Luminare

Posted on Swamplot this morning. It talks about the secondary goal of the expansion plan which is to make the district a more walkable neighborhood.

http://www.citylab.com/design/2015/01/can-a-massive-museum-expansion-get-texans-walking/384669/

Cool idea, but needs more residential.

That's a great list, so much so that I may have to tone down my "iconic" statement about 609 Main and 2929 Weslayan to a watered down version of the term. I agree with just about everything you wrote, except I would label Bank of America as "iconic" also. I think that building says "Houston" more than any other building in this city, and that's saying something considering all the others you mentioned. HA's original design would have been iconic IMO as well...and the Memorial City tower could even be considered iconic in a "could someone please move this thing to Dallas" kind of way. Just curious, what are your thoughts on 2929 Weslayan?

Google, Aqua Tower in Chicago and then compare it to 2929 Weslayan. Weslayan is a good building for Houston, but it's not exactly going to be Iconic not when it's on record with the firm saying that their building was inspired by the Aqua Tower which is more nuanced, and it pulls off the effect in a better way. This isn't anything bad against 2929 Weslayan, but a homage of a better designed building isn't exactly going to make it "iconic" just a good building.

@H-Town Man As to the comment about this building not being "iconic" I'm simply throwing it into the ring as something that could potentially be one if we really need to put one in that category. I think for this one we need to wait till it's finished since a building it's very rare an unbuilt building can get the title of iconic.

Finally.....I know that Architecture is a very subjective thing, but you seriously can't tell me with a straight face that a two 25 story something corporate building in the middle of suburbia with a metal bridge on top is "iconic" can you? I know it's hard to initiate sarcasm in text form, but I think I got a hint of it when you said it was an inspired design.

Thought this was an interesting data graphic that I found on Arch Daily today and thought it was worth posting/discussing.

What do y'all think?

http://www.archdaily.com/591259/how-americans-get-to-work/

People have been complaining since the downgrade of Hotel Alessandra that we won't get an "iconic building" out of this current building cycle, but I've longed thought that this will be that building. Sure it wasn't designed by a "starchitect" but it does have visual impact and will look nice in the skyline.

This is no longer a debate when we keep circling back to the same questions of why NW Transit Center or why Downtown. I'm not going to continue to repeat what has already been said a dozen times on here IronTiger.

Whoever is going to be the next mayor, priority number one is further diversifying Houston's economy. While we are avoiding a full crash and going into more of slow period due to Houston becoming more diversified especially with Medical it isn't quite there yet. I believe to truly push itself into an elite category and insure continuing growth we need a third major industry.

The best scenario is positioning Houston as the capital for a new private Space industry. Then you would have a powerful trinity of Space, Medical, and Energy that would be hard to beat and all of those are markets which will be dominate in the future.

I'm also quite surprised that we haven't become a key location for electronics or software when we have so much usable space, and we are at a centralized location and have one of the worlds largest ports. I imagine that to attract Software and Electronic companies though Houston would need to tweak it's overall corporate culture and political culture as well. While Houston has certainly been a more liberal city in recent years it's population is still very conservative. I still think it could be great place for this market though. This could create another powerful trinity of Medical, Software/Electronics, and Energy.

Once again, whoever becomes mayor, this should be priority one.

An academic and research focused college is going to spend $30m on a weightlifting facility?

They are improving in football and lets remember that they are one of the traditional powers in baseball. They aren't going to be like the bigger sports focused schools, but they do have good sports programs.

This is incredible news. Probably the most exciting component in this isn't the land bridge or the trails, etc.... (although those are pretty awesome), but it's the reason why this place is called Memorial Park in the first place, and by creating a dedicated portion of the park to represent those that served our country in war and tell more about Houston's history is what really hits home for me. This really shows a huge potential shift where we might see a sort of restoration in civil pride for our history, those who came before us, and our city in general which has been sorely lacking. Great master plan overall. Now could they use these same city planning skills elsewhere too? Seriously!? Please!?

Its not that we (the USA) are becomming more bland... its that we're being given tv/radio/news/books/media/design/etc. etc. that has been "dumbed" down.

 

Case in point:  The History Channel.  5 years ago they had actual historical documentaries, programs exploring historical events/places/people, fast forward and today we have "Pawn Stars" and their ilk.

 

Sad.

 

Yet its a transformation we're all too happy to embrace.  I mean in 1946 we watched sporting events live, movies were only shown on theatre screens and mass media was mostly distributed in a format that HAD to be read, or at least listened to.  Also, it was societal norm for people to simply be more formal in dress, interactions, talk...  Today we have access to everything we need on a palm sized tablet.  This is moving the masses (as a whole) towards a far less formal society, and also towards one where IF you need something - there is a specialized place online where it exists.

 

Bland, dumbed down....they are interchangable. We are happy to embrace it because its easy and its familiar. Lets face it people have no idea what they want most of the time until you put it right in front of their face. All we are doing is regurgitating past styles, themes, tones, typologies, and trying to sell it as the next thing instead of charting new paths to new things or at least try new things. Modernist architecture definitely didn't solve the worlds problems as was once heralded, but at least it TRIED! It failed spectacularly, and was a beautiful mess, but at least it tried to further the discipline and further our culture.

I think you are misinterpreting my motives in regards to technology. The internet is increasing opportunties to create new things and create new culture and has the chance in this new digital age to create fundamentally different architecture. We are also seeing that even though the internet and increased mobility are changing old ways of doing things, it's also helping to reinforce the need for balance in others. A blend between Reality and Virtual-Reality.

...and wow we are getting way off topic lol. But this is getting interesting

You have a point. I think we're also just a little upset that this boom cycle did not produce anything downtown that could cause someone to drive off the road looking at it, like Pennzoil or Tenneco did for their eras, or arguably the Gulf Building for its. The person who said this is like going from a Midtown Manhattan to a downtown Austin design was spot on. Austin isn't shabby at all, but the first design was in another realm.

Back in those days companies wanted to stand out from the crowd and it was more common for entire companies to be housed in one building exclusively. We are seeing more and more spec buildings than built to suit in this market specially because the current market/corporate culture in America doesn't allow for built to suit to flourish and we live in the hyper extreme of this case, Houston. Companies in the 70's and 80's were willing to take those risks because it was another way to market their company and stand out from their competitors. We live in a period of American architecture, and corporatism where instead of trying to be bold and brash, it's all about conformity, blending in, don't offend, why go for one thing when you can aim to please all.

You see this with everything from cable TV channels changing programming to reach everyone making them more bland in the process, or technology which tries to be the all-in-one which actually makes it less distinctive than if they were singular devices. The age of Exclusivity is gone and we have entered the era of Homogeneity. If there is anything to blame for this, blame those in charge because it really does reflect the mentality of this current generation of those in power all around. They are completely content with not advancing anything and are instead either rehashing old themes, preying on nostalgia, or flying on auto pilot. It's why I don't understand why we keep using the term "Modern" when, at least in Western culture (especially here in America), we are entirely in the Post-Modern. Everything is relative and you see it architecture today, and in every industry in general. Modern is the advancement of culture in one continuous direction where as in Post-Modern there isn't a one true path, but an infinite number which instead of leading us forward keeps us at a standstill due to either to many forces going in different directions or the inability even choose one.

EDIT: If I did so happen to offend anyone in that age bracket.....I don't care.

The title 'starchitects' was I believe coined by Blair Kamin of the Chicago Tribune to somewhat derisively describe architects whose hype surpassed the quality of their designs, even while having respectable designs. He identified the original starchitect as being Philip Johnson, who was made a star by Pennzoil Place, which Kamin thought looked like a pair of milk cartons.

 

I'm not saying starchitects' reputation isn't somewhat deserved, but there is an Emperor's New Clothes phenomenon that goes on as well, and I don't think clustering starchitect buildings as in the Dallas Arts District produces great results. I much prefer the architectural environment around The Crescent (just so you don't think I hate Dallas), where one masterpiece is allowed to dominate and other buildings make strong synergistic contributions.

I agree with all your points, but if there is any place in a city where buildings should be eclectic and clustered around each other it's in an art district or some sort of cultural district. It's fitting when the art collections in buildings which are also collections in of themselves. You see eclecticism of this manner in our nations capital. The Mall is lined with vastly different buildings with different styles, sensibilities, and the architects personalities to match. While it's true that when defining a district you want there to be some kind of homogeneity, but many times Art Districts break that mold due to the very nature of their function. What needs to match then are the buildings and features around those collections of buildings. Those are the ones that should match the randomness of the architecture not the conformity of the masses around it.

There's no reason that you couldn't have solely express train service during the peak hours, say at 6:30-9am and 4:30-7pm, then have intermediate stop service during non-peak hours. With B/CS being a college town, schedules are likely to be more flexible than those of the business travelers between Houston and Dallas.

This. For some reason people can't wrap their brains around the fact that you can schedule different times for different destinations. It's very common with trains. For instance when I was studying abroad in Italy I was living in a very small town that had access to Commuter rail. To help speed things up the trains that accessed the station only departed at certain hours of the day and most of the time it was only a couple trains in the morning, mid-day, and afternoon. Same thing can apply to this...and has been done in other places. For instance I could get a EuroStar ticket from Florence to Milan straight shot or get a cheaper ticket with the same train but with additional stops. It makes the routes a lot more flexible which is what makes trains such a great option. People forget this all the time especially if they have never been on these kinds of trains.

yay! Another thread flushed down the drain with Dallas v. Houston talk. I'm so excited!

The only way the HSR is going to work is if there are zero stops. Stops are a dealbreaker. Downtown Dallas to Downtown Houston, no stops. Anything else is not going to be able to effectively compete with Southwest.

 

If we start pandering to politicians by making the train stop in the middle of nowhere than this whole thing is dead on arrival.

On what base in fact do you have this on? I've been on plenty of HSR and their are at least a couple of stops in between. Yes you don't want HSR going to small towns, but to cities yes. That's why HSR is more commonly called Intercity Rail. Plus the more access to passengers means more money and at the end of the day thats whats going to matter most. Finally whenever I was on HSR that reached this intermediate stops they were only there for at most 5mins. So that 90min trip is now 95mins. Big deal. The overall trip will be faster than if you flew.

Alright I'm going to have to be the adult in the thread and just say to stop whining. I had my suspicions for awhile that something was up when they kept delaying the project and everyone that is involved in this project is at fault here. They simply waited to long and too many people got their hands onto it and changed it. I was also curious as to why it wasn't on Genslers website at all. My guess is that Gensler and Midway had some sort of argument over the design and Midway instead went with it's own vision for the project.

Is it a disappointment that the other one isn't going to be built, absolutely. Lets look on the positive side. They are still building a hotel for greenstreet which will help that area greatly and create lots of foot traffic. This also might make the hotel a little more moderately priced than the one before. The other design while distinctive might have put the price range out of a lot of peoples wallets who might want to stay there. I'm simply playing devils advocate because once again I really liked the original design.

Now while everyone wants to whine and throw out the baby with the bath water I'm going to ask if everyone simply jumps out of that frame of mind and adjust to the new reality that this is whats going to get built. I'm sorry, but it's very rare that a project gets pushed back so far and still holds the same design...its very hard. I think a lot of people are going to like the hotel (those that aren't associated with this forum of course) for the fact that ignorance is bliss and the building will fit nicely in the current Houston aesthetic. I stress what I said, in the Steven Holl art buliding in contrast to the revealed Morphosis design, that Houston is slowly moving into a more bolder aesthetic, but just isn't there yet. When you have a very conservative industry designing for a very conservative clientele the result is going to be very conservative architecture. I even work with people who often complain about designers incorporating curves into designs because all they can see is a jump in price and more time spent to work those designs out instead of understanding the aesthetic impact and importance to the design.

Now for the building itself. If this is what will go there, I will take it. For anyone posting that one disgrace of a hotel that is near Discovery Green please take that crap down as it's an over-exaggeration. That building is tacky and ugly. Now contrast it with this building. While redesigned it still is very sleek and contemporary in it's aesthetic. If it were a design for any other building then everyone on this forum would be losing their minds over it! Get real everyone. Lets stop comparing the two different designs for this building and just focus on this new one, because its probably from a different designer and company altogether which wouldn't make it fair to this one at all. It's a very nice looking building. Again for the record of course I'm disappointed, but lets move forward because this is a well designed building just not of a radical nature in regards to Houston's current aesthetic which this new design fits in very well.

I guess the bigger question is...why is Urbannizer holding out on us...

I agree with Montrose. I love how fast these thoroughfares are, and quite frankly I wish we had more of these to help our inner city infrastructure, but they are extremely dated and are from an era that doesn't represent the direction Houston is going. These roads can be more than just thoroughfares. They could be the new main street which both celebrates the bayou and can become a way to stitch back together the surrounding neighborhoods which have been sliced and diced by these two parkways for so long. I think a compromise can be made to keep elements of the old (make the inner most lanes speed lanes that go under intersections and have the outer ones engage more with the bayou and rest of the Houston framework).

This image is from the twitter link (dated 12:37 PM - 20 Jan 2015) posted by tigereye at the top of this page. it's the first rendering we saw of Alessandra..

 

 

 

but does it looks different than the one from the chron article (dated January 16, 2015 ) linked by Luminare?

 

 

 

Edit: after reviewing the thread it looks like the same renderings from March.

The building in both renderings is one in the same. To be perfectly honest I was curious that we hadn't gotten some sort of update on the design since well.....almost one year since we got the first images. it's normal for any building to go through redesigns, but I don't know it just seems really late that they would be on the eve of ground breaking for such a high profile project and not release updated renderings. The fact that almost every news outlet online that deals with Houston real estate posted stories about this one getting started and using the same renderings means that Midway had plenty of time to update or give out material to the press. It also doesn't make any sense when their own website is still showing the exact same renderings.

Yeah I'm trying to look for links. This article from Chron was just last week and it had the same renderings on it.

http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/2015/01/luxury-hotel-project-moves-forward-downtown/

EDIT: Swamplot, BizJournals, Midway still have the same renderings. Are you sure you aren't looking at something older Urbannizer? You can't just leave everyone on a cliffhanger like that.

They have been turning up dirt and prepping the land for the foundation for the past week. I'll try to get some pics at some point.

Unless their was a massive slash in NASA's budget which would only happen if it was absolutely necessary as cutting an institution like NASA would be political suicide and the party that does it would loss Texas in future elections. Plus Congressmen and Senators wouldn't allow it. As a matter of fact NASA was approved a raise in their budget, and while it was mostly to cover for inflation a raise is a raise meaning that it is important enough to keep. NASA's partnership with SpaceX and other Private Space corporations insures that it will have a continuing future. While Elon Musk is building his new stuff down near Brownsville guess who has the proper facilities to train astronauts....Johnson Space Center. They are continuing to upgrade the campus and have recently added a couple new buildings which are, I believe, LEED Platinum....not cheap. It's not a matter of if, but a matter of when the campus goes into full scale redevelopment in order to become part of the new and ever growing Space Industry. Yes, they do most of their launches in Florida or elsewhere, but a big part of their operations is here. I believe we had a space thread somewhere here that got into great length about all of this.

How much money and dope did they give to Micro Center to convince them to abandon their old location so quickly? As far as I could tell, there were still fluorescent tubes in the signage, attached to the building and bulldozed all at once.

 

Jesus, I wouldn't have even known that Micro Center EXISTED, but for seeing their sign, while I was with my mom on one of those busses going to the Rodeo. I think I was 16 at the time. That store influenced where my roommates and I lived during college, and where I lived subsequently. I mean shit, I used to be able to walk to the store, and I even did, on several occasions.

 

It just seems like, there has been some kind of shift, from one type of extreme to another. Yeah, maybe Westcreek apartments were kind of old. They wee build in 1968. If we only consider that variable - the goddamned Micro Center store was build in 1994! The goddamned roof didn't leak AFAIK!!!

 

And so, what kind of stupid and ridiculous worthless value is Amegy Bank going to derive for it's customers, having destroyed this store in order to obtain some type of precious "frontage" that 99% of their real customers will NEVER see or even care to visit. What is the fuh-king goal of this? Because I don't see it.

 

I don't expect to see many reasonable replies here because too many people are going to see OMG SHINY BUILDING!!!!111 and get a hard-on and that will be the end of any possible rational debate.

Because this is clearly a way to start a "rational debate"...

"rational debate"

I know that Michael Graves isn't a Pritzker winner, but he recently designed a new building for Rice which is on University Blvd. A very nice building. Rice is potentially getting a theater by Diller Scofidio + Renfro. They also aren't Pritzker winners, but they are one of the "it" firms right now with some very popular work in Europe.

I always considered Wyly Theater as more of an OMA project with Rem attached to it. Like Steven Spielberg when he attaches his name to a film as a Producer lol.

EDIT: I'm just going to post this here because Wyly Theater is a fun little building and is talked about more here in this Ted Talks