marmer Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 Ever heard of them? I've found very little information about them, except that Greene, who was a protege of Bruce Goff, is still living in California. Apparently Greene worked in Krakower's office early in his career, and there are still a few of his buildings in HoustonMarty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torvald Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 Apparently Greene worked in Krakower's office early in his career, and there are still a few of his buildings in Houston<{POST_SNAPBACK}>do you know which? interested to see... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marmer Posted June 15, 2005 Author Share Posted June 15, 2005 do you know which? interested to see...<{POST_SNAPBACK}>I'll have to look in the AIA guide. The one I remember for sure is the square windowless building on Fannin between the museum district and downtown. The top story is painted dark and has cinderblock ornamental details all around. It used to be leased by Uniroyal and the story is supposedly that it was supposed to look like tire tread. Maybe, but being square keeps me from thinking "tire."Marty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenH Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 Krakower stopped building at the end of the 50's evidently. According to Robert Bowlby, a former employee of Krakower and apprentice of Bruce Goff, Greene is no longer practicing architecture, but is now painting. He's written three books about architecture, art and psychology. He's still alive and lives in California.Greene's most famous building is the now-demolished Lynn house, which is featured in Ephemeral City. If you've never felt pity for a building, feel it for this one. Evidently, it was only in good shape for a short amount of time before the neighborhood went south, the owner split, and the house fell into "an advanced state of decay", says the guide. They tore it down not too long ago. Some of his other work is still standing. He's known for building a truly bizarre house for himself in Oklahoma. The Friends of Kebyar organization published an issue featuring his work many years ago, which is available in back issues. That's all I know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jersey01 Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 There are a couple of cool houses on N. Braeswood in Braes Heights by Krakower. One was the mod of the month back when we still did that. I went to the open house, and it had really neat details, particularly the custom vertical wood and unique angled kitchen cabinets and the back is complete glass. The strange looking building mentioned in another post is the old SW Bell building on Fannin, and was by him as well. And I believe there is a house in or near Tanglewood that was done by him, though it was in danger of demolition a while back so I'm not sure about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marmer Posted January 31, 2007 Author Share Posted January 31, 2007 Thanks, Ben and Jersey!I've seen Greene's books in the Rice library (they're kind of hard to read), and I think one of them had a floor plan and description of the Lyne House. I have seen it in Ephemeral City, too, and I also have visited Friends of Kebyar. I've seen the Prairie Chicken house in Oklahoma (well, pictures, anyway.) I know he's still alive (or was recently anyway) in Berkeley.Here are the Krakower/Greene buildings mentioned in Houston Architecture Guide:2201 Caroline: Houston Typewriter Exchange Building3333 Fannin: SW Bell, later Uniroyal Building3611 North Braeswood3615 North Braeswood7 Pine Forest Circle323 Tynebrook Lane (Greene supervised construction of Houston's only Bruce Goff house)7410 Long Point: Long Point Clinic building (demolished)3605 Meriburr Lane: Lyne House, (demolished) the only building credited to Greene instead of to Krakower.The only other references to Krakower I can find are: he's listed as Treasurer of the Houston chapter of AIA for 1960, and he was one of the leaders in the fundraising and planning for, as well as the designer of, the Jewish Institute For Medical Research building in the TMC. "Jewish Building" linkmarmer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenH Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 Here's the one on Pine Forest Circle: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenH Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 Here's the one on Pine Forest Circle: Moron alert. That's not the Krakower house on Pine Forest. The one above is on Pine Forest LANE, not Circle. That house is red. Saw it today. Seems very Japanese. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenH Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 If you're interested, pick up a copy of Julius Shulman's "Architecture and it's photography". There are several photos of Greene's Cunningham house and his own landmark 'Prairie Chicken' House. Book is well worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jersey01 Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 If you're interested, pick up a copy of Julius Shulman's "Architecture and it's photography". There are several photos of Greene's Cunningham house and his own landmark 'Prairie Chicken' House. Book is well worth it.I second that. Really ANY Shulman book is a great buy. I especially love his Richard Neutra and Hal Levitt pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmainguy Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 Herb Greene-Norman, Ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenH Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 Herb Greene-Norman, Ok. That's the one. That building is completely made of wood. What a fire trap! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marmer Posted March 30, 2007 Author Share Posted March 30, 2007 Yes, I know the Prairie Chicken in Oklahoma is a seminal work, etc. but I just can't get past the ugly. It looks like a dilapidated wooden barn that is in an advancing state of collapse.marmer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marmer Posted April 8, 2008 Author Share Posted April 8, 2008 Joseph Krakower obituary, Houston Chronicle, Sept. 26, 1986. The exact same text was in the Houston Post on the same day. A little microfilm searching at Rice found this remarkably non-informative obituary: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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