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arche_757

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Everything posted by arche_757

  1. arche_757
    This state should have 4-5, maybe even 6+ public tier-one universities given the insanely vast wealth we’ve accumulated from oil since 1901. For the record I am a UH grad, and I never wanted to attend UT as hard as that may be for some to believe. I wanted, and welcome any research campuses A&M or UT or Tech or Cal or Oregon, or Florida or anyone wants to build in Houston!!!!!! For me that equals more clients, more potential work, more diversity of thought and more ideas from abroad. As an architect I can’t help but think the more the merrier. It keeps me employed and busy. It allows also for greater opportunities for future residents and potential students since we’re now a very large city of 7million and growing. A shame that UH felt so threatened by the proposal. The city and metro region as a whole lost because of it.
  2. arche_757
    Great news! As a proud father of two children who were delivered at this hospital - one of which was a premie who was in the NICU for 16 days - this will be a wonderful asset for all who use this hospital. Which in case some of you don’t know has patients from all over Texas and neighboring states. Ill bet they’re shuttling employees from offsite as the parking there can be a problem during regular business hours.
  3. arche_757
    Sounds much more memorable than my years at the CoArch. The only similarities were the wars (sadly enough). Vietnam for you, and the Iraq war following September 11th for me. Suffice to say the general mood at the college was one of quiet unease /borderline marginal discomfort. Nothing close to the atmosphere you recalled from the years you spent there. People were either skeptical or quietly “ok” with what was happening in the Persian Gulf. Of course there was no draft... so, yeah. And Joe Mashburn had pretty much turned around the CoArch. UH had (at the time) one of the highest rated accredited architectural schools in the country, largely due to him and his staff. I remember some profs who were there to review and approve the accreditation (as it was up for renewal) commented that “what UH was doing was something they wanted to emulate back at their own campus”. I can’t recall but I think the schools who sent staff to review our accreditation were: University of Miami, Cornell and some other university. Two of those are well regarded for various reasons. So it was a worthy compliment.
  4. arche_757
    There is a design laboratory named after him on campus now. It opened shortly before I finished up there. Was the old band annex (or warehouse) adjacent to the CoArch now it is a modeling workshop.
  5. arche_757
    I’m as big of a proponent for Houston as any. I don’t believe I trashed the town - just placed due criticism upon the firms and developers for being less cutting edge than in decades past; and less forward thinking here locally than they are in other cities. We have a handful of really good developers in town, i can’t put Frank Liu in that mix not in a long shot. Not yet. Perhaps some on here can. Good for them. I’m hoping this project turns out better than is currently advertised, or at the very least is successfully interwoven into the urban fabric. I have to add: I’m merely stating an opinion - my opinion. Everyone has their own. Many people seem A-ok with this design. Fine. Great. I’m a curmudgeon, and I want the very best.
  6. arche_757
    My opinion. But then who is the architect involved on this? Also, this isn’t a strip center to repurpose. This is -as others have mentioned- a potentially transformative project. I’ll await further judgment till it has been further developed.
  7. arche_757
    Exactly Marathon Man. Be bold. The fact they’re still sitting on this with just the most marginal of expenses to build this out doesn’t bode well for its future. I hope I’m wrong in my pessimistic view of this project. My past experience in both projects I’ve worked on, and ones that pop up in this town tells me otherwise.
  8. arche_757
    We are each allowed opinions. Mine veers toward the dramatic - at times. This developer had dreams of OMA but an EDI budget (they probably cannot really even afford them!). My point early was that someone better suited to a more transformative development should have this project. Sadly that’s not how things worked out for this site. And it will be developed into something far less than what it should be. Because. Houston.
  9. arche_757
    Best outcome now is bankruptcy for these joke developers. They see value in a dumpy building, the true value is in the land. A shame this is what it is. I’ll gladly eat crow if they turn this into something. Anything really beyond what it’s heading toward. But having been disappointed enough with our talentless designers and developers here I won’t be holding my breath. This is probably the biggest disappointment in terms of development of any scale in Houston in quite some time. There’s plenty of disappointments elsewhere (Thor Equities buildings are terribly hostile to the street and a waste of space - frankly), but this is the biggest loser. I mean look at the Albert Thomas, yes it’s successful in that it isn’t vacant, but that land is FAR more valuable than what it is. This monstrosity will be the same thing minus the interaction with the rest of downtown since it is across the bayou.
  10. arche_757
    Hindsight tells us a little bit more open land would be very good... just say’n
  11. arche_757
    Kingwood and a few other areas were over developed (sadly) without regard to the 10,000 lbs gorilla staring them in the face: upstream flooding and river management, or lack thereof in event of flooding. This is the same for the areas near the Brazos in Fort Bend, and areas built in the flood pool(s) of Buffalo Bayou. It’s a shame. What’s even worse is that elevating structures another foot or two - at the time - probably wouldn’t have been that costly. Now it’s a BIG expense. Not saying that they wouldn’t have flooded otherwise during certain extreme events, but I’ll wager quite a few would have been fine. We need a regional flood authority, with regional control and -importantly- oversight of these yokel river authorities. This should be true moving forward state-wise... but I’m not going to hold my breath.
  12. arche_757
    Probably so. Would be somewhat separated from the rest of the campus, but perhaps a chance at a distinctive structure? Not that they are necessarily lacking. I imagine a high rise residential project will ultimately end up at that property... ? Which is good I suppose.
  13. arche_757
    You’re correct. That said, I believe Galveston’s intention in implementing the LDR was to define standards which would remove the potential for buildings like the San Luis or maybe even the convention center. They were trying to avoid having developers block entire blocks of low-rise residential, which is technically still possible - albeit much more complicated these days. Folks in Galveston *want* expect to have beachfront views from their scabbed on garage rooftop porches, even if the “structures” are 2-3 blocks north of the commercially zoned Seawall frontage. That and they’d reaaaly like to avoid any high rise development along most of the Seawall. There are too many Galvestonians that think they deserve some sort of grandfathered in exclusions for their immediate backyard. Which, as a homeowner myself I don’t necessarily blame them, but you have to weigh the risks when buying near (1-3 blocks) of a commercial zone. If Johnny Developer comes along and smacks down a 5-floor building on a piece of land which is zoned for such development - what should you expect?
  14. arche_757
    UH D should buy that land... They’ve probably looked at it, but the entity that owns it most likely wants $$$! Is Transwestern the owner, or just representing the owner?
  15. arche_757
    Particularly that 4-phases will be developed in the next 10 years!! 2.5 years each. Pretty aggressive, indeed.
  16. arche_757
    I must admit the quality of ideas in regard to development has drastically improved over the last 20 years. East River, Station Houston and TMC3 (among others), while different entirely in what they are - are the sort of forward thinking, large, transformative projects Houston was known for decades ago. Those 3 alone will greatly alter the landscape in town. This is an entire new district created in an area where these sort of projects wouldn’t have happened with the developers of the 90’s and early 00’s. At all. Midway has - in my opinion - clearly separated itself from anyone not named Hines in this town. Good for them. Better for us.
  17. arche_757
    I should have added prior to posting that it was a sort of running joke among the architects and engineers who worked on the project. Sarcasm is hard to decipher (and convey) over the interweb’s sometimes.
  18. arche_757
    I recall speaking to some folks who worked on the project and this was a common theme brought up. Probably was a VE item suggested by the GC before design went public! I’d have loved to be a fly on that wall.
  19. arche_757
    I thought I was one of the few! I’ve routinely said we’re at, or over 7,000,000 for the last several months. Pretty impressive! When I started college in 2001 we had about 4.1 million people here in town.
  20. arche_757
    I think expressways or freeways with a limited number of lanes helps, and provides options for moving around town not just for students at UH but anyone driving through. If TxDOT builds the rest of this(?) it should be kept away from future capacity expansion for at least 10-12 years. 2-lane (ea. way) freeways or divided highways work fine as an alternative to the bigger interstates and toll-roads, that is until TxDOT starts expansion.
  21. arche_757
    It doesn’t bug me as much as it used to. Of course there are FAR worse buildings around Uptown than these little faux-techture structures of RD.
  22. arche_757
    Well... things are looking up. Literally! Hoping we continue to see some better architecture in Uptown. And man..! Does anyone want to guess # of that rebar for the foundation? And that would be size not quantity to the lay-person.
  23. arche_757
    I understand your frustration. Galveston is a frustrating place! I think (having dealt with the permitting process for commercial properties there many times) that Galveston has the right mind set, if perhaps a somewhat flawed set of development guidelines. The Land Development Regulations, more specifically the Height and Density Development Zone mandates that projects provide public interaction, and engage the street frontage (among other things). That said, these same standards have, to an extent, limited what can be built within the same zones where the City mandated density. These standards have no doubt chased away some good developers who don’t have to deal with such oversight in other jurisdictions. For example: a mid-rise project requires an investment of affordable housing (on the project site). Presumably these units could be built elsewhere on the island, but this has scared away development of that I am sure. This applies to ANY project, any typology - not just a multi-family construct. While admirable, this sort of regulation isn’t conducive to further promoting the isle as a viable investment area. And - while affordability is extremely important, Galveston needs meaningful investment and not just from locals. As is too often the case - I feel Galveston cannot get out of its own way.
  24. arche_757
    @Reefmonkey I should have stayed out of this discussion altogether, as I really don’t care either way. I should add you seemingly took a defensive approach with my comment(s). I understand that the Galveston sub-forum has devolved into some ...tense replies here and there. I’m not here to challenge your opinion, or that of others - everyone is welcome to express what they think.
  25. arche_757
    Yes I’m aware of those developments. They’ve been around for years. I think the assumed “large manmade body of water” was a Crystal Lagoon or similar.
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