IronTiger Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 Man, I don't know if it's because of the shadows or whatever, but it looks genuinely intimidating and rather unloveable.Of course, that's no reason to tear it down (and the "rather unloveable" label can be applied to scads of new townhomes and larger apartments built around Houston in the last 5-10 years) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NenaE Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 wiki 4747 Southwest Freeway Houston Post Building (1970) Wilson, Morris, Crain & Anderson style: "new Brutalist mode" designer: Ralph A. Anderson, Jr. ... labeled "freeway architecture...strong, yet simple enough to apprehended from a a speeding car". Love it. source: AIA Houston Architectural Guide (1990) thanks for the pic infinite_jim. it looks deserted...not good for it's survival. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luminare Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 I love that one :3 It's Houston's own castle! Maybe we should get some kind of Houston noble family to landscape the parking lot and live in the building xD. Then a few years later they will buy lots of valuable jewels. The next few years after that they buy a collection of priceless china and armor! After about ten years inside their concrete castle they get the bright idea to showcase their collection to the world. Of course they need security for the place as well. They even dress up the guards. Then their ego's inflate to the size of Texas and rename their concrete castle the 'Tower of Houston' It becomes the next best attraction not only in Houston,or Texas, but the world. Architecture critics praise the reuse and saving of this now iconic building from the wrecking ball 10 years ago. A new movement forms to construct a sort of Neo Modern Medieval with people all around the world create large concrete castles . Brutalist deniers go into mass coma's worldwide... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollusk Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 Actually, it was built by Houston' equivalent of a noble family. William P. Hobby (the elder, for whom Hobby Airport is named) was governor of Texas, and owned and published the Post of eons. His wife, Oveta Culp Hobby, was the first CO of the WACS and Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare under Eisenhower (back when R presidents would bring in D cabinet secretaries). Their son, William P. (Bill) Hobby, Jr., publisher of the Post at the time the castle was built, was also Lite Guv for a long time. Last time I looked the Chronicle was still using the presses there - they removed their downtown presses a few years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luminare Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 I remember hearing about some of that at one time. I think it was in a book. ....still think we just go with my idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Gosh, after seeing the inside of Hattie Mae (the Brutalist building mentioned earlier, demo'd 2006, so there was no way I possibly saw it) I thought it looked a bit like Langford on the inside too (sorta--that I've actually seen), though not without reminders of Kleberg and Zachry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArchFan Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 I liked the Post building a lot when it was built. It struck me as having been inspired by The Alley, which opened 2 years earlier. Now, the newness has worn off and it looks rather dingy and forlorn. Actually, both it and The Alley could do with an external cleanup. Seems like concrete buildings in our climate have a tendency toward bad external mildew problems. The same goes for fossil stone (limestone) buildings, like City Hall and some of the older UH buildings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Gosh, after seeing the inside of Hattie Mae (the Brutalist building mentioned earlier, demo'd 2006, so there was no way I possibly saw it) I thought it looked a bit like Langford on the inside too (sorta--that I've actually seen), though not without reminders of Kleberg and Zachry. To clarify: pictures of the inside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted June 20, 2014 Author Share Posted June 20, 2014 I liked the Post building a lot when it was built. It struck me as having been inspired by The Alley, which opened 2 years earlier. Now, the newness has worn off and it looks rather dingy and forlorn. Actually, both it and The Alley could do with an external cleanup. Seems like concrete buildings in our climate have a tendency toward bad external mildew problems. The same goes for fossil stone (limestone) buildings, like City Hall and some of the older UH buildings. The good news is... the Alley is getting an external cleanup as part of its current refurbishing project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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