HoustoniaNYC

None of the designs for the Bank of the SW ever did anything for me. The winning design looks like the 2 tallest buildings they buily in Philly around the same time. Besides a few examples, mostly in Houston, I'm just not down with post-modernism. Houston's downtown skyline is almost perfect in several ways. I've always had a hard time imagining an addition that is taller than the current tallest 2 buildings, whatever they may be called nowadays.

It'll happen, and for the cities' sake, I hope it does, but I don't like the proposals that have been submitted so far, regardless of whether they'll be built or not.

Just like Intercontinental, it's always going to be Transco to me.

I didn't like the new lighting when I was down for X-mas. It doesn't do anything for the building except make it look planer than it appears during the day. I hope it was just the uptown x-mas lighting and not something permanent.

I have to say that the building is growing on me. I didn't like the design initially but it's turning out to look better than I expected.

I also agree that Houston seem to have lost it's cutting edge spirit in a lot of things including building design. This is suppose to be Space City. Personally, I would have loved to have had Minute Maid Field, this new Criminal Justice Building, a lot of the new condo towers going up, some of the new projects in the Medical Center etc., with a more "forward" cutting edge look. It appears Atlanta has taken the "future" cutting edge title Houston used to have. Houston, shouldn't forget what it is.

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It's not about "looking" cutting edge, it's about being honest, and maximizing contemporary materials, methods, and design to their fullest potential. An elegant, clever, or bold facade is one thing, but there's more to it. What is this building supposed to do and how do the architectonics of that building facilitate and/or accomplish this program? Ultimately, since the building has such a supposed high purpose in our society, then how does this building reflect upon that and therefore upon us?

More than anything, this building isn't exceptional at all. It's quite banal, even with it's facade and tacky top. If we live in a representative democracy, a government for the people by the people (via elected surrogates), then this municipal building speaks of our government, and therefore us, as being as unexceptional as it is.

I refuse to believe the city that built the Astrodome more than anything else as a monument to our ability to land a man of the moon as unexceptional, although there are many who believe it is. I'm not just talking about folks outside the metro area, but people who live and breath and make a living in this city without much less a damn or even contempt for their environment. It's called apathy, and it's a cronic disease this city has suffered through time and time again. This building is an exceptional example of that.

No, but I just wanted to start a topic flaming Katy.

The architectural, historical, and cultural icons of Katy must be saved!

I think they would make great apartments. Imagine living in the "Rice Tower" with massive concrete walls for insulation and punched out windows with stunning views of the big box development, mall parking lots, and unchecked suburban sprawl.

I bet it would sell like hot cakes!

Why do you like the building? Do you like the way it's going to function as a municipal building? Do you like the planning and layout of the design? Do you like the way it relates to the plaza and surrounding buildings? What does it say about Harris County, the city of Houston and the it's people?

I was born at the TMC. I was raised on the west side. I was sentenced to high school in Katy.

NYC is great, it's the Capital of the World. They put much more pride and effort into their city than Houston ever has. Not to say Houston hasn't improved in leaps and bounds within the next decade. I've seen that transformation myself with my own eyes too you know. But we still have a long way to go.

David Carr needs to sack up and fast. Maybe Roethelisburger (sp) in Putzburgh will light a fire under his buttocks. He's still making rookie mistakes, although put him behind the Pat's or Steeler's line and I think we see a different man,

But what do I know, I only get to see 1 or 2 games including TV/radio/internet up here.

That courthouse in Austin looks absolutely soulless and inhumane. Seriously, they could use that exact picture for the cover of a Kafka novel. When did America start wanting to be like Europe?

Ugh. Europe.

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Yeah. What do those yokels know about architecture and urban planning?

Houston's insecurity with being young, raw, and unappreciated by it's metropolitan peers has gotten the better of itself, as least as the county is concerned. What the hell is that building supposed to be, a Las Vagas casino disguised as something else? Is that excuse for a dome actually functional as one, or is it just a fancy way to hide the mechanical systems and squander tax payer dollars while giving some fat and bloated good ol' boy judges and commisioners a faulty sense of accomplishment?

The supposed "Space City" always suceeds when it embraces its' zeitgeist and looks ahead into the future.

That abomination to our skyline is a just a pathetic attempt to manufacture a history that never existed.

But hey, at least it's not a strip mall.