keeping water out performance).

 

Once unitized systems became the standard, it became cost prohibitive to do anything else in the spandrel portion of the facade.  We can use metal panels, stone, etc but in order to keep cost down they are typically glazed into the curtain wall.  Combine that with the fact that there are less than 10 proven unitized designs on the market right now leads us to the era of "the boring glass box"

 

Architects are fighting this like mad but they are up against significant challenges from developers (cost).  We are seeing products start to compete but this glass box trend is going to be around for a while.

Boo-hoo. I guess this news is like death for the anti-box crowd.   I couldn't be happier tho. I love Houston. Now bring on the hate!

I srsly hope you're a teenager. That maturity...

OUCH! I musta hurt Howard's feelings bad this time. But when you're right, you're right. I'm such a b****. 

This is a message board to discuss architecture? I thought it was the complaint desk of the damned (you know, a place for people to go who's lives suck).  Just kidding Howard don't get cranky.

Heaven help the person around here who has anything nice to say about anything. Don't like the (fill in the blank)? Not my problem. Now back to your regularly scheduled whining , I mean "discussion".

I like how how this tower works with the others that surround it. What's so wrong with buildings complementing each other vs competing with each other? That's what they do in Dallas, and their hodgepodge of a skyline has all the grace of a table at a pot luck dinner. Every building there is in business for itself with no regard whatsoever with the buildings that surround it.  

Houston's skyline is so exceptionally beautiful because the buildings work together as a cohesive unit. Those boxes that everybody loves to complain about is EXACTLY what makes makes Houston's downtown skyline look good. There are enough supporting buildings around to allow the 'stars' to shine. Also, their are many ways for a building to add to a skyline other than pointy roofs or trendy spires. Color, texture, height, contours ect. can and do contribute to the overall effect of a skyline (and other things).  Sometimes these combinations help, sometimes they hurt. In this case, using similar glass makes some sense. The new building is apart of a collection, so I can at least understand why an architect would want to use a glassy style that would fit in with the other parts of the collection. 

Could C-H-E-V-R-O-N have gone a little less predictable? Sure. But this works. Not saying this is going to be the most beautiful building in the world. But it supports it's neighbors and will make an impact on the skyline - in an understated, yet commanding way. 

I get it. One man's 'understated' is another man's 'boring'.  Just as one man's 'dynamic' is another man's 'tacky'.

King Owl's opinions may be shared by some amateur internet architecture critic wannabees (no offense to anybody as I am one), but unfortunately for you all, not by anyone that counts (decision makers).

No hard feelings tho, not everyone's going to get what they want. I think I figured out that you were disappointed on your 3rd posting today, Mr. Owl. But their is no harm making certain that EVERYONE in Houston knows your stance, just in case they missed it the first 10 times that you posted it today. I do it all the time and everybody LOVES me!

And just so YOU know King, sentences usually begin with capitol letters. But, we all make typos and take liberties every once and a while. It will be o.k.  - or do I need to make 10 more posting saying the SAME THING just to make certain that you understand my point of view.    

Simmer down, simmer down.

I think they easily could have upgraded the look without receiving excessive criticism. 99% of people in the US will never even know they're building this. A nicer tower would not have received national attention. Maybe I'm wrong.

Maybe, but not everyone (outside HAIFville) has problems with glass boxes. Some people actually like them. I've always been a fan of streamlined, non-oramented, simple, clean design. It's done a lot in Houston for sure, and thats fine by me. We do it well. 

Obviously I'm not alone in this opinion because the downtown Houston skyline has been impressing the world for a very long time now. This building won't hurt Houston at all.

80 postings in less than 12 hours on a single thread at HAIF is talking about it. Get over it already King Owl, we heard you, the first 10 times. The building is cool.  Most people are going to like it.  Chevron can't please everyone, especially the google crowd. They have to keep this modest.  People would be whining all over the world if Chevron built something excessive. Remember they are an evil OIL company and they get enough negative press for excessive spending and keeping gas at $4 per gallon. Just be happy they are going higher than the surrounding buildings and for the impact it will make downtown. Some cities would sacrifice a virgin for this tower. 

Don't worry, it will get enough attention.

It looks kind of W-ish.

Are you talking to me? Who's following who? You get what you give. I respond to whoever and however I see fit and so do you -  so get over yourself.

Mediocrity has quietly become a part of Houston's culture.

Not really, but incessant, pointless whining on the internet sure has.  

Any renderings? Where is everyone getting their info?

I know. But I won't say. In fact, I possess dozens of renderings of everything that is planned to go up in Houston within the next 10 years,  but I won't post them. They are for MY eyes only and select individuals much better than you or the other people who regularly visit this website.

Although I am not at liberty to show my vast reserve of renderings of future projects in Houston to you, you can at least take comfort that I have seen all the renderings and I am telling you that I have seen them.

Just kidding. 

I'm sure Hines is soooooo relieved. 

Plans are great. No one is impugning the plan. It's only the logistics that are in question. Valley View mall and the Galleria are practically across the street from each other. Everything that worked against Valley View is working against the Galleria. An awful lot has to happen to save the Galleria from the same fate as Valley View. I'm not saying that it isn't possible that the Galleria can alter it's destiny and I certainly think it is encouraging that official efforts are being made to change the area for the better. It's a very big and admirable goal, but as you said it will take decades if it happens at all. A lot can go wrong (or right) during the coarse of decades.

Greenspoint mall in Houston could come back into relevance in decades too. Anything's possible.

Wrong again, Velvet. And just as predictable.

I agree with DFW Cre8tive, the Dallas Galleria is becoming the new Valley View mall. And I believe it will share the same future.

2013 Fortune 500 list came out today:

 

52 Texas-based companies.

25 based in Houston, same number as in 2012, up from 23 in the 2011 rankings, back to the same number it had in 2010.

18 based in DFW area, same number as in 2012, down from 20 in the 2011 rankings, further down from 24 in 2010.