All photographs courtesy wacdesignstudio.

“I came home with a high fever; my ears still hurt. Just from the noise — a ringing in my ears. It is very toxic. But it’s Houston.”

Jenny Lynn Weitz-Amaré Cartwright is describing the after effects of Sunday’s Furniture Sale on North Freeway (announced last week on OffCite), a daylong event at the abandoned Landmark Chevrolet dealership on Interstate 45. Presented by wacdesignstudio, which consists of husband-wife team Scott Cartwright and Jenny Lynn, the guerilla retail event launched the studio’s first furniture line, designed and fabricated with an attention to the modesty of scale, materials, and production.

Located outside the crumbling remains of the Landmark Chevrolet Dealership, “Furniture Sale on North Freeway” reflected on the unanticipated failures of highly leveraged businesses and their effects on the city landscape.

The happening attracted about 50 people who had received mailed flyers, picked up information from Catalina Coffee, or began following the studio on Twitter. Because the space was not rented, Scott and Jenny brought an envelope full of cash to pay off potential security guards (there were none), as well as food for any wandering homeless people. The crowd was a mix of architecture students, writers, and curious locals from the adjacent Hidden Valley ranch-style development located behind the dealership. For Scott and Jenny, bringing the intelligentsia outside of their element to the edge city and putting the locals’ neighborhood eyesore to use was just as relevant as displaying their wares.

Mr. Cartwright grew up in the midst of the Woodlands McMansion boom. His father owned a custom cabinetry company, to which Scott owes much of his sense of craftsmanship, as well as keen sense of economy of material. Scott met Jenny, a native of Caracas, while both were studying at Boston’s School of the Museum of Fine Arts. When the couple came back to Houston upon graduation, Scott found that his native Woodlands had been almost completely built out, leaving a dismantled craft construction industry in its wake. The Cartwrights chose to interpret the recession on their own terms, founding a hyper-local design studio focusing on the discourse of contemporary art and its relationship to design and architecture.

They define their “design art” as any artwork that attempts to play with the place, function, and style of art by commingling it with architecture, furniture, and graphic design. The forms are simple and composed of repossessed construction materials. Explains the duo, “It is more about the objects than about comfort and pop, we are currently not designing furniture to please anyone or solve other people’s problems, we are designing and building furniture as a way to find the answers to/and/or compare them to global and local issues concerning the current state of the economy and capitalism.”

Though no pieces were sold, the show on the North Freeway created a dialogue with the community on the failure of high leverage business, massive turnout, and mediocre quality goods versus the idea of a low leverage business, locally built, and individually handcrafted. In the long run, wacdesignstudio believes that this model will be the standard for creating a sustainable, growth-oriented local economy.

Photo by Jim Caldwell, Courtesy Buffalo Bayou Partnership & Minetta Brook. (On-screen image from James Bennings’ Ten Skies, 2004, 16mm, color, 109 min.”)

Retention ponds masquerading as water features, custom bobble-heads and PEZ dispensers, chopper bikes, drunk mellow mice and junkyard drive-ins—where could you have found these things together? At Houston’s second Pecha Kucha, which took place last Thursday.

Over 200 people filled the cavernous five-story atrium in the University of Houston College of Architecture building to hear six-minute-and-forty-second-long presentations by eleven different thinkers working in Houston. (Read about the first Houston Pecha Kucha and an explanation of the events’ form.)

Organized by Tony Medrano and hosted by University of Houston’s Architecture Alumni Association, “Pecha Kucha Houston – Volume 2” was designed to produce unexpected connections and new collaborations across disciplines while mapping the layered geographies of Houston, a city which refuses fixed definitions.

Photo by Tish Stringer. Image from Derek Rankins’ slide show.

One confluence occurred between the work of photographer Derek Rankins and industrial designer Brenden Macaluso. Macaluso referred to the four “life stages” of most commercial objects/products: design, manufacture, use, and discard. By adding more thought and deliberation to the design process, he claimed that we can manufacture more efficient and longer-lasting products using less harmful and less wasteful processes. Rankins, on the other hand, takes detailed close-up photographs of discarded disposable products which he finds in gutters and parking lots, which sort of begs the question, if Macaluso had his way, what would Rankins photograph?

Slide from Abram VanElswyk’s presentation.

Abram VanElswyk made a case for smarter suburban design by replicating successful “inner loop” strategies in new developments outside of Beltway 8. Some of the changes he advocated for are: more garage apartments, more use of alley-accessed garages, enclosed front yards, and dense retail spaces which are accessible to pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists alike. These changes will create what he refers to as “horizontal mixed-use” development for future suburban neighborhoods.

Andrea Grover shared her experience showing cinema in unexpected places. Her screenings have occurred in an old church, an auto parts junkyard, floating on the bayou (see lead photo above), in Jacuzzis, and on lawns. She works in collaboration with many civic groups such as the Buffalo Bayou Partnership, the Menil Collection, and the Center for Land Use Interpretation to produce events which were often site-specific recontextualizations of local history. Her multi-media, multi-sensory events take films outside of the traditional exhibition space yet maintain the intimate collective experience of the cinema in new, unexpected, and often delightful ways.

David Morris, billed as a “programmer/artist,” combined 3-D printing technology with the retro-cool crafting movement to speak about a brave new world of DIY “personal manufacturing.” Using 3-D scanners, open source software, and 3-D printers, we will democratize the tools of design and production and have the capabilities to unfold, copy, tweak, and produce all manner of household goods, even “custom PEZ dispensers and bobble-heads.” (Morris also organizes a 3D Camp in Houston. Check their website for upcoming dates.)

Artists and academics are accustomed to presenting to an audience of their peers. At Pecha Kucha, however, they can not assume any prior knowledge of the subject on the part of the diverse audience.  This fact along with the 400-second length (20 slides at 20 seconds each) of the presentations creates an atmosphere for broadly understandable and relatable information. A new “mix of show-and-tell, open-mike night and happy hour” sweeping the world—Pecha Kucha happens in more than 200 cities around the world—it seems to be a form well-suited for a YouTube generation accustomed to bite-size information delivery.

Pecha Kucha Houston Volume 3 will be coming up within a few months. Their website will list upcoming events.

Scott Cartwright and Jenny Lynn Weitz-Amare Cartwright showcase their first furniture line. [Photo courtesy wacdesignstudio]

In January, the New York Times reported that employment at US architecture firms had dropped from its July 2009 peak at 224,500 to 184,600 by November. Commercial development has ground to a halt, the big car manufacturers have pulled the plug on many dealerships, and a number of big box stores have closed. As an article by Susan Rogers in the next issue of Cite will discuss, vast amounts of land in the city are withering, wasting, wild, and waiting. It is in this context that two young designers have announced a “guerilla retail event,” the “Furniture Sale on North Freeway.”

From their press release:

wacdesignstudio is pleased to announce “Furniture Sale on North Freeway” a guerrilla retail event that will take place on Sunday March 7th 2010 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the abandoned lot of the former Landmark Chevrolet dealership located at 9111 N. Fwy, Houston, TX 77037. wacdesignstudio is an independent design studio founded in 2009 by Scott Cartwright and Jenny Lynn Weitz-Amaré Cartwright that focuses on the discourse of contemporary art and its relationship to design and architecture. In “Furniture Sale on North Freeway” wacdesignstudio will be launching its first furniture line, a line designed and fabricated with an attention to the modesty of scale, materials and production. Located outside the crumbling remains of the Landmark Chevrolet Dealership, “Furniture Sale on North Freeway” reflects on the unanticipated failures of highly leveraged businesses and their effects on the city landscape. wacdesignstudio intends to create the hopeful gesture of a small design business selling its locally designed and manufactured product to local customers.

The event recalls the antics and provocation of Ant Farm and the Art Guys.

Stringer is Vice President and Practice Leader for the HOK Advanced Strategies Washington DC office with major clients such as Corning, GlaxoSmithKline, and Johnson & Johnson. She is also developing a master plan for the U.S. Capitol Complex in Washington, DC. Stringer founded TheGreenWorkplace.com, a blog discussing workplace issues, design and upcoming policy changes, which led to the book with Palgrave Macmillan.

In the book, Stringer delineates the environmental context and case for greening the environment, followed by a thorough set of instructions for the manager to implement a green strategy. Rather than relying on idealistic motives for saving the planet, Stringer takes a decidedly commercial stance, arguing for the ultimate economic gain of “going green” and accepting the reality of green policy becoming the norm in international business practice. On this note, she lauds the Walmart corporation for its assumption of green tactics, and how its increased expectations for suppliers will trickle down to improve the pollution-pumping factories in China’s southern coastal provinces (Stringer cites 90 percent of the factories in this region as providing goods for Walmart.)

Besides listing economic effects of greening the workplace, Stringer bolstered her talk at Wednesday’s event with anecdotes about the behavioral science behind going green. Understanding that many office workers are not born “Greeniacs,” she shifts the conversation on how to most effortlessly manipulate everyday citizens into going green. Instead of appealing to employees’ obligation to nature, Stringer argues that the most effective method for implementing green behavior is to simulate an atmosphere in which such behavior is considered a social norm. For example, instead of placing a “Save trees and recycle paper” notice near a photocopy machine, studies by behavioral psychologist Robert Cialdini have proven it is significantly more effective to utilize a sign setting a falsified standard, such as, “Almost 75 percent of our company’s employees recycle discarded paper. Join your colleagues in helping the environment.”

Stringer based the book on her blog and suggested she penned the book in her spare time, but her title and company name gracing the front cover blurs the transparency between personal mission and the branding of the corporation as a leader in green design. Nevertheless, Stringer herself warns against the dangers of corporate greenwashing, and The Green Workplace is much more than a glorified promotional pamphlet for HOK’s green initiatives – it evidences serious research and practical tools for bringing green doctrine to any office. Because of the topic’s timeliness, Stringer admittedly jokes, “I hope this book has a short shelf-life,” as she presumes that her suggestions will shortly be taken as de rigueur in offices worldwide – “part of our corporate DNA.”

Model of Cave of New Being and meditation pond

With the growing genre of architecture generated by biomorphic design and biomimetic processes, a reevaluation of Frederick J. Kiesler’s work is ever more timely. During the mid-20th century he became increasingly occupied with the relationship of structure and natural form in architecture. The Cave of the New Being (also known as the Grotto for Meditation), proposed in the 1960s for New Harmony and contracted by Mrs. Blaffer Owen, represented the designer’s pièce de résistance, embodying all of the intellectual currents of his era, from surrealism to biotechnics, yet it was never realized.

Through the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and thanks to the patronage of Mrs. Jane Blaffer Owen, professors Andrew Vrana, Joe Meppelink, Ben Nicholson, together with undergraduate students, all embarked on formal research and tectonic fulfillment of the project, utilizing digital modeling and fabrication technologies. The participants complemented research with the help of archival resources, accessed via Mrs. Owen and the Kiesler Foundation, with active dialogue with Mrs. Blaffer Owen, who has remained dedicated to the inscrutable proposal. More than providing closure on an unfinished project, the Cave of the New Being will function as a permanent landmark on the UH university campus, as part of a meditation pond next to the Philip Johnson designed College of Architecture. Johnson also designed the Roofless Church in New Harmony and was instrumental in bringing Kiesler to Mrs. Owen’s attention. Kiesler’s Cave was originally planned to be placed in proximity to Johnson’s church.

The team’s investigations endeavored to synthesize Kiesler’s seemingly impenetrable notions of “continuous tension” and “co-realism,” along with his initial handling of biomorphism and recursive geometry in design. With the aid of three-dimensional scanning, reverse engineering and digital fabrication, the team spawned a structural/spatial apparatus that pays tribute to Kiesler’s intended maritime-inspired forms and tiled patterning imposed onto a minimal structure.

The unveiling on Tuesday January 26 by President Renu Khator of the digitally fabricated Cave of the New Being is the preliminary installation of a two-tier project that will culminate in its completion along with the publication of a forthcoming book on New Harmony co-edited by Professors Ben Nicholson and Michelangelo Sabatino. Following the unveiling, a reception was held to recognize the efforts of faculty and students and to inaugurate an exhibition on the Kiesler Studio.

Attendees learned of the intersection of utopian planning and psychology at the January 26th event, Kiesler: Architecture and Psychoanalysis. Organized by Dr. Michelangelo Sabatino, Assistant Professor and Coordinator of History and Theory, the event featured a lecture by Princeton University architectural historian and theorist Beatriz Colomina. Her address was followed by a presentation by Ben Nicholson, Associate Professor of Architecture at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and former UH faculty member. In his presentation, entitled “The Kiesler Studio,” Nicholson illustrated his work with students, which preceded a conversation with Mrs. Blaffer Owen before the unveiling of the Cave of the New Being.

Left to Right: Joe Meppelink, Adjunct Assistant Professor and Director of Applied Research, UHCoA; Renu Khator, Chancellor and President; Mrs. Jane Blaffer Owen; Ben Nicholson, Associate Professor, School of the Art Institute of Chicago; Beatriz Colomina, Professor, Princton School of Architecture; Andrew Vrana, Visiting Assistant Professor, UHCoA Patricia Oliver, Dean, UHCoA; Michelangelo Sabatino, Assistant Professor, UHCoA

A model of a taco truck by Donna Kacmar’s design studio at the Initiatives for Houston exhibition.

The conversion of the Architecture Center Houston (ArCH) into a think tank of what Houston is, could be, and should be is worth the visit. The curated exhibition of Rice Design Alliance’s Initiatives for Houston Grant Program captures ten years of thinkers, dreamers, and designers putting their heads together to better understand our city and steer its future.

On my way to the opening, I searched for parking downtown near ArCH, which is located in the Bayou Place building, best known for the Hard Rock Café at the opposite end of the complex. Twenty minutes of bypassing one-way streets and one seven-dollar check later, I arrived at the ArCH wondering just who the nearby Mercedes belonged to?

Balancing a small plate of munchies and a glass of wine, I joined the spectators taking laps around the gallery and digesting the work of local architecture, engineering, and construction professionals, professors, and students.

Some of the projects may not be likely to be built but the concept provokes the viewer to reconsider their preconceptions. The terraced and glowing model of Lysle Oliveros’s “Houston Needs a Mountain” had me pacing back and forth from model to design board trying to understand how the celebration of trash can take on an architectural form and solve an overwhelming issue like waste disposal. As I continued around the gallery, I began to see Houston through many different lenses. I saw projects as quirky as the city itself like Donna Kacmar’s “Beer, Burgers and Barbacoa,” which documented taco stands, ice houses, and burger joints through models, use, plans, and maps. Crystal Granger’s project documented Houston’s African American Churches. Words like “deception” and “resistance” were laced into an otherwise polite thesis that made me eager to learn more.

Fiery words and bold statements as seen on William Truitt’s “Near Northside” pointed fingers at developers as being part of the “problem” but offered a solution meshing together ideas, graphics, and fresh words like “Perfo-Grip-Urbanism.” The graphics, charting, and mapping on “Houston’s Hope: Strategy for Change” by Susan Rogers and Rafael Longoria read like a menu of what I want my city to be. Fields of Green with a side of Smart Shrinkage please.

The efforts of all past grant winners must be applauded, but not just by the crowd normally drawn to Rice Design Alliance events. With some projects fully realized, like Charles Tapley’s green roof on the Burdette Keeland Jr. Design and Exploration Center and the continuous work of University of Houston’s Design Build Studio and Rice’s Building Workshop, a portion of the community is able to witness these great ideas taking form. But what about the remaining majority? What about educators, government workers, politicians, and the concerned public? Would they marvel at the propositions of the Initiatives for Houston Grants program? Would it change a candidate’s platform? Would developers walk away with conviction and inspiration? I did.

The exhibition will run January 14 – February 26, 2010 at the Architecture Center Houston (ArCH), 315 Capitol, Suite 120.

Jessica Winegardner works as a designer for Kuhl-Linscomb and is a graduate of the University of Houston Gerald D. Hines School of Architecture. Rice Design Alliance publishes this blog.

Lakes of Cypress Forest [Photo from Hendricks Interests]

The coming of the new year brought year-end and decade-end posts including the Swamplot awards. “Lakes of” won favorite Houston design cliché of the year. Christof Spieler looked back on a decade of transit megaprojects. Also of note, the Chronicle published two pieces on philanthropist Cynthia Woods Mitchell, who passed away (1, 2). A good story I missed in the last headline post was the Rice News piece on Chris Hight’s and Michael Robinson’s studio on Brays Bayou and their website hydraulicity.org.

Monday January 4

Black medical museum to honor pioneers Facility will be located in historic Freedmen’s Town and focus on the struggles of black doctors to provide care [Houston Chronicle] “Historians hope to restore the home at 1319 Andrews owned by the Rev. Ned P. Pullum, a minister and entrepreneur, and transform it into the Pullum Health and Business Museum. The Pullum Museum would become part of an educational and cultural park corridor in Freedmen’s Town that includes the Rutherford B.H. Yates Museum – another reclaimed historic home. Freedmen’s Town, just west of downtown, is the only remaining post-Civil War, freed-slave historic district of its kind.”

Sunday January 3

A fixer-upper attitude in a tear-down world: Houstonian turning old buildings into bars and restaurants [Houston Chronicle]

Atul “Lucky” Chopra didn’t set out to save old Houston buildings. He realized it was his mission once he was well on his way…

Having built several successful medical services businesses, Chopra began buying real estate on the side about five years ago. His first two investments were lots in Midtown that each had an old building on them, priced as tear-downs. But the 40-year-old radiologist had no intention of demolishing the big white Colonial house, built in 1913, or the former Boy Scouts of America Building, built in 1975.

In addition to the Midtown investments, Chopra acquired the Kennedy Corner Building at 218 Travis downtown about two years ago from the previous owners, who had restored the historic property and opened the Twelve Spot bar in 2001. It closed in 2006. At that location, Chopra recently opened Hearsay Gastro Lounge, which he owns.

Saturday January 2

REBUILDING GALVESTON Riding on the waves of change: Houstonian Scott Arnold had high hopes for the famed Balinese Room in 2001. [Houston Chronicle] “Arnold is considering filling the Balinese Room’s spot on the sea wall with an icehouse made of shipping containers topped with a pavilion formed of steel masts, sails and canopies. He calls the concept America’s Icehouse. Arnold intends to rebuild the Balinese, possibly inland, but he’s not sure when.”

Plastic being phased out For those who don’t compost, get ready to buy bio-bags. [Houston Chronicle] “City solid waste workers will only pick up material in starch-based bags that decompose within six weeks into nontoxic organic residue. Anyone who dumps plastic bags with lawn trimmings into the city’s automated containers for pickup will be subject to a fine after a grace period and initial warning.”

Thursday December 31

A decade of megaprojects and hints of the future [Intermodality] “It has been a busy ten years in Houston transportation. It was a decade of huge projects, some controversial, some nearly unnoticed. It’s also been a decade of more modest projects that give a clue to what the next decade (or two or three) might be like. Here’s 11 built projects that represent 2000-2009 in Houston transportation.”

Fire damages 1935 mansion near Rice [Houston Chronicle] More than 100 firefighters in 34 units responded to the blaze, which was reported at 10 Remington Lane about 11:30 a.m….The house was built in 1935 for William Stamps Farish II, a founder of Humble Oil and Refining Co., now Exxon Mobil.”

Cynthia Woods Mitchell: Grande dame of civic and arts patronage left gifts that benefit us all. [Houston Chronicle] “From the streets of Galveston, where she had a hand in restoring much of that island city’s downtown, as well as its tourism heart, to the forested neighborhoods of The Woodlands, the planned community in south Montgomery County that she named, her imaginative hand can been seen on literally dozens of projects.”

Council adds 3 museums to tax zone [Houston Chronicle] “The 8-acre enlargement of Houston’s second TIRZ, created in 1994, will add a cultural and tourism district that will include the Asia House, the Buffalo Soldiers Museum and the Museum of African-American culture. Within a TIRZ, revenues from increased property values are set aside for public improvements.”

Wednesday December 30

The Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate, 2009: The Winners!

1. Favorite Houston Design Cliché. Award winner: “Lakes of” subdivisions.
2. Best Vacancy. Award winner: Villas at the Heights, 114 Heights Blvd.
3. Best Teardown. Award winner: 1514 Banks St., Ranch Estates.
4. The “Only in Houston” Award. Award winner: The Grand Parkway Through the Katy Prairie.
5. Most Underappreciated Neighborhood. Award winner: Robindell.
6. Most Overappreciated Neighborhood. Award winner: Washington Corridor.
7. Neighborhood of the Year. Award winner: Galveston.

Disconnected Christof Spieler invokes the Lord of the Rings in his shaming of local transit authorities in their failure to coordinate a regional system.

Monday December 28

Humanitarian was ‘a force of nature’: Charity icon dies at age 87 in the community that she named. Mitchell helped to save historic Isle buildings to national level [Houston Chronicle] “Beginning with the 1871 League Building in 1976, the Mitchells restored 17 iron-front buildings in the island city’s historic downtown. Among their projects were conversion of the Leon and H. Blum Building into the luxurious, European-styled Tremont Hotel. On the beachfront, they bought and restored the Galvez Hotel. On the Gulf and Galveston Bay, they built two new hotels, the San Luis and the Harbor House. ‘Mrs. Mitchell brought style and sophistication to all the family’s work to preserve historic Galveston,’ said Dwayne Johnson, Galveston Historic Foundation executive director.”

Sunday December 27

The Woodlands moving to new status in 2010: Law lets it run more like a city, avoid annexation [Houston Chronicle]

Saturday December 26

Environmental groups hope the successful effort against butadiene can be duplicated [Houston Chronicle] “Pollution monitors show that concentrations of 1,3-butadiene, a chemical used in rubber production, are at their lowest point since two industrial plants pledged under regulatory pressure to reduce emissions in 2005. Butadiene levels at Milby Park, about a quarter-mile west of the two facilities – Texas Petrochemicals and Goodyear – have dropped from 4 parts per billion before the agreements to less than 1 ppb, according to the data.”

Friday December 25

Happy trails! Houston’s expanding hike-and-bike system brings neighborhoods together. [Houston Chronicle] “The county had previously eyed the MKT easement as a possible toll road route, but the City of Houston purchased it from the railroad and replaced tracks with a concrete pathway. Stands of trees are being planted in the wider stretches of the corridor to create a greenbelt from Shepherd east to Heights Boulevard through a formerly grim industrial zone.”

Thursday December 24

Local chef touts garden-fresh food: Midtown resident works on urban garden in Third Ward [Houston Chronicle] “EcoTone, an acronym for an ecological atonement model, is Gary’s effort to introduce organic gardening to the urban St. Charles Street Community Garden, 3616 St. Charles St. in the Third Ward. Gary and her partner, Trent Jefferson, were given the vacant lot through the City of Houston’s Urban Community Garden Program.”

With housing, jobs as the draws, state adds more new residents than any other [Houston Chronicle] “The Lone Star State has 478,000 more people than it did a year ago – roughly the equivalent of packing up all of Fresno, Calif., and moving it here.”

No more train horns in corridor: Washington Ave. to be quieter in late April [Houston Chronicle]

Wednesday December 23

Harris County commissioners delay entry into storm district: Radack wants some questions answered first [Houston Chronicle] “Among the projects the district intends to study is a Texas A&M University oceanographer’s idea to extend Galveston’s seawall 15 miles to the island’s West End, build a similar structure along the Bolivar Peninsula and construct massive floodgates at the entrance to Galveston Bay.”

The historic Gragg Building has the Wright stuff [CultureMap] “Originally designed and built by the architectural team of MacKie & Kamrath, the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright is apparent. A large canopy emphasizes the horizontality of the meandering courtyard floor plan. Walls of a natural green stone taper to copper flashing, demonstrating an interest in materials that fell out of favor until today’s focus on sustainable resources.’

Wallpaper City Guide Houston redeems itself in the poetic summary of the city’s contemporary conundrum of coming to terms with the worst excesses of urban sprawl — “a place with little sense of place” and a repressed inferiority complex. That Wallpaper encourages the reader to overlook “the urban schizophrenia” and “discover the Houston underneath” credits the publisher’s expectations for tourists’ tenacity (or the occurrence of tourists in Houston to begin with). Indeed, were Rick Steve or even Lonely Planet to cover the city, gems like the Beer Can House or Jefferson Chemical Company Building would probably not receive mention.

Wallpaper’s guide makes for an interesting comparison with Placenotes: Houston, published by the University of Texas’ Charles W. Moore Center for the Study of Place. Stephen Fox’s Houston: Architectural Guide is in an altogether different category. Decidedly Texan, Placenotes emphasizes the city’s architectural heritage and — gasp — escapes into nature, as well as more easily-identifiable commentary by local architects and cultural literati. Although Placenotes offers a more thorough exploration of the city’s landmarks, you won’t find footnotes about booking the most decadent suite at Hotel ZaZa.

Mayor-Elect Parker is flanked by TxDOT’s Delvin Dennis, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, Councilmember Gonzalez, Public Works Director Mike Marcotte, and members of the local Boy Scout Troop. [Photo from Houston Bikeways]

After a long wait, the MKT rail-to-trail that connects the Heights with Downtown was officially opened. Annise Parker was there not long after winning the Mayoral election. The University light rail line passed a major federal hurdle and has entered the engineering phase. The Metro president called it “a great holiday present” for Houston. Read on to catch up on what’s going with Houston architecture, engineering, construction, and urban planning.

December 22

Museum idea could save threatened Heights church: One man’s plan could provide a way to keep a historic structure from demolition [Houston Chronicle] “On-again, off-again plans to raze Houston Heights’ historic but long unused Immanuel Lutheran Church may be in limbo again today as preservationists float a plan to convert the striking Gothic Revival sanctuary into a museum for Texas art. Ken Bakenhus, president of the church’s governing body, which overwhelmingly favors demolition, said the 1932-vintage building at 1448 Cortlandt St. likely will be torn down this summer unless feasible plans to save it are proposed.”

Harris County set to join 6-county storm district: Project hopes to protect state’s coast from surges [Houston Chronicle] “Among the ideas to be considered is an “Ike Dike” approach advocated by oceanographer William Merrell of Texas A&M University at Galveston.”

MOVE IT! Metro vows to take care of business as rail grows [Houston Chronicle]

Metropolitan Transit Authority officials have promised for years that they won’t repeat the “mistakes of Main Street” and that the “lessons learned” will help them avoid the same disruptions. And now they’re putting some money behind the words, setting aside $5 million to assist small businesses that see temporary drop-offs in customers…

Metro and Houston officials also are ironing out another wrinkle involving rail construction. Metro had wanted to give businesses along the construction routes specially made signs, flags and banners that would show they were still open for business, and smaller signs to show pedestrians and motorists how to navigate into parking lots.

But some of the proposed flags would flutter afoul of the city’s newly tightened sign ordinance, which bans certain types of “attention-getting devices.”

Sunday December 20

More on Plans for Market Square Park [Houston Chronicle]

A high-end office building and hotel are going up adjacent to the park, and a residential tower was recently completed.

Construction on Market Square Park is expected to begin by year-end, with its completion scheduled for the middle of 2010.

Lauren Griffith Associates, a local landscape architecture firm that was involved in Discovery Green, is designing the park. Ray + Hollington Architects and Tribble & Stephens Constructors are also involved.

A central lawn will anchor the park, which will include a dog run, performance area and a cafe. The Downtown District is in negotiations with Niko Niko’s Greek & American Cafe to operate an eatery there.

Older artwork like James Surls’ Points of View sculpture will be moved or updated and newer installations will be added.

The park will also include a memorial to honor the victims of 9/11, including Houstonian Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas.

Thursday December 17

Bikeway officially opens on Saturday: MKT project clears 300 mile mark in city [Houston Chronicle] “The new trail is built on part of the old Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad corridor. Restoration of railroad bridges on the path delayed the project earlier this year. But with its opening, Houston Bikeway Program clears the 300-mile mark, said Dan Raine, the city’s bicyclist and pedestrian coordinator. Counting Harris County trails, the city’s bikeways now cover 459 miles, he said.”

University Line clears hurdle: Despite objections, next light rail project enters engineering phase [Houston Chronicle] “The University Line, a proposed east-west light rail track that will run near several Houston universities, cleared another federal funding hurdle this week despite objections raised by U.S. Rep. John Culberson. The Federal Transit Administration notified Metro on Monday that the line has been approved to move into the preliminary engineering phase of the transit administration’s matching-funds program. Two other light rail lines, the North and Southeast corridors, are further along in the federal approval process.”

Funds sought for new bridge Pedestrian walkway, pathways to link Timberloch to Town Center [Houston Chronicle] “A regional public transportation agency is seeking $2.1 million in state funds to build a pedestrian bridge over The Woodlands Waterway and additional paths to link Timberloch businesses and apartments to Town Center.”

Texas asks feds to extend Ike housing programs: Assistance still needed as repairs of homes kick in [Houston Chronicle]

SPARK Park creates new opportunities for Holland Middle School, community [Houston Chronicle]

FACES IN THE CROWD Architect wins photography award: China vacation results in getting the right photo; leads to National Geographic magazine honor [Houston Chronicle] “The winning photo, called “Peddling Bicycle in the Wind,” depicts a man biking through rough terrain, carrying all of his wordly possessions.”

Tuesday December 15

For city’s gays, historic election for mayor was a long time coming [Houston Chronicle] “Domestic partners is in the charter; a mayor can’t do anything about that. It’s the budget, potholes, police cadet classes, things like that.”

Monday December 14

MOVE IT! Surfers of nightclub scene can ride this wave [Houston Chronicle] “Barrash, a Realtor, social worker and newly minted Rice M.B.A., opened the “Washington Wave” a few weeks ago. The 15-passenger bus, similar to a rental car shuttle, serves the bar and restaurant scene along Washington Avenue. It operates during the peak party periods of 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Rides are $8 for “hop on, hop off” service all night long. Barrash, 33, who also lives in the area, said she hopes the service will eliminate the parking and congestion problems that have plagued the neighborhood since the corridor became a hot spot.”

A Houston nonprofit helps low-income families purchase homes built to be good for the planet – and the pocketbook [Houston Chronicle] “Two years ago, Tejano leaders decided they would delve into the green home movement, and its Port Arthur homes built by Green Eagles Development are the first part of that project.”

Sunday December 13

Caddo Lake’s history is the stuff of legend: Reservoir holds diverse native life, abundant lore [Houston Chronicle] “Geologists and hydrologists are not certain about the exact timing, but sometime in the past thousand years – some say as long ago as 1100 AD, but most say 200-400 years ago – something happened to cause water to flood the low-lying basin and form Caddo Lake. The generally accepted theory is that a massive log jam on the Red River (into which Big Cypress Creek flows) created a natural dam that caused water to back up behind it and flood the low-lying area on what’s now the Texas/Louisiana border.”

Saturday December 12

The city Hines built: Gerald Hines gave Houston the Galleria, Pennzoil Place, Transco Tower – and class. [Houston Chronicle]

Friday December 11

Twins get $990,000 for loss of land: Condemned parcel is near land owned by campaign donor to mayor [Houston Chronicle] “The city acquired the property through eminent domain in March 2007 after negotiations between the Collins brothers and developer Ed Wulfe broke down. Wulfe is the developer of BLVD Place, a planned mix of apartments, shops, restaurants and a hotel near the intersection of Post Oak and San Felipe.”

County’s population grows older and more non-white [Houston Chronicle] “The entire Houston region is in the midst of ‘an extraordinary transformation,’ Rice University sociology professor and researcher Stephen Klineberg said in his keynote address. Before the oil bust of the 1980s, all of the growth in the Houston area was Anglo. But after that, all of the growth has been non-Anglo, Klineberg said. ‘Houston is a microcosm of the world. It is where the future of America will be seen and worked out first,’ he said.”

Thursday December 10

Culberson files formal objection to Metro plan: Transit chief slams the critic of University line [Houston Chronicle]

Park & Ride, water taxis, trolleys benefit from funding: District gets stimulus money to boost projects [Houston Chronicle] “The money will boost its projects in Montgomery County. Funds will be used to expand the Sterling Ridge Park & Ride from 200 to 1,200 spaces to serve commuters to downtown Houston and the Texas Medical Center. It also provides local maintenance of water taxis and trolleys in The Woodlands, as well as small buses used in the countywide demand response service.”

Council again says no to Ashby high-rise: Developers pin hopes on a suit or a new mayor [Houston Chronicle] “In August, the city approved a 12th application after Morgan and Kirton removed all the commercial uses except the restaurant and reduced the number of residential units. The developers said Wednesday that they changed their plans to test whether the city would approve their project under any circumstances, but never intended to build anything other than the project they designed in 2007.”

Wednesday December 9

Advocates charge too much water diverted from the coast [Houston Chronicle] “The legal fight comes after the deadliest winter on record for the [whooping] cranes, with 23 birds having perished along the Texas coast, nearly 10 percent of the world’s last migratory flock.”

1923 building gets reprieve [Houston Chronicle] “The Hogan-Allnoch building received a three-month reprieve from the wrecking ball Tuesday, its second in nine months.”

Monday December 7

Some neighborhoods looking to boost ‘walkability’: Planners anticipate boom in foot traffic [Houston Chronicle]

Planners have designated other neighborhoods “Livable Centers,” making them eligible for intense study as they prepare for growth. Three of them – the management districts of Uptown, the East End along Harrisburg and Upper Kirby – each recently received $5 million in federal stimulus funds to widen sidewalks and install grassy medians and other pedestrian amenities. Light rail will pass through or near all those areas, and foot traffic is expected to boom.

In Sugar Land, the retail, condo and government center known as Town Square is often touted as a great example of mixed-use, walker-friendly development. But that’s only once you’re there, acknowledged Patrick Walsh, the city’s transportation director. The Texas 6-U.S. 59 intersection is daunting without a car.

“The frontage lanes are often six lanes in width, and it can be very intimidating,” Walsh said. “We’re trying to figure out how to make it more inviting and safer.”

Over the next five years, Sugar Land plans to double its hike-and-bike trails from 11 miles to 23.

Planners say that in recessionary times, it’s easy to dismiss sidewalks or postpone them for later. But that can be much more expensive than installing them when new roads and developments are built, said Pat Waskowiak, a transportation program manager with the H-GAC.

Graphic Design by Michael Rock

Looking for a crash course about typography, identity, branding, print design, interaction/experience, information, and sustainability by four of the world’s leading graphic designers? Sorry. You missed it. In January and February of 2009, the Rice Design Alliance (RDA) held a sold-out lecture series featuring Steven Heller, Andy Altman, Ellen Lupton, and Michael Rock. However, in an effort to reach those who could not attend, the RDA is making videos of the lectures available in the post below. We hoped to make this information available sooner but experienced a long learning curve on handling large video files. Now we know and will be presenting more from past lectures on OffCite.org and ricedesignalliance.org.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Michael Rock
Partner, 2×4, New York

Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Ellen Lupton
Director, Graphic Design MFA Program, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore; editor of D.I.Y.: Design It Yourself

Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Andy Altmann
Founder, Why Not Associates, London

Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Steven Heller
Co-Founder, MFA Designer as Author program, School of Visual Arts, New York

Steven Heller has been an art director and writer at the New York Times for over thirty years. He founded the M.F.A. “Designer as Author” program at the School of Visual Arts. He has also written or edited more than 100 books, including Iron Fists: Branding the 20-Century Totalitarian State and The Design Entrepreneur.

This video was made available in an earlier post.

All lectures were held at the Brown Auditorium of The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

We thank our generous underwriters: Minor Design Group, Inc., E3 Electric, FKP Architects, Kendall/Heaton Associates

This lecture series was supported in part by A & E – The Graphics Complex, Gilbane, D. E. Harvey Builders, Haynes Whaley Associates, Inc., Matrix Structural Engineers, Inc., Miner-Dederick Construction, LLP, ph Design Shop, Parra Design Group, Ltd., Powers Brown Architecture, Satterfield & Pontikes Construction, Inc., SpawMaxwell Company, Tellepsen, the Corporate Members of the Rice Design Alliance; the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance; and the Texas Commission on the Arts.

Video editing by Eric Hester