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infinite_jim

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Everything posted by infinite_jim

  1. infinite_jim
    Thanks for the heads up.
  2. infinite_jim
    Sounds like the site is reverting to it's pre-development identity of "brownfield."
  3. infinite_jim
    Thank you. OT: Having dealt with his people; I can tell you that he tried, in a very roundabout manner, to get us to eat our fee. I feel sorry for anyone of such naivety to work with such a myopic person. Why the city has not condemned the abandoned hotel is a mystery to me.
  4. infinite_jim
    I think they made a trade just to make a trade. Or maybe Rafer's mouth finally caught up to him. Thanks for that NYtimes article posting, Lockmat. Long but good read.
  5. infinite_jim
    As of today they have done mostly utility excavation at the Cemo site, and are beginning to build the formwork and lay the hot & cool water pipes coming from the central plant. I'll get pics next week. They are also starting to level grade the parking garage across from the Calhoun Lofts.
  6. infinite_jim
    I do not. The 3 rooftop gardens (2 habitable and 1 with a reflecting pond) with blinder walls will be interesting to say the very least. This is a quality 100 year building, built to exacting (1/64") standards, and the amount of effort it takes to get projects like this built is a war of attrition for architects. How many buildings in Houston of recent can you say that about? Edit: 54' x 128' reflecting pool
  7. infinite_jim
    LULZ @ the internet jurors.. Remind me to never post any of my projects. W/R/T SouthPointe; these types of utopian schemes never fully address the programmatic values of users and are mere monuments to client egos. It really has a ship in a bottle effect in the creative design process. I'd like to see this property parceled out into smaller properties.
  8. infinite_jim
    Neo-kitsch I'm thinking "the giant cross against the city, the mega church against the world..."
  9. infinite_jim
    http://www.davidchipperfield.co.uk/ After reviewing some of the architect's previous master plans and bldgs, I get a distinctive signature in his work where he "groups the volumes together to form a greater sense of solidity." Typically his volumes are boxes and have a push-pull effect in their spatial relationships. Even in his more delineated plans, the squares maintain a distorted proportional relationship as if the amoebic stasis of the San Michele Cemetery, Barcelona Justice, or Segovia Project were stretched thin like Cantera Cultural Centre or Museum Island in Berlin. Given the current campus amassed by the Menil Foundation, his planning tendencies will have a positive effect on the plan's outcome. His Des Moines public library is less than inspiring but judging from the pics it's site looks small and the bldg's budget appears modest but well dressed. I am not too concerned w/r/t the Menil Foundation's precedent for building and a master plan is something I'm surprised they had not already done. I am interested with how they will generate profit from a more public, campus style bldg in light of the forthcoming Richmond Ave. transit upgrades. Edit: Speaking of Chipperfield, maybe he could tap Adjaye to do a bldg in Houston.
  10. infinite_jim
    Reverse order the name. Downtown Houston University (DHU) Same name, sounds different ;-)
  11. infinite_jim
    I had a chance to finally check this place out last weekend. Here's a few phone pics. Considering that the mall has not filled most of it's spaces, I'll wait and see before judging it's success as a place.
  12. infinite_jim
    This is why I do not think that Sharpstown needs to be redeveloped more so than the circumscribing neighborhoods that have a greater influence on the area as a whole. A twenty year community redevelopment program is needed to both rise the tide of education in the public sector and IMHO serious tax incentives needed to "de-densify" the suburban scaled and internal cloistered development patterns of the apartment complexes in the area. I'm thinking on the scale of the tear-downs of downtown and midtown in the late 60's - 70's. The problem has always existed, by way of short sighted, poorly designed developments of 2-4 storey stick frame complexes in the late 70's-early 80's. If more oversight were present at the time of their planning this area would not have had the "dross" effect it currently represents; but that is hindsight now and not a genuine concern of our city. FWIW I do not have a problem with low-income housing at all, but when clustered largely in one part of town like Gulfton, it breeds an unhealthy ghetto like environment. That is a detriment to the generation being raised in the area. With diverse demographics and socioeconomic housing options, neighborhoods benefit from the equalizer that is public space and the public life that comes with it. An example of this goodwill is when people drive courteously it tends to influence other drivers in proximity to drive courteously, however the the same is true for bad driving and it's infectiousness. This where gov't should reward good behavior from developers and ignore (or punish/tax in extreme cases) bad behavior w/r/t urban planning in a non-zoned city. The only reason I can think of for improving the mall would be to attract more affluent residents in it's adjacency.
  13. infinite_jim
    Houston's skyline was shown in "The Next Industrial Revolution" dvd. http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/next.html
  14. infinite_jim
    Let'm live
  15. infinite_jim
    Sorry I just can't get the X-files theme song out of my head. click Srsly, it does not warrant physical withdrawal, unless you consider the "intense desire for more" as withdrawal. Then to call it an addiction would liken myself to have an addiction to artsy girls with colored hair. (ref.young max, for the seeds)
  16. infinite_jim
    Nice dream, it is still possible if you can get investors and buyout that slum lord. That whole block was overripe for development after the ballpark's completion but the owner was too risk adverse to take advantage of the opportunity and the market demand for lodging was snatched up across the street. I think it is now too late to renovate unless you're willing to invest 5 years of R&D, acquisition, and more towards this development. If you have an internationally excellent structural engineer, the bldg could be wholesale converted to a hall of fame capped with admin offices through some Matta-Clark style moves as the rigid frame structure is still very sound. An extra vertical circulater will have to appendaged or inserted somehow; the two existing elevator shafts are too narrow for freight needs.
  17. infinite_jim
    The debris on that portion of the roof had been there before the hurricane. It is right off the stairwell on the 4th floor and is mostly ceramic debris where a furnace or transformer must have been operated at one point in time. I would not be surprised if they got a nasty letter from a neighbor about windfall debris after the storm and thus the reasoning for the cleanup. If any rehabilitation is to occur, the eastern addition of steel frame will need to be demolished. It is currently collapsing under it's own weight with the addition of the window debris on it's roof. Also it should be noted that the addition's steel is strangely detailed and in some places inconsistent with other modules. I don't foresee anything really being done with this building after sitting in on a couple meetings with the owner's reps, except eventual buyout &/or implosion.
  18. infinite_jim
    It's not "wrong" but it certainly has an element of "vengeful," whether implicit or not. Would any proposal for the dome need to have some concessions towards the Rodeo & Texans, since they were playing hard ball the last go round with the hotel? Or was that symptomatic of the hotel proposal itself?
  19. infinite_jim
    Well my opinion is symptomatic of the administration's short sighted vision of filling classrooms to get more state money and in result has lead to a drastic loss of quality in education and faculty. The committees that search for new professors have produced some of the most disappointing professors of recent. To elaborate, some of the professors treat the tenure system like welfare babies, just showing up everyday, neglecting their students, and looking busy. Competition for the good professors is stifling, considering it is really just luck of the draw that you happened to have SS# that falls on an earlier time frame for enrollment, which leads to collusion amongst students for placement. I had some solutions but when I presented them to the dean I was dismissed for "not understanding the greater scope of the problem." My response was to keep walking in my path. I may be an undergrad but contempt from the administration is a sign of blissful ignorance. They have never shown any political transparency towards the student body. The moves they have made in the last four years would be best described as lateral drift, trying to cover more ground than footing. In reflection to my contemporaries at Rice, I am competent but realizing my education would not challenge me I took it upon myself to create challenges/enter competitions. I do believe that the administration wants better for UH grads but is not willing to take some of the now radical steps of humility necessary to ensure students quality learning experiences. I should also mention, incoming students do not have intellectual curiosity aside from the few and far between gifted ones. That might be a result of changed admissions but I have not kept up on that front. I can tell of the many classes I've sat in where the prof asks a question and the room is sill with silence, makes the baby jesus cry I tells ya. If UH does eventually get tier 1 status, hopefully things will change on the ground.
  20. infinite_jim

    hope things get better

    take care

  21. infinite_jim
    Both schools are still document mills, despite any long winded retort. The pressure is coming from Khator and potential tier 1 status. UHD students are up in arms, but they should be happy to have the distinction but cannot afford the inevitable accompanying tuition hike. edit: btw that new dorm for UH is an abortion. I will be so glad to get out of UH this year and never give a dime back as an alum or say anything positive about the place and culture except for a few stand out professors (who are being pushed out too).
  22. infinite_jim
    No it's to keep the same alpha soup (UHD) Charlotte Baldwin is the mother of houston, you should do a search.
  23. infinite_jim
    University of Hopes and Dreams (UHD) or Charlotte Baldwin State University these are my girlfriend's name choices (she currently attends)
  24. infinite_jim
    I'll catch some flix tonight have a good weekend yall
  25. infinite_jim
    Demo it and pave a parking lot. It's the Houston tradition I'm serious.
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