Luminare

For once this actually makes sense especially sense we are talking about Oil companies themselves! The market will go up and down. Right now Saudi Arabia is trying to play a game of chicken with every oil producer in the world and they will win, but they are imploding OPEC while they are doing so. This will be the last time they have this kind of power, and I think they know that. North American Shale, Russian Oil, and African Oil is the future of the industry and they are going drive the price into the ground hurting everyone as much as possible to postpone the inevitable.

yeah because talking about how many hits on facebook and twitter Hillary Clinton and Ted Cruz have speaks volumes about how much Ted Cruz wants to revive NASA's 'core mission' lol Unless Ted Cruz wants to revive NASA by landing a facebook server on the moon! Then I question why this thread exists.

What does anything that you just said have to do with the title you wrote?

anyone able to get through the chron paywall to get the full story on this? Any pics or renders worth showing?

Yeah I really don't see a Source Code type scenario happening often. I also agree that the security at airports is simply an illusion to give peace of mind. There are eyes you do not see at airports. They profile, they have lists, etc. Way more effective means of spotting threats then the idiots who man those TSA stations. Hell I would fully support the first Republican, Democrat, or Libertarian that boldly tries to chop off either the TSA or the Department of Homeland Security. If people want to keep it then they should fall under the Department of the Interior since thats the department which deals with Domestic affairs. You can't protect everything with security officers! Yes have a few patrol officers on duty at stations, and have surveillance, but there is no need for the type of security that is so prevalent at airports.

looked at the rendering again. Did anyone else notice the floating tree? lol

It's funny because I've always kinda thought of Steven Holl as Gehry-lite which is perfect for our city with buildings that try not to offend. Great selection of architects for this. As soon as I saw the name I knew this was in good hands. Was very surprised by the Lake | Flato design. I didn't even know they were a part of this whole scheme. Awesome stuff by them as well. They are really making a nice statement in this town so good for them, but if Lake | Flato was the opening act, Steven Holl is the big show. He is the quintessential architect of his generation (at least at his level) and always made statements with his architecture. I know he is very popular at my office as I've seen a few of the designers with Steven Holl books of his earlier works on their desks! It's certainly a bold design, but as seen from that night illustration it easily slips right into place. The roof sorta gives the whole building a carved stone type of look like the slopes on top were chiseled from the greater whole. It's more of an accent, but its a great detail. The building I'm most curious about is the new Glassell school! I had no idea they were going to redevelop that area as well and its actually the one that steals the show. The walkable roof from ground floor to terrace is something that is very popular in contemporary architecture and it's almost in every architecture student project, but to actually see it being executed in this city is simply amazing and will be the talk of the town for sure! Just the view alone....I can't wait! Sometimes in as architects especially us young architects we want to go out and just do the most crazy thing ever because surely that will start the next great revolution, but sometimes it more subtle and interesting to just give the scene a slight nudge. This does that. People have been throwing the word game changer, but I look at it more as sort of those life moment markers you see on facebook. This is this moment in Houston's life. It's a 'moment'. yeah not as sexy as gamechanger, but it really is a moment. The moment where Houston matured just a little bit more and grew up just a little bit more. Hopefully it goes even further than that. So if it wasn't obvious from the statement above, I really love the design. Would like to see further info on this and maybe some more interior renders, but I'm definitely impressed. Lets go gaga over this and not the most underwhelming reveal of the day *cough*Amegy 20 story nothing that could be built anywhere in america therefore it's nothing very special and it's just a plain glass building with horns *cough* P.S. Awesome inside work Cloud. Some news program needs to grab you dude! You do better investigative journalism than most. Great images and were far more interesting than just the renders. The models really add context and give the building more character.

That wasn't exactly the vibe I sensed from your posts at all. I think if anything me and bigfootssocks and few others have pointed out that their will of course be bumps in the road, but the overall point is that they are just bumps not insurmountable mountains. They are minor annoyances, but nothing that should derail a project. NIMBY's live on those minor annoyances though because those are the only legs in their argument and the moment you have a perfectly logical answer to it is when they start to desperately throw the issue at you again and again. It's like when news programs use "buzz" words. NOISE! It makes noise! Noise is bad! Trains! They want to take away cars! Public Transportation! They want to steal our money! Change! Because we can't handle change and must selfishly make everyone else live the same way! I'm all for speculation, contemplation, etc... but like your vid about "noise" it is creating noise. it is a distraction from reasonable conversations just like it distracts NIMBY's from being logical and making sound judgement. I mean how many times does it need to be said that there will most likely be some type of sound dampening thing or sound control devices or walls to control this very issue. Quite frankly these people already live next to railroad tracks and if they aren't happy of sleeping close to random train moments at night then why are they their? I mean yeah that vid you post does have the train squeal a bit, but unless that is going to make you deaf or shatter windows then it will be fine. Now I am serious about that physics question guys!

and the only reason I think people like this...

*facepalms* Yeah because there will be people that walk 4 feet away all the time and it will totally be going over 200 miles an hour when its about 2mins away from the station. Can we use simple physics here? In fact I would love if someone actually attempted a word problem like this and solved it. How fast the train would likely be going while it goes near a NIMBY's yard in Rice Military before it reaches the downtown station. I say at most it will only be going 25-35 mph and that's also at a continuous downward rate of speed. IronTiger, I have to admit that you are really disappointing me here. You are clearly trying way too hard and literally are throwing everything including the kitchen sink! This is from someone who likes your comments. I really do, but this....dude seriously? I also like how at the end of you comment you have to set up the exact situation where this would occur. No it's all the time, but it happens when you do this and this and this and THIS and THEN it will happen....you hear it? YOU HEAR IT? Squeaking noise!!! Dun dun dunnnnnnnnnn. *sigh*

.....have you ever been on a train before? I've been on commuter rail and EuroStars EuroStars are HSR. If it's going from city to city in the same country then it doesn't matter. It's like any train. You get there whenever you want to get there even if it's 5mins before. That's also the cool thing about it is that there isn't the security bs on a normal train ride. Now when it's going from country to country then it's stepped up a little bit. It does feel a little like an airport where you go through security, and then go through customs, etc... but you still don't have to get there an hour before. Again though that is when it's INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL. Plus we have seen terrorist blowup a marathon with a pressure cooker, and just recently had some kill cartoonist. They don't care what, where, or when. People will kill however they want to kill and will do it however they want too. It's why I can never get behind most arguments on gun control or anything involving a ban. If someone wants to do it they will. Trains don't kill people. People kill people. But I guess we should cancel all marathons or ban pressure cookers and layoff all cartoonist.....

Literally all they have to do is supply existing evidence of use (example being Japan) and studies of the actual train itself and this case wouldn't last long in court at all. I would imagine that whoever is the local representative of these areas will put up a fight just so their citizens can see something being done, but behind all that it would just be settled out of court. A waste of court time and peoples money just because a few NIMBY's are that stubborn. It does more harm than good and it's just so they will have piece of mind. It should be a swift case and because of that shouldn't last very long.

That's the real kicker isn't it. It's the most compelling story certainly. It's the age old argument of what gets stuff done better, faster, etc... Is it private enterprise or the government. Somewhere there has to be a middle ground, but it will be interesting to see what will come out of this. The fact of the matter is that even though it's the government in CA that is building there's it's still a form of competition which, if successful, should spark growth in both markets.

Looks like the race is on. Apparently California has broken ground on their high speed rail. http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2015/01/06/california-high-speed-rail-bullet-train-los-angeles-san-francisco-orig-cfb.cnn

haha you got me again amegy thread.... really thought someone posted the goods, but guess not

Just some inside info on stuff like this. That's not even a real render. It's literally the model space in sketchup with shadows and textures turned on. They then put some black silhouette components for scale. Same with the trees. It's actually pretty lazy, but it's not like this would have been used in an actual presentation. This is something you would quickly do to show it to a client so they and whoever designed this could get some quick remarks.

I'm wondering if any of these shenanigans really even matters in the first place? I could see the impact if this was a government project, but it's completely private enterprise. Meaning if they get approval from the EPA, Feds, and the City of Houston then they can do whatever they want. If the city and TCR want the station in downtown then they will get it to downtown with or without the support of these NIMBY's. Much of these meetings seem to be simply to save face, gather info, and are most likely a government requirement, but even with last mile costs, etc... It's the greatest economic choice to put it in downtown. Not for the short term, but for the long term.

Anyone have the full scoop from the meeting? Details?

I'm posting this because it relates to this topic! In the video this idea is being applied to gaming, but it applies to almost anything in terms of design. It highlights the dangers of "focus group" designing and how it's all about what kind of questions you ask and how most of the time you have no idea if you are going to get the answers you are looking for, or if you are getting the right feedback, or if the questions were right in the first place. I know there is multitudes of research and psychology books that would explain this in a more 'professional' fashion, but I think this video will do. The biggest take away is that most of the time people don't know what they want until you show them! EDIT: Just making a note that this isn't all about that one topic I would recommend just watching the first 5mins, and if you like gaming and all that stuff then continue on, but for the topic at hand I thought that this person, in the first few mins of this video, put it in laymens terms very well.

...and so is this building...

I just like how people in Chron's comment section just can't possibly fathom that this project is going to be mostly if not entirely privately funded lol. I actually highly doubt this project will get state funding as the conservative government wouldn't dare do so. What will most likely happen is that as the project gets closer to construction the state gov. might provide help in the form of subsides. If this project is successful I can imagine that there would be a form of government subsidy granted to people who will see rail go through their land as a form of compensation.

So I had just wrote out a long ass reply, but I think this analogy will work better. For any ladies that are on this forum I want to apologize in advance. It's like if you wanted to construct the "perfect" woman from various parts of other women that you think are good lookin. You like that girls eyes. You like this girls hair. You like this one's hips. That girl has a nice waist. Etc, etc... But just because you like those various aspects on each of those individual woman that doesn't mean that they should all be part of ONE woman. I mean imagine if you threw all of the those parts together.......that would not end well AT ALL!!! Each of those unique identifying features of those various ladies that you like are what make them attractive to you, but just because it's on that women doesn't mean it will be unique or great when combined with other things. It's the same here. What's more revealing is the statement by Surge Homes that it was done simply by user input online. What's the vetting process for all of that input? I actually want to know WHY they like those things instead of just the things in of themselves because that will reveal why it stuck out to them! Sometimes each of those various elements stated by those individuals also says something about the building that has what they like, but the building lives through those things and they play an integral part in why the building was designed in such a way. Whats has to be the most concerning thing is the shift from an 84 unit building to just 7 super large single family homes? I simply don't understand the economics of this! You are willing to trade 84 units for just SEVEN oversized, bloated, style collage mess houses? Truly baffling... Finally, what I see in this rendering is an example of an architect who doesn't know how to say, No. It's ok to say no to a client because not everything (features or ideas) can go in every project nor does it need to be.

I......yeah I'm just going to wait until work is done to respond in depth. I will say that there is something to be said about the ability to get feedback from the community, but it has to go through a filter Surge Homes.....a very tight filter and then another filter on that, and then finally your own filter in terms of aesthetics and sensibility. You guys literally took everything and tried to jam it into one enormous monstrosity of a building! This is seriously first year design studio mistakes...Please tell me this is an april fools joke 4 months in advance? I expect this out of 1st year design studio's, but not from practicing architects. There has to be a balance between what a client wants and what an architect wants, design wise.