Montrose1100

It's on par with Memorial City Memorial Hermann Robot building. It's so bad, it's almost good? Love the darker blue glass which is refreshing to see since every new glass curtain is the light blue in the middle. The Aqua glass is awful, and the garage wrap is laughable.

But hey, it's different, and It's not a parking lot? The bar is low in this town. Could be redeemed if they welded the Maman sculpture horizontally on the garage wrap facing San Jacinto. Then It would be a masterpiece. 

I'm not sure if I did this correctly.

50 minutes ago, Texasota said:

What? What does that even mean?

It's kind of cheesy. Gaudy maybe? Lots of design and ideas for the sake of having them to sell it as luxury. Replace the concrete with Stucco and remove half the stuff on the garage and It's a RD condo tower. The Lobby is how tall and looks smooshed under the weight of this fortress with air fins. 

Always thought of Downtown as being this classy institution and free from gimmicky Galleria area style buildings. The Aris is a fine building and compliments the area so well. Then you have this bright concrete busy box.

This building is ugly. The fine details are nice - I'll give it that. The glass curtain and curve are the only saving grace. Podium is oppressive. The west side is awkward. In fact the whole structure is. It's like unbalanced in the worst way. It's even worse when looking from afar. Squatty blank window cleaning crane utilitarian tower. 

Market Square Tower is boring but at least it blends in. 

I know you all love it but I'm super disappointed in this Hines project. It's exactly what Randall Davis' projects should look like. 

@Urbannizer Is this building really that large or does it just seem so relative to the slimmer towers Austin has?

1 hour ago, mariannageoffrey said:

If you like listening to motivational speeches and attending religious gatherings check https://lhhouston.church/ churches in houston tx too, Pastor Keion Henderson the lead pastor of The Lighthouse Church is such a good speaker. He really helps me get through with my depression, I hope more people find him and listen to his sermons.

Hi, welcome to the forum! We appreciate your suggestion, but this topic is specifically about Photographing churches, rather than suggesting people try them out. If you'd like to elaborate more on your experiences at your church - feel free to start a new topic in the religious section.

On 2/5/2022 at 9:32 PM, HOUHOU83 said:

I’ve been following this topic for three years. I have a question I’ve wanted to ask this entire time.

I bought my house here in 2018 solely because of the East River development. I wanted to be “one of those people” who actually earn huge gains on a house. (Like The Heights homeowners who bought in the 90’s).

My problem with this neighborhood is the loud, angry, excessive train horns that surround us. Blowing more than the (long, long, short, long) sequence simply isn’t warranted at 2am. A single engineer choosing to blow 25-30x is overkill. I’ve done relentless legwork and learned there is no solution.

I find this neighborhood unlivable. The noise is one thing - so is the odor - there is no point sitting outside in the backyard. And the crime is a little annoying. Not being safe to walk at night is unacceptable. But when I drive along Clinton, and read HAIF, I’m 100% inspired and eager to stay. When I hear a train horn or gunshots, I want to drop everything and move. Two extremes.

Would it be the stupidest mistake of my life to sell the house? I don’t know how high home prices can go. Would a $280k house max out at $350k? East River is going to be monumental. The I-45 cap park affects us in a great way. So does the future of Navigation. Greater Fifth Ward may remain stagnant, but I think they want it that way.

Later this year will either be the greatest or stupidest decision I’ll make. It’s that extreme in my mind.

The Heights was loud with train horns and gun shots in the 90s too. You could hear the trains in the Jackson Hill area. It wasn't relentless horns like the east end. I've had fantasies of throwing eggs at the trains late at night but decided to buy a white noise machine. Now addicted to sleeping with said machine who travels with me everywhere.

Also hear gun shots but they're mostly celebratory on holidays (hopefully). Actually deleted the citizen app because I was tired of being paranoid about everything.

Anyways, I knew what I was getting into when I bought over here. Sure the horns are annoying, so is the stopped ones that block the crossings. You know what else is annoying? The Galleria area traffic. Couldn't wait to leave that place. What's worse than that? The elder and out of state drivers around the TMC. Perhaps even worse is the commute from the burbs on any freeway (IMO).

It's all relative. Hold out if for investment purposes. Or rent out the house! It should more than cover your mortgage. 

Alright y'all. You know what to do. Put your money where your keyboard is and visit this place to make sure it's a success. 

On 1/20/2022 at 8:45 PM, hindesky said:

Surfing thru Estudio Architecture website I found these renderings.

https://www.estudiogroup.com/en/projects/project-three-a4c7n-86h9l-6lpzb-dxxjf-exf5f-78zpd-dycnm?itemId=w1pstozb8bq0wwg4505ftsh2fnhxhj

 

 

That's probably how I'll remember the Houston skyline when I'm 85. The 5th side of 600 Travis on this side actually adds a bit more character to whole skyline.

1 hour ago, Avossos said:

RH backed out!? wtf

Would take it with a grain of salt. Most of the people outside of HAIF don't really keep their fingers on the pulse like we do or have the leaks. The Hotel could be breaking ground as soon as they open/lease the upper floors, RH could be in discussion, anything is possible. 

On 1/19/2022 at 7:10 AM, IntheKnowHouston said:

The chefs behind Japanese restaurants Kokoro (Bravery) and Handies Douzo in the Heights may have plans for a concept in the Autry Park mixed-use development.

Earlier this month, an entity was formed for Autry Park Sushi LLC. The entity is tied to the group involved with both of the aforementioned restaurants.

Other confirmed and unconfirmed retail tenants for Autry Park so far include:

• Annabelle's

• Turner's Cut

• Auden

• RH Rooftop Restaurant

• Lick Honest Ice Creams

 

I toured both Hanover Autry Park & Parkview yesterday. Leasing agents couldn't confirm Restoration Hardware and said they heard RH backed out (Idk if they both were told to say that or both heard the same rumor).

Assume Turner's Cut is the steakhouse they mentioned going at the base of the tower. Lick Honest going in the midrise. I'm sure it was mentioned here before... but the Hotel Tower will be a park until they break ground. Or the agent in the tower was just saying that because the westward view would be gone. 

Both beautiful properties with amazing amenities. Except the midrise didn't have guest parking which I thought was strange. The street spots will go to the retail spaces as they fill up. 

1 hour ago, Texasota said:

Oh god. I somehow always forget how awful I-10 is.

It's actually the best freeway we have. Lanes are wide enough, it's smooth like butter, and makes visiting friends & family out there a breeze. Compare it to the narrow pot holed mess that is 45 N & S, sharp curve and dump trucks on 59 N, random lane drop offs & merges on 59 S, it's amazing.

That being said, I hope this new development brings some fresh restaurants to the area. Tired of going to the same old places in City Centre and the chains scattered along the freeway. 

On 12/15/2021 at 10:13 AM, hindesky said:

If they consolidate on just the KHOU property, those two huge parcels of land right on the Bayou would be ripe for something spectacular. Hopefully that's the plan, and whatever they build on the KHOU site is taller and better than what they have now.

On 11/23/2021 at 1:40 PM, H-Town Man said:

Good question. I think the tunnel system kept buildings in a clump. Why that clump developed where it did probably had something to do with proximity to existing office buildings along Main Street and the feeling that west of Main Street was the "good side" of Main Street since it was in the direction of River Oaks, Allen Parkway, etc.

There was a time when "Uptown" referred to the part of Main Street around where the Gulf Building is, as opposed to the older parts north of Texas Ave. Jesse Jones helped lead a migration of developers to "Uptown" as Lower Main and the areas around it slid into disrepute. 

Later on, in the 50's-60's, "Uptown" referred to the area around South Main and Holcombe with the Shamrock and the Prudential Building, which area is now a part of the Texas Medical Center. Especially with the Astrodome coming along, this area felt like the future of Houston.

Then Hines built the Galleria and "City Post Oak" eclipsed South Main and eventually claimed the name of "Uptown."

 

 

I read the Texas Monthly link https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/three-gentlemen-one-ghost-and-a-skyscraper/ King Kirby posted on SSC. It's basically about how 601 Travis came to be. They were worried about Main becoming a slum, and adjacent properties closer to City Hall. Also talks about the Tunnel System. Wish they had more pictures, would love to see the models and all of the proposals. 

Assume they will be selling their current land/building? The KHOU lot is pretty small. Would imagine with a big garage under a building of similar size to the 2 they have now, would be significant. 

Do they also own the lot to the west?

Every time a 6 Houston Center rendering shows up on the HAIF, it's a bad omen. The last time we saw oil prices plummet. Before that, the great recession of 2008. 

How many Houston Centers is too many? 6 apparently.

It's the nicest version we've seen of it though. 

Editor, you hit the nail on the head. Everything this city does, apart from say a few local TIRZ, gets neglected with time.

The only good maintenance I've seen in this city is Uptown/Galleria area. Buffalo Bayou park to, can be said, have done a good job with the continuous floods. Waste of money to build and then let rot. That's why I always complain about the Dallas Street Retail improvement. Why? By the time any retail actually gets built there, all the improvements will be trashed. 

10 hours ago, Luminare said:

It is most definitely post-modern both in design philosophy, and post-modern as a philosophy in general. The only element one could even pretend this is linked to the International style is the continuous ribbon windows, but even that is merely a farce when it comes to post-modernism. In essence this style is an abstract reduction of the international style, but not for its aesthetics, but instead because its cheap and easy to build. Even your claim of booming and growth during this period is a farce as well because this period was highlighted not by object growth, but speculative subjective growth. These buildings were designed not with a client in mind, but a hypothetical, fictional, lowest common denominator client or market in mind. Its this era where we started to see the ultimate reduction in architecture as an art form. From one that is a personal service for a specific need, to purely an exercise in creating a building for the purpose of stuffing money into an asset or product, and nothing else. If these buildings get filled up, that's just icing on the cake, but their real purpose is simply to exist as an asset held by a development company. Its not like we have learned much from this period either as their degenerate cousins of today, the all curtain wall box building, has become the new template for speculative development (even more abstract than their predecessor one could argue...in essence a copy of a copy of a copy). It really can't even be compared to the Art Deco movement in New York, as that movement not only represented an actual aesthetic that made a marketed difference in the environment, but were also built with expressed purposes. In a way these stripped abstract nothings are the antithesis of not only architecture, but the Art Deco movement you described. If Art Deco was a true manifestation of the ideals of modernism, then these stripped abstract nothings were the manifestations of the ideals of post-modernism.

Not saying you are wrong by the way. We each have our own opinion, but this is coming from someone who studied at a grad school where the International Style began in Dessau, Germany. Where I literally went and had beers or coffee on the daily in Walter Gropius's Bauhaus building, and have visited Le Corbs masterpiece, the Villa Savoye, in Poissy, Paris, France.

Hey Lum,

Of course the link to International style is the ribbon windows, which is exactly what this entire topic is about - specifically. As the OP mentioned, it appears in any city, giving several examples. They lack ornamentation, are all very uniform, no culture local to the city. These are exactly the type of buildings post modernism didn't want to be. However, Given they are not just complete rectangular boxes (well, not all of them), postmodernism does come into play. You're literally seeing history in this town as the world moves from pure boxes, to slight shape changes, then on to a solid example of postmodernism like 700 Louisiana. 

And of course not every building was built with a client in mind. However, to say they were all designed without one is untrue. The first picture in the thread was built for First City Bank. 3 Houston Center/Fulbright/Chevron was rumored to have mocked the Chevron logo at the top step feature. I don't have the time to dig through the history and development of every buildings used as examples on here. 

The only comparison I made with the style of Art Deco in New York is the given time period and economic boom enabling companies to build them. Look, I'm happy that you studied architecture, and have experienced travel, but that doesn't make you an expert. Or that you prefer to dig into philosophy so much when what I said is more geared towards history as a statement or view. What if New York didn't boom in that time period? Then they wouldn't have so many examples of art deco. Same with Houston. That was it.

15 hours ago, Baxter 65 said:

I have a print dated ‘65 with the astrodome shown at the bottom .

this print was recovered from the executive floors of the Houston Chronicle building prior to its demolition in 2017.

I would be willing to sell this print if there’s any interest 

281-886-6049

Hi Baxter,

Welcome to the forum. I wouldn't advise you to showcase your telephone number to the world. Perhaps just tell anyone interested to personally message you. If you need help to edit it out of your post, let us know!

I mean, the pool might have some cool views, on the north corner. Particularly when TMC 3 is fully "blossomed". 

This has to do more with time frame these buildings were built - the early 1980s, as you noted. When we were booming growing with our skyline this was the style. I believe it fits more in "International" rather than postmodern, but certainly has elements with the building shape. It would be similar to addressing "stepped" art deco skyscrapers with their abundance and birth in New York. Sure it also became the style in many other cities where there were not ordinances to have the buildings gradually step to avoid blocking sunlight. We own that time frame. You can tell when economic times were great in most cities, because there is usually a style more present than the rest (even in the burbs or outer lying business districts).

I'm guessing this is looking north/west down Rusk? If so, shame whatever to the left is now a parking garage. And the building going up on the right, is currently black glass façade. 

1 hour ago, kbates2 said:

While there is a chance that I still would have liked the glass podium better, I'm ready to admit that the stone looks pretty damn good.

I'm still holding on to my pettiness. The stone is nice stone. Just would have preferred something better visually facing Market Square. 

On 10/13/2021 at 12:47 AM, dbigtex56 said:

Straddling Buffalo Bayou at Waugh Drive.
How cool would it be to be in a gondola at sunset surrounded by a cloud of bats?

Yeah I think anything tourism related should definitely front our "main" park (and the views east/west/south would be spectacular). Otherwise, Other side of 59 from GRB would be good, but limiting. Somewhere in front of Heritage Plaza would also be nice.