Yasufumi Nakamori gave a talk at the Architecture Center Houston. Photo by Hank Hancock.
Indre Rapalaviciute on Indiana Street. All photographs by Rose Kuo
OffCite presents a new submission to Unexpected City, made by Indre Rapalaviciute and curated by Carrie Schneider with photographs by Rose Kuo. This piece is an audio recording of a stroll along Peden, Waugh, Nevada, Commonwealth, Indiana, and Dunlavy streets ending at the Pralaya Yoga Studio. Listen by clicking on the link below. For more information on Schneider’s project visit Hear Our Houston.
We Are All Weird Birds: A Stroll Through Montrose (mp3, 13.1 MB) by Indre Rapalaviciute
more >
Philip Brown of Smith Opticians shows off some of his eclectic collection.
OffCite presents the twelfth submission to the Unexpected City challenge, made by Sarah Gish. Click here to learn about making your own submission.
It all started with a pair of blue-framed, yellow-lensed sunglasses that I bought in Los Angeles for ten bucks off the street. Buying those glasses was an epiphany moment for me: it was like turning on a little switch making me desire funky eyewear. From then on, I desperately wanted to wear the blue glasses every day. As luck would have it, shortly after that special moment, I happened to be at a party with the Alley Theatre costume designer and she offered that perhaps Philip Brown at Smith Opticians could come to my rescue. He did. Instead of using the too-fragile cheapie frames, I found some other more interesting and sturdier blue frames. They weren’t expensive and I was hooked, line and sinker! Ever since then, I have gone back to get frames in every color imaginable (seven pairs and counting) and Philip and his employee Carlos have become dealers who fuel my addiction to their unique frames.
more >
The Spring 2011 issue of Cite
(85) was mailed and is at the Brazos Bookstore, CAMH, MFAH, Issues, Domy, River Oaks Bookstore, and other stores. Below is a letter by Julia Mandell and Susan Rogers about this special issue, followed by the Table of Contents.
This issue of Cite features articles on a broad range of topics. In all the pieces, the unpredictable development patterns of Houston play a role. The lack of planning and zoning here, or the “ad hoc” form of zoning as John Mixon describes it in his contribution, leads to innumerable challenges for individuals, communities, and designers. The vagaries of Houston’s growth at times feels like a game, fun and entertaining, grueling and shameless, rewarding some and relegating others to deprivation. Guest editors; Julia Mandell and Susan Rogers sought to highlight proactive responses and efforts to take a stand.
more >
Photo by Steven Thomson
It was 7:30 p.m. on a brisk Saturday evening in February, and Esther Gutstein rushed to mount the final pieces for the opening of her gallery, the Brayer Room. The first guests had already arrived: a mix of camera-clad young artists and their friends, along with a bevy of older art collectors. The crowd populated the gallery’s one-story, historic 6,000-square-foot building at 214 Fairview Street, seeking a glimpse of the city’s emerging artists, or at the very least, a view on one of Houston’s newest gallery spaces.
Only days later, not a trace of the Brayer Room would remain. That’s because Gutstein mounts a gallery pro tem, arguably the first local incarnation of the international phenomenon of “pop-up” art spaces. In the wake of a global recession, a glut of unoccupied real estate has been reinvigorated as alternative art spaces in the vein of the Brayer Room. While this pattern can be traced to the art nexuses of London, New York, and Chicago, the Brayer Room is a distinctly Houston endeavor.
more >
Greenway Plaza, 1980. Photos courtesy Fondren Library Woodson Research Center and Rachel Dewane.
OffCite presents the eleventh submission to the Unexpected City challenge, made by Aaron Carpenter. Click here to learn about making your own submission.
In his frustratingly insightful text After the City, Lars Lerup argues that it is all the in-between places that define Houston geography. And seemingly most important (or most glaring) of them all — even above those power line ranges, freeways, and underpasses — is parking, whether it be in lot or garage form. So is it “unexpected” for a lifelong Houstonian to have the Greenway Plaza parking garage pop into his head as a place where he feels a most personal connection to the city? I think it deserves a real tribute. There’s a lot of Houston here.
more >
Photo from the Texas Hawking Association
OffCite presents the tenth submission to the Unexpected City challenge, made by Camilo Parra. Click here to learn about making your own submission.
The Trails of Memorial Park
The coral snake tentatively treads in the leaves decaying
colors camouflage her yellow bands,
a warm winter day unusual to see her.
more >
This photograph was not manipulated. The motorcycle really is that high off the ground.
My Uncle Arnie Cooper is cool like you and I will never be. His Facebook vacation photos eschew Disneyland for backcountry America: here his family coasts through the red rock arches of Bryce Canyon on bikes, there they huddle inside a tent deep in the High Uintahs on a 20° night, two days into a weeklong adventure.
I have always wanted to be a smidgeon more like him, so I was all ears last summer when I heard him explaining his newest hobby over breakfast—geocaching.
more >
All photographs taken by Natasha Ostaszewski
OffCite presents the ninth submission to the Unexpected City challenge, made by Maria Oran. Click here to learn about making your own submission.
Just North of Downtown Houston, Airline Drive is not just a street. It is the home of Canino’s market, one of Houston’s largest produce markets, numerous other spice and food shops, seven produce companies, restaurants and bars, several taco trucks and one very popular Mexican bakery. It is a vibrant and energetic place, full of people at any given time. Beyond it being a unique place to shop for fresh and local produce, it is a great weekend destination for strolling and people watching.
more >
OffCite presents the eighth submission to the Unexpected City challenge, made by Mary Gloriod. Click here to learn about making your own submission.
Wabash Antiques and Feed Store advertises itself to be “A little bit of country in the heart of the city.” I’ve walked through the store and seen what looked like grandparents guiding their grandchildren through the rows of chickens, turkeys, ducks, and other livestock. I’ve bought some delicious food, vegetables, and jellies directly from people who grow and make the items, and who bring them to Wabash’s farmers market days.
According to Wabash’s website, the store began as a grain store that eventually evolved into an antique shop:
more >
