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Just thought Id pass this along. Please join us for the Rice Design Alliance's Civic Forum 2019. This year we are taking on the urgent topic of urban obsolescence and the importance of maintaining, preserving, and reusing the historic fabric of our cities. At a critical moment in Houston's urban growth, what is the value of architecture in our city and our region and why should we care about preserving Houston's identity through its urban past? While some might argue that doing away with the past can be a sound business solution, is that really the case and does nostalgia really have anything to do with it? Through the analysis of some of Houston's most relevant examples, Obsolescence will discuss the overarching factors that influence how we deal with change in the built environment - from regulations and tax policy, to cultural and political attitudes - all in an era in which preservation strategies are also acutely threatened by the environmental challenges of climate change. YOU ARE INVITED! Tuesday, April 23 5:00 p.m. Reception 6:00 p.m. Civic Forum Brown Auditorium The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 1001 Bissonnet St. Houston, TX 77005 Admission is free and open to the public. Generous support for the Civic Forum 2019 reception is provided by the Astrodome Conservancy. www.ricedesignalliance.org @rdahouston

As Houstonians gather weekly at farmers markets and community gardens and urban farms sprout everywhere from corner lots to utility corridors to former industrial sites, the city seems host to a renewed passion for a habit of dwelling that feeds the spirit and the body. This spring, the Rice Design Alliance invites you to “Nourish,” a tour of six contemporary houses with edible gardens, created by architects, landscape architects, and designers. “If our kitchen is the heart of our house,” says tour chair and landscape architect Flora Yeh of Mirador Group, “our edible garden would be a nurturing extension. The homes on this tour share an integral theme, a way of life.” “Nourish: An Architecture Tour of Houses and Edible Gardens,” RDA’s 41st annual architecture tour, takes place from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, April 9, and Sunday, April 10. It features the following houses: 4523 TeasNatalye Appel + Associates Architects, 2015Landscape: RH Factor 3312 UniversityStrasser Design, 2016 2709 Albans1941; English + Associates Architects, 2010 1514 BanksLantz Full Circle, 2012 1603 Cherryhurst1922; GSMA, formerly Glassman Shoemake Maldonado Architects, Inc., 2009, 2013Landscape: Grove Hill Farm 748 ArlingtonJay Baker Architects, 2003, 2012Landscape: Fischer Schalles You can see more info at our website and buy tickets online.

RDA's annual design charrette, 1:1: A Plaza for the New Big Brothers Big Sisters HQ, is scheduled for Saturday, August 1, at Hanszen College at Rice University. Organized by rdAGENTS, this year’s charrette challenges participants to conceptualize a highly visible part of the new three-story headquarters, designed by Agency-Agency and now under construction on Washington Avenue, of Greater Houston Big Brothers Big Sisters. The leadership of BBBS has discussed with rdAGENTS the intention to continue working with the winning team to realize their design and incorporate it into the building. Charrette participants will receive the full program detailing the challenge and presenting specific considerations when they arrive the morning of August 1. The competition will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Architects, designers, planners, developers, artists, and individuals in teams of up to five people are invited to participate. Fees range from $25 for RDA members and $35 for non-members and will cover the cost of breakfast, lunch, and refreshments throughout the day. Download the registration form here. A site visit on Saturday, July 25, will precede the charrette. Participants will be able to tour the location and take photographs. The time and meeting place for the site visit will be announced at a later date. Results of the charrette will be on display and jurors will announce awards in Anderson Hall at a reception on Monday, August 3, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The reception is free and open to the public.

Our fall lecture series starts tomorrow night. There'll be a mix of architects, historians, artists, photographers; their creative work is speculative and tries to imagine what our cities and buildings will look like in the next 10, 15, 20 years. This lecture series will have a different format from others. On Wednesday, October 1, Jean-Louis Cohen, an architectural historian and critic, will introduce the series and explore its themes. The next two weeks will feature a curated discussion between two artists. On Wednesday, October 8, Belgian photographer Filip Dujardin will be in dialogue with Oscar-nominated production designer K.K. Barrett (best known for his work with director Spike Jonze on such films as Her and Being John Malkovich). Finally, on Wednesday, October 15, British architect and curator Liam Young and Polish visual artist Agnieszka Kurant will continue the discussion. All lectures are held at 7 p.m. in the Brown Auditorium at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, at 1001 Bissonnet Street. A wine reception, sponsored by local architecture, design, and engineering firms, will precede each lecture at 6 p.m. You can purchase tickets for the series here. Or you can purchase single tickets the night of. They're $15 for the general public and $7 for RDA/MFAH members, students with ID, and seniors.

“Visions for the Village,” this year's design charrette, will challenge participants to imagine how Rice Village will evolve within Houston’s continuing evolution. Considered one of the city’s most desirable areas, Rice Village is poised for growth, but issues with mobility, walkability, and accessibility remain. Charrette participants will receive the full program that details these issues and presents further challenges when they arrive at 9 a.m. on Saturday, August 2, at Hanszen College at Rice University. See more and sign up here: http://ricedesignalliance.org/2014/2014-design-charrette-visions-for-the-village/ Organized by rdAGENTS, the young professionals group of the Rice Design Alliance, “Visions for the Village” will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Architects, designers, artists, and other individuals, as well as teams of up to five people, are invited to register. Fees range from $25 to $35 and will cover the cost of breakfast, lunch, and refreshments throughout the day. A guided site visit on Saturday, July 26, will precede the competition. Results of the charrette will be on display and jurors will announce awards in the commons of Hanszen College at a reception on Monday, August 4, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The reception is free and open to the public.

RDA's annual civic forum will address walkabilty in Houston. “WALK HOUSTON” will be a two-part forum with short presentations and moderated discussions among panelists followed by a question-and-answer session with audience members. The forums will take place at 6:30 p.m. on consecutive Wednesdays, August 20 and 27, at the Brown Auditorium at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Admission is free and open to the public. The panelists come from an array of governmental, commercial, academic, and nonprofit organizations: WHY WALK Wednesday, August 20 Clark Martinson, General Manager of the Energy Corridor District Bakeyah Nelson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Exercise and Health Sciences, Department of Clinical Health and Applied Sciences, UH-Clear Lake Susan Rogers, Assistant Professor and Director, Community Design Resource Center, Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture at the University of Houston HOW TO WALK Wednesday, August 27 Kinder Baumgardner, President, SWA Group Raj Mankad, Editor of Cite: The Architecture + Design Review of Houston, Rice Design Alliance Carra Moroni, Program Manager, Community Transformation Initiative, Houston Department of Health and Human Services Rob Tullis, Vice President, Director of Design, GID Urban Development Group You can see more here: http://ricedesignalliance.org/2014/2014-civic-forum-addresses-walkability-in-houston/

OK so I've become a fan of Sir Peter Cook's writings in Architectural Review. Sometimes I wish I could write like he does. Now's one of those times - with the RDA's Small Houses x 9 tour coming this weekend. I wish I could be as eloquent as Cook when I wonder how the RDA could think a 2000 square foot house is small. Many houses have 2000 square feet or less and it's not that hard to plan one. A really small house, say 1000 square feet or less, poses a real challenge to design. But that's not the subject of the RDA's tour. If I were Peter Cook I might also ask - aside from being small and having bamboo floors, what's so green about these houses? They're new houses after all. Nothing's reused. They're not built on brownfields. They have the neighborhood connectivity, I'll hand them that, but what else? And Sir Peter Cook wouldn't pretend that the 2000 square foot house is a new thing. William Floyd. William Jenkins. Harwood Taylor. Lars Bang. They were all in Houston, designing significant houses under 2000 square feet during the 1950s. I happen to live in one. But the RDA's tour doesn't feature a single one of these. (Nor does the RDA's tour feature a single house outside Loop 610.) I will try to bring this to a close as Peter Cook might. I will say that while the RDA's houses might not be really small, and small might not be green or new - 'small' is the future. Smaller, more compact cities. Smaller houses. Smaller cars, too. The RDA is absolutely right to notice this . I think I may go to one or two of these houses.

I got this in my email box this morning and thought I'd share. Mod Squad and former Mod Squad members are having their houses shown on the tour this year. It should be excellent. As many of you may already be aware, this year RDA's annual architecture tour will feature 9 houses under 2000 square feet. The tour will be held on March 28-29 from 1-6 each day. Visit rda.rice.edu for more information about the tour. In collaboration with the tour, we will be holding a Civic Forum next Thursday, March 19th, to discuss some of the challenges and rewards of building small. Representatives from the mortgage banking, development, and government sectors will discuss some of the issues that necessitate the trend towards smaller, more efficient houses. Architects and homeowners participating on the tour will be in the audience to ask questions and stimulate discussion related to their own projects. This event (as with all our Civic Forum events) is free and open to the public. It will be held at the Brown Auditorium, MFA,H at 7 pm. We hope to see you on the 19th, and again on the tour!

http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/i...mp;event_id=458 8am-4pm (Note: Site visit is Saturday, July 19) Reservations required www.rda.rice.edu With its hike and bike trails, lush landscaping, exciting public art, and imaginative lunar lighting scheme, Buffalo Bayou is being transformed into an active and vibrant waterfront destination in downtown Houston. Routine flooding, however, restricts other entertainment from further activating this valuable public space. But does it have to? For its 2008 Design Charrette, Rice Design Alliance joins with Buffalo Bayou Partnership to investigate how Houston

Looks really great although the membership fee is a bit steep. I wanted to join anyway, so I guess it's OK. Anyone done one of these before? How bike-friendly is it? It looks like the houses are too close together to drive, but too far apart to be able to see them all if you have to walk between them. http://rda.rice.edu/index.php?topgroupid=6...&groupid=78 Thanks, marmer

RDA is holding, tonight at 7PM, at the Brown Auditorium of the MFAH, the second part of the three series civic forum on "Public Realm: The Built Environment." Admission is free and open to the public so please join us! The MFAH is located at 1001 Bissonnet Link Part 2: The Built Environment Wednesday, August 9, 7 p.m. Panelists: Martin Melosi Director of the Institute for Public History Director of Graduate Studies in History at the University of Houston Christof Spieler Structural Engineer, Matrix; Editorial Board Member of Cite, The Architecture and Design Review of Houston. Moderator: John S. Jacob, Ph.D. Director, Texas Coastal Watershed Program Environmental Quality and Coastal Community Development Specialist Texas Sea Grant and Texas Cooperative Extension

The spring issue of Cite is out. Contents include: "A Pleasant Promenade" - the new pathway along Buffalo Bayou Good Brick Awards "Goodbye to the Wonderful World of Fun" - About Astroworld's closing "Prairie Style" - New Prairie View A&M School of Architecture "Dew Drop in" - Saving a plantation house in Fort Bend "It Fakes a Village" - Walkable neighborhoods in Houston, including Rice Village Wasn't there supposed to be an ad for HAIF? I don't see it.

The Public Realm A Series of Civic Forums Presented by the Rice Design Alliance The public realm is a constantly shifting concept that once included fields and rivers, wildlife and plants. Today we think of it mostly in terms of the built places and networks in which we conduct our daily lives, hopefully in safety, with convenience, and with some comfort. Its influence on our quality of life is enormous, and because it is public, it is the place where individuals and communities can have the greatest affect on the quality of life. So where is the public realm? What are its boundaries and how are those decided? Who is responsible for its integrity and maintenance? These civic forums will explore change in our complex human habitat, and the places and people that are involved. Part 1: The Big Picture Wednesday, July 12, 7 p.m. Panelists: Jim Blackburn Attorney; Adjunct Professor of Environmental Law, Environmental Sciences and Engineering Department, Rice University Kevin Shanley President SWA Group; past president of the Bayou Preservation Association Part 2: The Built Environment Wednesday, August 9, 7 p.m. Part 3: Public Spaces, Urban Places Wednesday, September 6, 7 p.m. All Civic Forums begin at 7 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public. Brown Auditorium, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 1001 Bissonnet (Enter via the Main Street Door) Parking at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is available for $3 in the museum garage located at the corner of Binz and Fannin. The Rice Design Alliance is an AIA/CES Registered Provider of quality educational programs. For this civic forum, attendees will earn one Learning Unit/Health, Safety, Welfare, which will be reported to CES Records on the member

Here comes the RDA tour! I would love to hear everyone's thoughts on the mods on the tour. Either what you might know about them before or after you've seen them. 250 Pine Hollow Circle, 1953 Wilson, Morris & Crain, architects The owner of this house talked at the lecture the other night. Her problems with flooding and the loss of land to the currents of the bayou over the years made my problems with noise from the street seem like nothing. She was a very entertaining speaker. I am looking forward to seeing this house. This link below shows a picture of the back of the house back when it was built. The owner said the house is still pretty original all things considered, because they have had to put their money into other things, like reclaiming the land from the bayou... http://texasarchitect.org/ta200509-essay.p...e8752cf985dfbbc 266 Pine Hollow Circle, 1972 P. M. Bolton Associates, architect 403 Westminster, 1960 Neuhaus and Taylor, architect This house is newly restored, so I'm really looking forward to seeing it. I'm hoping they have some before pictures as well. I am a docent here on the early shift Saturday, so stop and say hi to the big smiling bald guy! 407 Thamer Circle, 1974 Raymond Brochstein, Anderson Todd, and William T. Cannady, architects http://rda.rice.edu/index2.php?topgroupid=...d=34&groupid=78 Jason

The winter issue of RDA's "Cite" is out, and it's a good'un. Contents: "Retail Resurrection: The Death and Rebirth of Saks Pavillion" "A Place to Come To", about the new downtown park, with a rendering of the most recent plan "Howling on Dowling". Redevelopment of the El Dorado Ballroom on Dowling. "Follow the Money". Detailed review of the new Fed building on Allen Parkway. "City Under Glass". History of the Galleria. "Remembering Westbury Square: Houston's First Lifestyle Center", with some nice before and after photos. "Lifestyle Centers Coming (Back) to Houston". Invented Main Street shopping centers. "Next Steps Inside the Loop. Will we finnaly see a cosmopolitan mixed-use district?" "Wal-Mart meets Architect". Walmart architecture. "The Woodlands: Retrospect and Prospect". History of a mega-suburb. "Aesthetic of Demoltion". The Art League of Houston project on Montrose. "Storm Warning". Planning for the next flood.

All Aboard for the RDA Art Deco Tour! Saturday, October 16, 2004 1 p.m.

Last night at the Rice Design Alliance Civic Forum it was announced that Houston Mod will assist RDA in planning their April tour. Any info on what may be included? The tour is scheduled for April 2 & 3, 1-5 PM.