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H-Town Man

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  1. H-Town Man
    This refers to professional ethics. Architects have certain duties to their clients as in other professions like medicine or law; see Luminare's posts above. A wooden model of this is also prominently displayed behind Jimmy Fallon's desk on The Tonight Show. Feels like you're looking at the Transco Tower when you watch the show (ironically it is just to the left of Johnson's AT&T building).
  2. H-Town Man
    Thank you both for your insights. I found the "standard of care" concept to be enlightening. To Luminare's comment that perhaps I should not have related this conversation since there was not sufficient context, I will say that the person who said these things didn't provide much context for their words and didn't seem to particularly care about how they were understood. I will ask though, do you think that Philip Johnson was being unethical when he said that he "saved all his best designs for Houston"? Take for example the Transco Tower. Johnson had seen a certain building from his office window, the Beekman Tower, and thought of designing a glass skyscraper with the same shape, probably long before getting the commission. He probably had other tall building commissions in other cities in the meantime, but saved this design for Houston. Was this unethical? Or take another design of his, the AT&T Building. This was arguably his most revolutionary design (some could argue Pennzoil Place) and he used it in New York. He probably wanted to build it in New York because it was the right setting for such a statement and would get the most attention there. Was he wrong in saving it for New York?
  3. H-Town Man
    Is this rhetorical question posting format a little irritating? Yes Am I going to do it anyway? Yes Is this renovation effort reminiscent of something you'd see in a last half-hearted attempt to save a 70's mall in Fort Wayne, Indiana? Yes Will the building continue to look just about as ugly as it ever did? Yes Does this signal that Brookfield does not see a bright future for Houston Center given disappointing leasing results following the last wave of money they just spent, and is deciding to shift their money elsewhere? Probably Or could it be that they are just pulling back from office investments in general in the wake of the pandemic? Probably some of that too Am I still glad that they hit it out of the park on the other side of the street? You bet Will this joke of a renovation diminish the effect of the renovation across the street? Kinda, sadly Will anyone shop here who doesn't work in Houston Center? Not likely Am I able to end this post and just hit Submit Reply and move on? Not yet Is there something helpful I can still add at this point? Why yes, there is. From Costar: The developer has hired global architecture and design firm Gensler as the project architect for Houston Center’s retail space. Renovation costs were not disclosed. A permit filed with the state shows Brookfield Properties is spending nearly $26.6 million to renovate 98,427 square feet on retail levels 1-4 at 1200 McKinney.
  4. H-Town Man
    Worth noting that the Colorado River in downtown Austin was a pretty unimpressive stream until a Houston company built a series of dams and created the lakes you see there now. As to the ports/warehouses in Houston, the city's early residents wanted a deep water port downtown and did their best to make it happen. It was the ticket to "world class" city status. They were only able to dig the ship channel so far, however.
  5. H-Town Man
    I guess I am not understanding the intent of your earlier post, whether it was to criticize what this guy said as being poor practice for an architect, or whether it was to doubt whether he said what I reported him as saying about the Hsu firm, on the basis that no architect would say such a thing. But your examples of starchitects doing great work in second-tier locations does not establish that no architect ever does better work or "saves designs for" certain cities. It may be that some architects do not favor certain cities, while others do. All I am suggesting is that some architects do. Not that they all do.
  6. H-Town Man
    That would be bizarre, but it's not what he said. He said they save their best stuff for Austin. Doesn't mean they "fudge" or "half-ass" designs in Houston. You are welcome not to believe me. I am referencing what he said in a personal conversation and I am not disclosing his name. This is the best I can offer. I probably wouldn't believe me if I were you. Then again, I have only related inside info two or three times in the 19 years I've been on this forum, and none of those were situations where someone would normally make something up, especially when I haven't had any inside info on much juicier topics. Do you not think that starchitects save better designs for New York or London than they do for other cities? Is it so farfetched to think an architect might take it to another level for certain places? Philip Johnson once said that he saved his best designs for Houston. Here is a link referencing it: https://uh.edu/news-events/archive/nr/2005/01jan/012605philipjohnson.html
  7. H-Town Man
    It's the weirdness thing that I feel makes them Austin. Houston I feel is more about order and there is an earnestness to our buildings, especially our skyline, plus a sense of aspiration, whereas in Austin it is more about weirdness, a sense of irony, and a slight condescension. I know these are psychological terms but there is no other way to convey the sense of a certain city or place. A building like The Independent makes sense for Austin but not for Houston. I think we are most closely akin to Chicago in our city's aesthetic, with the difference that we incorporate more color in our buildings as well as more glass; we're a little less grim. Unrelated - I once had a conversation with a guy who is a partner at Hsu, who I met through a friend. He said their philosophy is to design buildings that are in harmony with the existing neighborhood and have a sense of locality. He held great contempt for glass highrises and didn't even know the firm Pickard Chilton. I tried to put the question of, What if your neighborhood's historical context is glass highrises, buildings that have ignored the past and their surroundings, what do you do then? I also questioned whether buildings that are asymmetric and "funky" really blended into older neighborhoods where none of the existing building stock was like that. He batted both questions away. They were not worded in such a way as to be worth answering. It was a bit like what I imagine talking to a designer at Yves Saint Laurent or Christian Dior is like. One is permitted to listen, as to an oracle; to argue or discuss is not thought of. He also acknowledged with a grin that they save their best designs for Austin. This was before they had opened the Houston office.
  8. H-Town Man
    Interesting replies, good points. I never suggested that we have only hotels from now on, nor do I think this is remotely likely. The market for residential appears much healthier than the hotel market, so I think you all will get your wish.
  9. H-Town Man
    You've toured around the world... from London to the Bay.
  10. H-Town Man
    Ohhh, Christmas comes early for Houston 19514.
  11. H-Town Man
    "Fridays and Saturdays" plus "maybe a weeknight or two" = 3 or 4 nights a week
  12. H-Town Man
    The first sentence of my post acknowledged that we are not lacking in hotel rooms. Do you really think that permanent residents who have kitchens and pantries eat out nearly as often as hotel guests, who usually have neither? I'm sure the permanent residents like to go out on Fridays and Saturdays, maybe a weeknight or two, but as often as hotel guests? You do make an interesting point about the businesses that each supports. Permanent residents support groceries, dry cleaners, maybe a florist, and some dry goods. Hotel residents I would think are more supportive of restaurants and touristy things like POST.
  13. H-Town Man
    Can anyone summarize or copy relevant sections?
  14. H-Town Man
    The hotel occupancy levels are definitely saying we don't need another hotel downtown right now. But if I had a choice between 300 full residential units or 300 full hotel rooms, I am picking hotel rooms. Hotel guests eat out and explore the neighborhood almost every night. Residents occasionally eat out, already know the neighborhood so aren't too explorative. Only downsides to hotels are all the pick-ups and drop-offs, and sometimes the buildings are ugly stucco boxes with tacky signage. I am hopeful that The Rice can someday be a hotel again.
  15. H-Town Man
    I think this site is destined for office since it is adjacent to Houston Center and doesn't have a park or anything next to it. Other sites would be better for residential.
  16. H-Town Man
    This may have something to do with the large standing homeless population, which would swarm around a Target the same way they used to swarm around Sears. National retailers are also increasingly wary of shoplifting.
  17. H-Town Man
    I suppose the sidewalk paving has aged better than the fountains, and Preston Street still winds instead of going straight. Most of the east/west streets in the area now have diagonal parking with lots more trees and generally nice paving, although I would have chosen a darker shade of pink/red, more like what's on Main Street. The view down Preston to or from Minute Maid with all the sycamores (think that's what they are) is quite nice. But yeah, the fountains aren't doing well, and I don't think the materials they used were seriously meant to last. May be worth just removing them? Or make them simpler and stronger, like the drinking fountains in Rome.
  18. H-Town Man
    Ok, fair enough, it has been reviving. I had in the back of my mind The Onion's atlas, Our Dumb Planet, where for Philadelphia it says, "Actual site of a nuclear explo- wait, nope, that's just Philadelphia." But that was printed over a decade ago.
  19. H-Town Man
    Yeah, my comment was a little tongue-in-cheek. But that has been happening as the large mass of buildings built between 1975 and 1985 lose their appeal to big money tenants. The difference between us and Dallas is that we have a lot of deep-pocketed tenants downtown who are happy to pay more rent for space in a new building, whereas in Dallas, the deep-pocketed tenants are in Frisco, Addison, and Irving, and no new office buildings are getting built downtown.
  20. H-Town Man
    The no. 4 spot is kind of a death trap, unfortunately. St. Louis, Detroit, and Philadelphia all spent significant time there in the 20th century and now look like somebody nuked them. I think we'll break the trend, though.
  21. H-Town Man
    It seems just perfect for someone to downsize from 400,000 to 250,000 SF and knock one of our 80's-era buildings into Class B/high vacancy status.
  22. H-Town Man
    And if only someone had not invented the airplane, St. Louis would still be an "it" city.
  23. H-Town Man
    Ok. Good point. Where did he mention the apartments or hotel? Recently or a long time ago?
  24. H-Town Man
    I'm sure both of those places are very nice, and whatever he builds will be very nice. The point was, it doesn't sound like he's planning to build a highrise.
  25. H-Town Man
    My worry is that the yellow and green boxes become 2-3 story retail and the red area becomes a parking garage, and the "mixed use" refers to retail and parking. I think if he were planning a high rise, he would not have compared it to the developments in St. Louis and Atlanta. Hope I'm wrong.
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