The Menil Collection At 1533 Sul Ross St.

[wilcal]

Menil Drawing Institute to open Nov. 3

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/entertainment/article/Menil-Drawing-Institute-to-open-Nov-3-12876282.php

 

 

[talltexan83]

Does anyone have insight into how the Menil plans to use the open green space between Richmond Ave. and the Menil?  Are they going to leave it "as is" and leave it open to the public or is there going to be a material investment in landscape design, new plantings, etc?  Thanks!

[wilcal]

1 hour ago, talltexan83 said:

Does anyone have insight into how the Menil plans to use the open green space between Richmond Ave. and the Menil?  Are they going to leave it "as is" and leave it open to the public or is there going to be a material investment in landscape design, new plantings, etc?  Thanks!

 

Pretty sure there was talk of them building a tower at one point. 

[houstontexasjack]

4 hours ago, wilcal said:

 

Pretty sure there was talk of them building a tower at one point. 

Yes, it would be on Richmond.  The landscape architecture firm has a hint of the master plan on its page:

 

http://www.mvvainc.com/project.php?id=112&c=cultural

 

[talltexan83]

This is very helpful.  It looks like they are planning to extend Colquitt St to Yupon.  I also like how they plan to turn the parking lot for the Flavin installation into green space and turn Loretto into a walking path only.

 

 

[bobruss]

The Drawing Institute opened last night and it was worth the wait. It was a little hard to get a feel for the galleries and the Jasper John show for all of the buzz.

People everywhere and the tent out front was hopping to the sounds of Zydeco Dot. 

One thing that I realized was the way the new building helps the Twombley building open up to its surroundings and the passage from the Twombley to the Drawing Institue passed the wonderful live Oak is breathtaking. 

This new vista allows the  roof of the Twombley to show off glowing in the dusk it really floats when viewing from the Drawing Institute. The main galleries are beautiful clean and simple, but a remarkable space. It fits right in with the surroundings and will truly be a magnet.

I love the way the campus is much more unified and the fact the you can see the Richmond hall across the street and the Menil tucked behind the Twombley gives the campus more depth and presence. The landscaping is nice and the open spaces contribute to the airiness. 

As we stood in the Twombley in the middle of the large gallery pretty much by ourselves I remarked how lucky we are to live in a city surrounding by a campus of world class architecture filled with important art and it's all feee. It cant get much better.

Go see it soon.

[Luminare]

5 hours ago, bobruss said:

The Drawing Institute opened last night and it was worth the wait. It was a little hard to get a feel for the galleries and the Jasper John show for all of the buzz.

People everywhere and the tent out front was hopping to the sounds of Zydeco Dot. 

One thing that I realized was the way the new building helps the Twombley building open up to its surroundings and the passage from the Twombley to the Drawing Institue passed the wonderful live Oak is breathtaking. 

This new vista allows the  roof of the Twombley to show off glowing in the dusk it really floats when viewing from the Drawing Institute. The main galleries are beautiful clean and simple, but a remarkable space. It fits right in with the surroundings and will truly be a magnet.

I love the way the campus is much more unified and the fact the you can see the Richmond hall across the street and the Menil tucked behind the Twombley gives the campus more depth and presence. The landscaping is nice and the open spaces contribute to the airiness. 

As we stood in the Twombley in the middle of the large gallery pretty much by ourselves I remarked how lucky we are to live in a city surrounding by a campus of world class architecture filled with important art and it's all feee. It cant get much better.

Go see it soon.

 

Saw it today. Its quite a nice building. I think the actual gallery space is a bit m e h, but I love the atriums! The use of materials is also nice. They even mimicked the wood planks that are on the original Menil at the back part of the building.

Edited November 3, 2018 by Luminare

[wilcal]

Drove by the south end of the complex on Richmond, and they've completely cleaned the lot where the former apartments were and put in a green chain link fence the entire length of the south side of the property. 

 

I think that their plan is still to develop residential/commercial combo along Richmond. Have to think that they'll take a bit of a breather after this rash of current activity. 

[rechlin]

I went on Sunday afternoon.  I expected it to be crazy busy since it just opened on Saturday, but it had surprisingly few visitors.  I really like the architecture.  Photo from the front:

 

 

Photo from the other side:

 

 

Photo inside the main hall (that "sculpture" on the left is really cool, especially the shadows it casts):

 

 

The empty lot next door has a couple of the "channels" in it similar to what's in the lawn just north of the main Menil building:

 

[ArchFan]

I like the design, but there is something that bugs me ... which is very common in Houston.  The first two pics show what I think is mildew, which is surprising for a new building.  I have my own ongoing battle with mildew on the concrete balconies of my condo.  Chlorine bleach applied with a stiff brush is the best solution I've found for the smooth surfaces at my place.  I suspect that solution is a bit more difficult for some of our older buildings that have facades of fossiliferous limestone (e.g., City Hall and older ones at UH).  As I recall, the facade of City Hall was cleaned by power-washing (or maybe even sand-blasting) years ago.  That's very destructive to the surface.  My place has some exterior surfaces that are artificial stone (actually cement) that some guys cleaned by power-washing, but it was obvious that the process eroded the surface and left it less smooth. 

Edited November 8, 2018 by ArchFan

[Luminare]

13 hours ago, ArchFan said:

I like the design, but there is something that bugs me ... which is very common in Houston.  The first two pics show what I think is mildew, which is surprising for a new building.  I have my own ongoing battle with mildew on the concrete balconies of my condo.  Chlorine bleach applied with a stiff brush is the best solution I've found for the smooth surfaces at my place.  I suspect that solution is a bit more difficult for some of our older buildings that have facades of fossiliferous limestone (e.g., City Hall and older ones at UH).  As I recall, the facade of City Hall was cleaned by power-washing (or maybe even sand-blasting) years ago.  That's very destructive to the surface.  My place has some exterior surfaces that are artificial stone (actually cement) that some guys cleaned by power-washing, but it was obvious that the process eroded the surface and left it less smooth. 

 

That is the natural material finish. What you are seeing is the light refracting off of the soffit panel that is up there and light bouncing off the rocks/plants in the atrium's. In other words its suppose to be that way. In fact because of the reflectance you can faintly see the creases of the material on the soffit panel and even on the walls. I took a bunch of photos of this building and will be posting more on my instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zewzewarch/. Its a very well designed building. It also goes along pretty well with the firms other projects. They definitely have a consistent style: http://www.johnstonmarklee.com/

 

 

Edited November 8, 2018 by Luminare

[Naviguessor]

Archfan. If your talking bout the underside of the roof, around the courtyards...that’s not mildew. Those surfaces are actually reflective which looks dark or smudged in the photos.  I also see what may appear to be growth on one of the exterior surfaces, which is a shadow of a tree.  I was there last weekend and didn’t notice any mildew, anywhere. The place is as blindingly white and a trump fever rally in a snowstorm. 

[ArtNsf]

2 hours ago, Naviguessor said:

Archfan. If your talking bout the underside of the roof, around the courtyards...that’s not mildew. Those surfaces are actually reflective which looks dark or smudged in the photos.  I also see what may appear to be growth on one of the exterior surfaces, which is a shadow of a tree.  I was there last weekend and didn’t notice any mildew, anywhere. The place is as blindingly white and a trump fever rally in a snowstorm. 

Good one !  Brought a smile to my face on a hard working Thursday LOL thank you !

[wilcal]

Went by last night on my bike and the new drawing institute was beautiful! 

 

Really nice structure. 

[bobruss]

Just got back from a more relaxed and unencumbered visit. I think this building really fits well into the overall campus.

I missed the cinder plot with the Michael Heizer sculptures the other night. They take up a relatively large space just to the east of the building.

There has been discussion between the artist and the Menil in the past about the way they had installed the two earth works in the front lawn of the

Menil. He wanted it to be a perfectly flat space with cinders for a very flat clean surface with no undulation. Obviously a grass covered surface does not provide that type of surface.

Looks like they followed his wishes in the new installation. 

I also like the simple way they honored the largest donors to the building along the sidewalk up to the entrance.

 

[iah77]

Is the exterior surface supposed to look like that? Looks like soggy cardboard to me with the undulating ripples.

[bobruss]

I don't think out is, and I'm not sure why that wasn't finished better. I noticed that a few weeks ago and I'm not sure what caused it.

Luminaire might have an answer. I would think the architects would have wished for a better job on the white walls. Everything else looks great.

[bobruss]

Just got the new Architectural Record and theres a beautiful cover of the Menil Drawing Institue. Almost didn't recognize it due to the golden color of the underside of the roof, from an interesting angle. I saw the rocks in the courtyard and peeled off the label and sure enough its the Menil Drawing Institute with nice story and many images of the interior  inside and exterior. Very nice presentation.

There's also a photo of the Childrens Museum in the first few pages for an obituary of Venturi. Thought it was interesting that they chose it of all his work.

Always nice to see something from Houston in a respected national magazine.

[j_cuevas713]

Are they going to do anything with the sidewalks on Richmond? 

[Luminare]

41 minutes ago, j_cuevas713 said:

Are they going to do anything with the sidewalks on Richmond? 

 

I imagine they will redo the sidewalks when they redo all of Richmond.

[CaptainJilliams]

5 hours ago, Luminare said:

 

I imagine they will redo the sidewalks when they redo all of Richmond.

 

On a brief aside, do we actually have a timetable on when the Richmond Redo will take place? This is coming from one who tries to keep his sanity driving up and down that pothole ridden road.

[BeerNut]

14 hours ago, CaptainJilliams said:

 

On a brief aside, do we actually have a timetable on when the Richmond Redo will take place? This is coming from one who tries to keep his sanity driving up and down that pothole ridden road.

 

When they put rail or BRT down Richmond.

[bobruss]

Just wanted to remind everyone. If you haven't been by to see the Minekko Grimmer mixed media piece at the Menil museum you definitely need to go see it.

It was shown 18 years go and hasn't been out since. It's a rather complicated light, water and sound work that is totally mesmerizing and worth the visit.

I'm trying to get the Buffalo bayou conservancy to commission her for a piece for the cistern.

Once you see the work you'll understand why I think she could do something special for the space.

I spoke with her when she was here for a talk and reception for the exhibition and she is very interested in the possibility..

[houstontexasjack]

Munoz Albin has this "Institutional Campus Master Plan" for what appears to be the area around the Menil:

 

https://munozalbin.com/project/institutional-campus-master-plan/ 

 

Apartments facing Richmond appear to have 8 stories.  I don't know how to extract renderings from other sites (I only figured out how to post my photos to Imgur earlier this year), so one of our more techno-savvy posters will have to do that.

[hindesky]

24 minutes ago, houstontexasjack said:

Munoz Albin has this "Institutional Campus Master Plan" for what appears to be the area around the Menil:

 

https://munozalbin.com/project/institutional-campus-master-plan/ 

 

Apartments facing Richmond appear to have 8 stories.  I don't know how to extract renderings from other sites (I only figured out how to post my photos to Imgur earlier this year), so one of our more techno-savvy posters will have to do that.

Here are the renderings.

[gregpet]

On 4/9/2014 at 2:42 PM, mkultra25 said:

^^ Disagree. "Menil Gray" is a key component of the neighborhood's character, but I guess it can be polarizing - you either like it or you don't. 

 

The last time we repainted our house, we considered using that shade of gray. We ultimately opted for a different color scheme, but we got as far as having a friend who lived right around the corner from the Menil ask them for the specific paint code, which they were happy to provide. 

 

Do you happen to still have the "Menil Gray" paint code? We are trying to locate for a small paint project...

Thanks,

Greg

[mkultra25]

32 minutes ago, gregpet said:

 

Do you happen to still have the "Menil Gray" paint code? We are trying to locate for a small paint project...

Thanks,

Greg

 

They buy their paint at the Glidden store at 1801 Richmond (713-526-3583).

 

The product code is 2210-030005 (Durus Acrylic Flat Intermediate Grey). 

 

The formula is:

BLK-15P30

YOX-8P8

OXR-2P22

 

Good luck with your project!

[hindesky]

I have a feeling that this is to replace the garage apartment in the back which looks to be in bad shape.

[clutchcity94]

Do we know what Menil has in store for the empty lot along Richmond between Loretto and Yupon?

I know a boutique hotel will be on the northwest corner of this lot, but how about the rest?

[Skyboxdweller]

On 7/10/2023 at 5:40 PM, clutchcity94 said:

Do we know what Menil has in store for the empty lot along Richmond between Loretto and Yupon?

I know a boutique hotel will be on the northwest corner of this lot, but how about the rest?

At one point in time they talked about a mixed use building that had apartments, retail and an auditorium for the museum, which would complete the campus, since they don't have a place to give lectures and show videos, etc. other than the entry area in the main building. Conceivably they could share facilities at St. Thomas, but in my experience they don't.