Map of HCC/Ensember area [Courtesy Morris Architects]
Cite Editor, Raj Mankad, and Editorial Chair, Christof Speiler, spoke on KPFT 90.1 FM radio’s Connect The Dots with host Robert Muhammad on Wednesday, December 9, 2009. They were on during the final fifteen minutes of the show to discuss the new issue of Cite (number 80) and an article about the future of Midtown and Houston’s other “inner loop neighborhoods”.
The full audio of the Cite magazine segment can be downloaded and listened to below in mp3 format:
Click to Listen to Cite on Connect the Dots
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Cite 80 cover [Art by Jorge Galvan, Color Aid paper, thread, and pins]
Letter from the Editor
In the 1990’s, a new wave of architecture professors at Rice University took on Houston as an experiment in urbanism. Whereas American cities like Boston and New York offered infill and contextual strategies by which to analyze and investigate, the seemingly blank canvas of the “Space City” offered up the idea of a new breed of city, or anti-city. As students we were rolled out to all corners of the region to investigate the hidden city — how the industrial warehouse, the bayou, the suburban tract, the mega-mall, the parking lot, and all the spaces in between created the tapestry that is Houston.
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Farnsworth and Chambers Building, Home to the Manned Spacecraft Center 1962-64 [Image from NASA]
Houston’s historic Farnsworth & Chambers building, located at 2999 S. Wayside, held its grand reopening opening last night following the rehabilitation of this architecturally and historically significant building. Visitors, many who had not set foot there in decades, marveled at how the building looked the same yet felt much lighter and updated — a great complement to the project team. The building is presently known as the Gragg Building after the second owners who sold it and the surrounding acreage to the city in the late 1970s.
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Houston FBI Office, Design by Larry Speck of PageSoutherlandPage in a joint venture with Leo A Daly [Image from FBI.gov]
Illustration by Amir Kasem
The next issue of Cite is at the bindery. Enjoy this preview and subscribe or join the Rice Design Alliance now to get the whole issue.
It was soil, not oil, that determined the location of Texas’ largest cities. It was good dirt that drew people here—good dark, rich soil that is found in two prominent strips: the Texas Blacklands that extend from Dallas to Austin and San Antonio, and the coastal Blacklands that run from Houston to Corpus Christi. Seventy percent of the population of Texas now reside on these relatively narrow Blackland strips, most of them oblivious to the role of soil in their history.
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Brasil Cafe and Domy Books Courtyard [iPhone photo Kathryn Fosdick]
Over one hundred thinkers, innovators, and intrigued intellectuals crowded into the back porch linking bastions of indie culture Domy Books and Cafe Brasil last Thursday to participate in Houston’s inaugural Pecha Kucha event. A mix of show-and-tell, open-mike night, and happy hour, Pecha Kucha has become the forum for ideas on design, culture, and a lot else that has swept the world in just four years. Originated by Tokyo-based Klein & Dytham Architecture, the event has now been established in over 200 cities globally. RDA played a role in launching the Houston event.
Each presenter is allowed 20 images, each shown for 20 seconds each – giving 6 minutes and 40 seconds of fame before the next presenter is up. This keeps presentations concise, the interest level up, and gives more people the chance to present. Think speed dating, but with an exchange of ideas rather than relationship baggage.
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Cite 74, published in the Spring of 2008, looked at some of Houston’s sacred architecture and sites including the Seminarian and Student Chapels at the University of St. Thomas, Lakewood Church, and the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart.
Table of Contents
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Architect Peter Brown has a lead in the polls for the Houston mayoral race as early voting closes. In regards to the built environment, Brown has advocated for form-based codes. Annise Parker is known for preservation efforts. Gene Locke has talked about investing in underdeveloped areas. Christof Spieler analyzes them using a growth and planning grid.
Also, the Rice Solar Decathlon Team placed in the top ten of the international competition held on the National Mall. This piece on the AIA website discusses the house thoroughly and compares it with the University of Louisiana-Lafayette entry.
Friday October 30
Big plan for an Ike-worn Isle icon: Proposal worth $15 million would give Flagship a carnival-like feel [Houston Chronicle] “In the proposal now on the table, Landry’s outlines plans to install a ’stunning pool with an outdoor bar, cabanas and a lower sundeck jutting out over the Gulf.’ The Ferris wheel and related attractions will be located in the area now occupied by the hotel’s pool.”
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This issue, published in the winter of 2008, could not sit still. It looked forward, it looked back, and then forward again. It considered the reshaping of Houston institutions including the University of St. Thomas and Texas Southern University. The Rurban Horseshoe examined the historically black neighborhoods on the periphery of the city. Rafael Longoria and Susan Rogers wrote, “Houston is still a place of opportunity and constraint, where endless possibilities and extreme limitations co-exist, and its landscape, which reflects both [Mexamerican and Dixie] traditions, is distinctive in that rural farming, ranching, and agriculture survive in the shadow of a bustling metropolis.” Finally, Joel Warren Barna provided a level-headed and still relevant analysis of the debate over the Ashby Highrise.
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