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Aga Khan Foundation: Islamic Community Center


torvald

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Williams Tower may not fit your definition of a "masterpiece", but does fit mine. It is easily one of the most recognizable buildings in the Houston landscape, as it clearly defines the part of town that it resides in. It also sets Houston apart from other major cities, allowing us to boast of its dominance in the category of 'Largest Building outside of a CBD in the US', and makes the city easily distinguishable from other cities from a photo. I could also add the Bank of America building as it also makes the Houston skyline easily recognizable.

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Houston is still missing our Eiffel tower, Big Ben, Statue of Liberty, Burj al Arab, Space Needle. We have some amazing works here in Houston but nothing in my opinion that is truly globally recognizable like the structures I previously mentioned. I'm not saying this building will be that but it definitely has potential. 

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On 2/7/2019 at 8:06 AM, houstontexasjack said:

Correct. The “yellow cranes” are part of the O2 Arena, which is used as a concert venue, among other things.

The towers and dome are the external features of the Millennium Dome, built as part of the Y2K celebrations. It's 1200 feet in diameter and 160 feet high. The arena is a part of the internal use of the structure.

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Heres a good article on the project over at Architects Newspaper (a pretty good site overall btw):

 

https://archpaper.com/2019/02/farshid-moussavi-design-first-ismaili-cultural-center-united-states/

 

Link from the same publication which shows more info about Nelson Byrd Woltz, the landscape architect involved who is also another big time architect, and connections to other high profile projects:

 

https://archpaper.com/tag/nelson-byrd-woltz-landscape-architect/

 

The architect of record will be DLR Group which is pretty big firm, and the partner firm for this project. They are pretty competent.

 

This will be Farshid's second project in the US and the first project for Aga Khan in the US. In particular I really like this snippet "While preliminary renderings for the center have not been released, a spokesperson for the Ismaili Council told the Houston Chronicle that the Center “should be distinctly American and Texan in its approach, but expressive of Houston’s diverse cultures.”  This in combination with Islamic geometric motifs should be really interesting!

 

Example projects they give in the article:

 

Yokohama International Port Terminal

 

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Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland

 

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Firms website:

 

https://www.farshidmoussavi.com/

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Luminare
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It looks like there's a wonderful amount of gardens and walkways in that project which makes me even more excited about this project. With a sloping lot towards the bayou I can only imagine the opportunities for water features, pavilions and landscaping which plays such an important role in an Aga Khan center. I also saw this last week and meant to mention. Thanks for posting because I think it makes us more aware of the plethora of possibilities that lie ahead. I can't wait to see the plans when they are presented.Hopefully we'll be seeing something in the next few months.

With this and the Houston Endowment project just across the bayou, and the Michael Graves Federal Reserve Bldg. next to the proposed Gillete project this will make a beautiful drive even that much more exciting.  

 

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11 hours ago, bobruss said:

It looks like there's a wonderful amount of gardens and walkways in that project which makes me even more excited about this project. With a sloping lot towards the bayou I can only imagine the opportunities for water features, pavilions and landscaping which plays such an important role in an Aga Khan center. I also saw this last week and meant to mention. Thanks for posting because I think it makes us more aware of the plethora of possibilities that lie ahead. I can't wait to see the plans when they are presented.Hopefully we'll be seeing something in the next few months.

With this and the Houston Endowment project just across the bayou, and the Michael Graves Federal Reserve Bldg. next to the proposed Gillete project this will make a beautiful drive even that much more exciting.  

 

 

And with this being their only US project they will be throwing down some cash. Its also a really good crew to bring forth a very refined project. The only question now is how will they position things on the site. My thinking is that they will place the garden more towards the bayou and then the actual center will be closer to the intersection of W Dallas and Montrose. Would be a really nice grand entrance and would be the most natural progression from Bayou to Park to Building, but we'll just have to wait and see.

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I would think given this properties proximity to the bayou and the number of times it has gone under water, that they will agree,  that the only safe plan is to position the actual center on the high ground half of the tract closer to W. Dallas and design the gardens and trails and water features similarly to what the Bayou project has done knowing all well the waters will rise. 

Edited by bobruss
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I'll bet the lines in the grass are for the layout of the site.

 

Anyone got a drone that they want to send up?

 

Looking at a zoomed in version of them holding the model, it looks like a BUNCH of trees. Like 50-70?

 

And 2 or 3 structures. Largest one along the western edge and two smaller ones along the eastern edge. 

 

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