Cite 78, May 2009 [Facade detail of Wyly Theatre cover photo by Jason Grant, nostalgicglass.org]
Cite 78: Texas Reaches for the Stars
Let’s start at the end. In order to set the context for the work featured in this issue, we asked Stephen Fox—the preeminent historian of Texas architecture—to trace the descent of architectural stars upon the state. His essay on the last page of this issue reveals just the tip of the iceberg. Visit his post on this blog for a comprehensive list of projects built in Texas since 1886 by prominent architects from other parts of the world.
We visited Dallas and San Antonio to follow up on the latest batch of stars transforming the Texas landscape. Rem Koolhaas, Norman Foster, Santiago Calatrava, Antoine Predock, Jean-Paul Viguier, and David Adjaye all figured prominently in our travels. Even before the Wyly Theatre’s completion, it is already apparent that this new building by Koolhaas in Dallas is destined to join the Kimbell Art Museum of Fort Worth and the Menil Collection of Houston in a trinity of must-see architecture in Texas.
The exercise left us with the following questions: Does bringing star architects to Texas help inspire local practitioners, or does it inhibit their growth? Does the flurry of Pritzker Prize laureates converging onto the Metroplex imply that it is taking the lead as the architectural mecca of Texas? Or does the recent decision by the Menil to engage the London-based architect David Chipperfield promise to awaken Houston from an architectural slumber that has lasted almost two decades? Will the current financial meltdown signal the end of an era of architectural upmanship?
Table of Contents
Citings
Accolades: Spotlight on Anton Garcia-Abril
News: House Tour Breaks Rcord, New Staff to Support Website
Accolades: Lars Lerup Goes to Rome
Forum: Learning from Ike
Cité Beat: Houston Bikeway Plan
OffCite.org: The Cite Magazine Blog
Visual Poetics: Henrique Oliveira
Planning: Menil Collection Expansion
Art Space: Koelsch Gallery
Features
The Evolution of the McNay: San Antonio’s Stieren Center for Exhibitions by Rafael Longoria
Dallas Reaches for the Stars: The Metroplex Gets a New Center for the Performing Arts by Michelangelo Sabatino
Making Public Buildings: David Adjaye at Artpace by Stephen Fox
Gerald D. Hines Visits His College: A Conversation with Joe Mashburn
Arts District as Diaspora: Economy of Everywhere by Christa Forster
Interama: Miami and the Pan-American Dream by David Rifkind
Readings
Donald Judd: Architecture in Marfa, Texas by Urs Peter Fluckiger and
Donald Judd: Architecture by Peter Noever (ed.)
Hindcite
The Stars are Big and Bright—Deep in the Heart of Texas by Stephen Fox
Email
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Authors in Architecture Series and Cite | Offcite Blog writes:
06.11.09
1:42 pm
[...] to a discussion of the place of architectural writing in regional and national discourse. The current issue of Cite, which focuses on new “star architecture” in Texas, will be [...]