nmainguy

Downtown Houston is neither a corridor or a spine.

Of course it's not. Who said it was? I was just pointing out that you don't know anything about a spine. Now please proceed.

Because spines are straight.

No they're not. It's just an easy term for lazy people who can't differentiate between a corridor and a spine.

Any chance we can move this discussion back on topic?

It's your site, Boss. I suggest you leave your cash-cow alone.

Here's some more. Yes. I'm just THAT bored. I doodle skyscrapers when there's nothing on TV. Besides, if I keep guessing maybe someone will post the real rendering just to shut me up.

Basically this is the same thing I posted before only made simpler by making it a 6 sided outer walled structure vs. an 8 sided outer walled structure. Forgive my ignorance of proper architecture lingo. I crank out thumbs for a living and speak graphic design lingo, but I don't normally draw buildings except for fun.

Please don't take all these off-the-clock thumbnail doodles as my idea of great architecture or what I necessarily want to see in downtown Houston. I'm trying to stay within the parameters of what has been revealed so far about Hines 47 with the hopes that people who have seen it will give me more info so that I can make the necessary revisions - or better yet someone post the real renderings.

...So, we know that looking down at it, it's longer on one axis than another and has horizontally angled walls similar to the Pan Am building. All glass. No strong horizontal or vertical lines. Interlocking volumes (whatever that is) and a ~5 story terrace 2/3rds up.

BTW, Great Hizzy, it looks like the AIM building was to have slightly vertically angled or tapered sides near the top of the tower. I have heard no mention of that before on this website. I think it would be awesome if Hines 47 used a similar effect.

You have great imagination. I'm sure someone faulted whoever aborted the three buildings currently occupied by The Chronicle. If Hinz's corporate successors have decided not to incorporate the Montague into their plans then I suppose their long term goal is to flip a short term investment into a short term profit. Such is the expediency of today's world. On the other hand Donald Trump-ass-wipe supreme that he is-at least gets that preservation combined with enhancement means big $$$. I'd love to see your doodles, BTW.

OPPS: OK..I saw your doodles after I posted.

For those familiar, what's one word or a phrase that captures his arhitectual style?

Currently I would say the company's style in Houston would be their Main Street garage. I'm not sure how much he's involved with the company any longer even though he owns the majority of it. You would probably have to direct that question to his son.

remember it is election yr for councilmember peter brown who was going to save historic houston.

So good for you, Mary. You'll have 2 more years to senselessly bash him and Mayor White.

I guess I should retract my foul language (?) and the use of the term "corporate evil." Although, how else would you describe a corporation that slides into the City of Houston permit and planning meetings w/ a killer plan and slick marketing, and then pull the rug out from under everyone's feet (including all various Downtown Planning associations and Downtown District) and lastly the residents of downtown, and when they're doing the minimum tell everyone "Psych!"

We have separately written formal letters, and our residential building manager and developer have had formal meetings with Hines and offered incentives to have the skin placed, the various Downtown Associations that were created to prevent this kind of thing from happening have pleaded with Hines to do something....no dice. We are now planning a major, collective effort that, if effective, will hopefully secure the rest of downtown's residents from having their livelihood and properties completely compromised by the very obvious short-sightedness of a few individuals. This structure will be there for decades to come. These are our homes, bottom line. This is where we live. I think any one would fight tooth and nail to secure our right for this.

Furthermore, we do not live in a black-out society. It is not enough to tell us that we should get black-out shades. Again, if there are any hopes of drawing future residents into downtown to thrive and flourish, they need to be protected from this type of event.

I regret that I can not put my photos on at this time, but hopefully some of the other folks in the building can oblige. In the meantime, just close your eyes and picture......a giant parking garage. No more, no less.

You don't need to post any photos. Most people here have seen the damage done by a corporation that used to live up to it's word and take risks that have proven to be wildly successful [Pennzoil; Galeria] while others who seem to be too feeble to get out and take a look are probably content that the cheap and tawdry prevails. It's also a shame you feel the need to offer incentives to a corporation that lied their way through the process.

This may or may not be related, but are there places here in Houston where people can try to find those that were impacted by the Holocaust somehow?

Your best bet is the Holocaust Museum. You will find lists of living and dead area Houstonians who were victems of the Nazis and residents of the camps. Their stories are well documented in their archives and library in addition to their affiliation with other Holocaust Museums. All you have to do is ask.

i didn't even know this thread existed. i know people who worked on this project. I'll see if i can get the date for you guys by Monday if no one beats me to it.

That would be great! I've been to Taniguchi's renovation and expansion of the MoMA at least 4 times...it seems to dissapear just as he intended...just leaving the art there by itself. I saw Richard Serra's exhibition yesterday and today. What a treat to see such massive art sitting in space's that ultimately aren't there. I totally get what Taniguchi was striving for...I just get so jazzed by this kind of thing.

Taniguchi engineered these spaces for the size and weight of pieces like these. Serra was just waiting for interior spaces to display his work in the U.S. like he does with his out-door pieces and his interior pieces in Bilbao. He is such a great guy who has a great respect for engineers, architects and design so I'm pretty crazy about him.

Check the flash out: http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/2007/serra/flash.html

I'd sure like to know if anyone can validate that John F. Kennedy spoke at NASA the day before he was assasinated in Dallas? So, did he lecture/speak at NASA Nov 20, 1963?

Thanks.

He did not speak at NASA that day. He went straight to the Rice; rushed past me without a glance while LBJ worked the line and patted me on the head; Went upstairs; took a nap; ate some quail; went to the Colusiem for a chicken dinner tribute organized by Albert Thomas for Albert Thomas; left and went to Hobby; flew to Fort Worth; woke up; ate breakfast; gave a parking lot speech; flew to Love and had his brains blown out into his wife's lap by a guy who was a really good shot who knew how to take three shots in a little over 4 1/2 seconds-if you started your stop-watch with the first. I'm a lousy shot but I could take down Bambi's mom with the same 3.

None of the above

if the exxon building is a concrete prison what do you think of the Bob Casey Federal Courthouse Building?

I don't think about it.

Just wish they'd lose the narrow parking lot that faces post oak. That parking lot almost seems like a superficial add-on. It's too small to provide any real benefit or convenience. It's almost like they had to go out of there way to make the front of this development look less pedestrian friendly. I don't mind the buildings being set back from the street, but a nice extra wide sidewalk with some beautiful fountains and shade trees would be fantastic where that narrow parking lot will be. The part that faces San Felipe (I think) looks great though.

The properties on Westheimer and Post Oak are simply too valuable to devote to surface parking. IMO, the Post Oak elevation would be better if they matched the San Felipe elevation. They could take a cue from the Galleria. Imagine a strip center parking lot in front of Neimans on Post Oak. While the Galleria did build some surface parking on Westheimer, they did so keeping in mind that eventually there would be future developement supplanted with parking structures.

I agree. If the goal is a new urbanistic pedestrian-friendly development, go all the way. Don't almost do it. This design is 95% there. Why uglify (new word) it with a typical Houston strip of parking?

But that's the prevailing attitude of many developers and posters here on HAIF. Build just what you can get away with and leave the aggie designed crap for someone else to clean up. I love your description "Don't almost do it"...it seems the mantra of the provincial Houston real estate/developer mind-set...and I propose we make "uglify" a legitamate descriptor for those that truely don't give a damn.

But it would be so nice to see this place set a new standard for street aesthetics in Houston even if the rest of Uptown never becomes pedestrian friendly.

My 3 cents

Absolutly. But it doesn't have to be pedestrian friendly on the outside to be aestheticly appealling on the inside. Houston for the most part has nailed down the environmetally controlled pedestrian interior shopping spaces. It's the expediant Aggie designed strip centers that will never beat the visitorship and long-term profitability of places like the Galleria.

BTW, have you seen the Aggie-style designed Jiffe Lube firehouse downtown? I know I'm off topic but I've yet to see a more embarrasing civic structure since the Hobby Center.

There are only two ways to acquire material wealth: 1) earn it, or 2) steal it.

Only 2 ways? What a maroon You are such a little putz, my petite rhinestone.

Developers are the primary This is no different. You could've screamed the very same thing in the faces of the original developers of the RO Shopping Center because they had to pave over what had been there before.

Yes, something was there: renewable trees, wildlife and coastal grasslands. Developers choose to remove the aforementioned and build the center. It became a huge generator of tax income for the city and revenue for the tenants for decades. It's a great center with high-end tenants. Now Weingarten has decided to go generic! Nothing says generic like Anna's and Big Lots. Life is good.

It would probably not be difficult to find someone who would've objected to the original paving of greenfield or whatever else may have been there. That was the essence of my point. Even if 'nothing' was there, something was.

Exactly! Something was definatly there. I'm thinking I should hook up with a smart dude like you!

My beef with VicMan's statement is more or less that this is not an issue about history per se. It is an issue about nostalgia, aesthetics, or something else. Shouting "HISTORY KILLER!" at people is really very nonsensical, as is the concept of "historical preservation". "Nostalgia preservation," I could grasp, but a new B&N is no more historic than the existing shopping center, which is no more historic than whatever was there before or the virgin timberland, coastal prairie, marsh, seabed, bare earth, or molten rock that was there in varying stages of geologic history.

Absolutly! Screw heritage! Embrace the moment! Commit to the lowest common denominator! Denounce the past! Ignore the concequences! Retort with unsustainable rebuttals!

I would if I knew that that was the correct term for it, but I'm still not sure what the underlying motivation really is...not that it will matter on account of that I'm no activist. They are the ones that tend to create new vocabulary, rhetorically charged, in such a way as to accomodate their objectives. Similarly, that's how we have come to frame the abortion issue in terms of "pro-life" or "pro-choice", when each of those are inherently absurd descriptors.

Boy you said it! I heard someone say they were pro-life because they advocate life whenever possible but then they said they were pro-choice because they advocated choice when it became essential to the life of the mother or in the case of insest or rape. You are so consistatantly on top of things...I marvel at your wisdom!

I'm still waiting for someone to form a nonprofit to try and buy the RO shopping center from Weingarten. If it's so important to the residents of River Oaks, it honestly surprises me that no one is at all willing to put money where their mouth is. Hell, it's not like they aren't making plenty of donations as it is, just for the sake of reducing their tax liability...

ABSOLUTLY! I can't believe ROers can't convince Weingarten to sell off their long-term cash cow! It's not like they were sitting on an East end piece of crap they can't even unload to the lowest bidder.

The site facing the Metro rail isn't set back too far, but its hard to tell if it's going to be the back of the building with a blank wall and some dumpsters or if they are planning on putting an extra entrance there.

No extra entrance. The Main Street side will be the drive-thru pharmacy.-just the kind of slap in the face the Midtown Association and many chronic posters here on HAIF have no problem with. CVS will work with you if you apply the pressure. We did it in the Heights so all I can assume about Midtown is they don't care that much.

Let us assume...

Could these, long-and for the most part irrelevant to the thread-posts be moved to another location? There are specific forums for topics on oil, jobs and transportation that could be used thus freeing up space for those of us interested in High Street. Moderators?

O.K., O.K., I apologize to everyone for being such a btch today.

Just don't advocate suicide. That's already been done here before and is always hurtful to someone with intimate experience.

As for Midtown and CVS; the Heights Association had no problem dealing with CVS to get the kind of store they wanted at Yale and 20th. Maybe the Midtown planners should talk to the Heights Association on how to deal with developement that satisfys the neighborhood while protecting the profits of the company.

Not to nitpick - but "all the restaurants at Bayou Place were packed" means three places plus Hard Rock Cafe (which I don't count) were packed. Then Mia Bella -- agreed, the only decent place in the nightlife district Downtown -- makes a fourth place "packed". This is the downtown rennaissance of the fourth largest city in Texas? there just isn't much going on.

The fact that you had to go to Midtown to find something that suited you is telling of Downtown's dire prognosis...at least until HP changes the landscape...hopefully.

We didn't have to go to Midtown-we choose to go to Midtown because our favorites: Mia Bella, Sambuco, Vic and Anthony's, Arista, The Strip House, Cabos, St. Pete's had long waiting lists.

So we had the opportunity to go to Julia's on the crappy train, have a nice dinner, save fuel; avoid the stress of getting into the car; trying to find another place to park then driving back to DT. BTW, just because you don't consider consider The Hard Rock doesn't make it any less of a destination. In any event after calling all of the above and finding the majority had a 45 minute-2 hour waiting list-except Julias-we took the crappy train to the shortest waiting list-and only had to wait 5 minutes for a table.

Areas like the village have done a good job of not letting this happen....I also hope this doesn't happen to Midtown.

The nice restraunts and bars that are full of people close about that time and people scatter off of main street like a plaque is coming.

I don't see that happening in Midtown as the customer base is less affluent and sophisticated-those traits seem to prop-up areas like the Richmond strip and Midtown for a while. Once the customer base matures the attraction dies down. We were at the same event dal was. When we left we went to Bayou Place for dinner. All the restaurants were packed so we walked over to Mia Bellas-our favorite. Packed. So we got on the Red Line and went to Julia's, had a nice dinner and came back to our parked car at Market Square.

The Delmar site would remove the noise issue-as would the east end site. The Delmar site would also resolve the parking issues with a parking garage accessable from Hempstead, Mangum, 18th, 290, 610 and Dacoma.

A person from Property Commerce suggested that Subway would be going in there (likely next to the mattress store). Confirmed the Chili's. Said they were trying to woo another big box store such as Best Buy or Circuit City. Chick - Fil - A has not committed.

All in all, pretty disappointing considering what might have been. Way back when this was first announced here is some of what was said:

Sawyer Heights Village will be an urban shopping center, similar in style to Highland Village and Town & Country Villages, Moss says. The developer is turning Taylor/Sawyer into a heavily landscaped boulevard with brick roadways, and has designs to make the entire project pedestrian-friendly.

Not exactly.

I am still a supporter.... but it is a shame that it seems more like every other suburban center than like a Highland Village. There is still time, and the lofts will help the look, but another Big Box retailer will be a real blow to that concept.

mistergreen,

I enjoy driving by your place going to and from Washington. It and Wachovia are defiantly bright spots on a dreary drive. While I enjoy the Target, I can't help but think the remaining acreage will just be a reproduction of what could be found in any Sugarland across the country.

Didn't he also do the Rothko Chapel?

Ultimatly, no.

The Menil house was his first work in Houston. Another later project was the College of Architecture at UH.

(This is a much more appropriate topic for an architectural forum than "Selected quotations from leading environmentalists" which really are out of context quotes from mostly obscure "environmentalists, pasted from an unemployed CAD programmers website. Talk about baiting.)

I realize it was built in the bust of the 1980s, but I'm not sure if I would consider that an excuse or not. Unfortunately, ugly buildings can come in any economic climate.

Exactly. Just look at the Hilton Americas and the Hobby.

Thanks for the interior shot. It shows that grubby plastic whatever-it-is by the main escalators.

I'm not sure if you are refering to the grubby plaster lobby surrounding the escalators or the Albert Paley sculptures flanking the escalators. He also did the door pulls on the ground level entrances.

However, the performance space is top notch. The fly space can still handle the largest shows and Operas and dressing suites and commons are far more than adequate

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/26/clinic.bomb/index.html

I find it odd that the anti-choice gangs tend to resort to murder while the pro-choice groups tends to err on the side of individual choice. BTW, the majority of those individual choices are full term pregnancies resulting in adoption or maternal/paternal recievership.

Check out the Julia Ideson. There are maps galore.