new Mexi-Arte museum?

According to an article in today's Austin American-Statesman, Mexi-Arte would like to build a pretty fab new museum on their Congress location (which must mean that they can tear down that building that used to house the "Union occupiers" after the South lost the war [which may be why they can tear that building down...]).

I'm not sure how practical this translucent concept is for Texas summers (and for art...), but it is rather gorgeous. Designed by Mexican architect Fernando Romero, the Mexi-Arte folks are trying to get the city to cough up $10 million for the building. That may prove harder than anything...

Deco and Moderne: Austin Architecture of the 1930s Exhibit @ Austin History Center

The Austin History Center has an exhibit celebrating the Art Deco and Streamline Moderne movement in Austin. They have a wall-length timeline showing the history of the movements and how they expressed themselves in Austin. Various era photographs are hung about the room.

Go quick because the exhibit ends April 29th! I suggest you call in advance to make sure someone isn't using the room for an event (as happened to me the first time I tried to go!).

dancing with architecture: Dallas

I was at a water meeting this past week and was fortunate enough to stay downtown and steal a few moments to hike about the Dallas canyons between meetings and binge drinkings. A few surprises: A Philip Johnson commissioned sculpture in memory of JFK and a stumbling upon the building from where Lee Harvey Oswald "allegedly" shot JFK. Was also able to catch a whisper of the new Calatrava bridge over the Trinity River. Need a pleasure trip to savor and enjoy...

urban inspiration: less is more in las vegas!

I was on a bidness trip last week in Las Vegas (yapping about salty water...) and just so happened to be staying downtown near the Frank Gehry. I got up early the next morning and walked down to check it out. To say the area is transitional is an understatement. I didn't feel threatened, but was certainly uneasy (a lot of shady characters walking around). Nonetheless, it was a good walk and a chance to gawk at a lot of new construction, most of it modern in design.

I'm not a big fan of Gehry's "melted office building" buildings, but peeking into the interior, I get it. The play of light coming through those melted windows is pretty darn spectacular. Perhaps the Gehry has inspired other developers since all the other new construction in the area is of a modern flavor.

I included a photo of an old wall that seems to be midcentury modern inspired (and a potential idea for a wall at the back of the property. Oh, and I had to take a photo of that nearly naked young lady associated with a hair salon (?!?!) and Mies van der Rohe's famous statement "Less is more". Not surprisingly, "less is more" means something completely difference in Vegas than in architecture...

waking up to architecture

Every morning we wake up to the new federal courthouse under construction about a block away (photo above from our bedroom window). It's a glorious site. The design is unusually inspired for a federal building, especially compared to the Hampton Inn Michael Graves designed for federal affairs in Nashville (Graves needs to stick to toasters and teakettles...). Although I'm somewhat bummed the feds didn't choose someone local to design the courthouse, Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects, with some help from some locals, came up with a fantastic design.

Federal courthouses these days, especially with the ever-present threat of domestic and international terrorism, aren't the most open and cuddly buildings around. Therefore, the Austin judges, to their credit, asked the architects to develop an "unusually extroverted" building, doubly important because the structure faces a public park, Republic Square. Along those lines, the building actively engages the park, is "front-faced" on all sides, has lots of windows and elevated outdoor areas, and, reportedly, a green roof. In a nod to the farmers market held in the park every Saturday, the street between the courthouse and the park will be closed off and designed to accommodate the market. How’s that strike yer turnips?

The building is subtractive cubist with a facade made of glass, crenulated limestone, and metal that changes in color from silver to bronze to black depending on the angle of light (I wonder what that stuff is…). The architects state that "[t]he stability of the cubic form exemplifies the strength, coherence and dignity of the judicial system." The New York Times thinks the design represents tension "between the desire to uphold core democratic values and a growing sense of instability".

The building has a number of green features including rainwater harvesting, daylighting, and a super-efficient HVAC system. The grounds will include an outdoor jury garden for [ahem] contemplation. The building aims for LEEDS silver.

As an interesting historical note: Austin's current courthouse is an austere art deco ditty built with federal stimulus dollars in the 1930s in response to the Great Depression, while this new courthouse is being built with stimulus dollars in response to the Great Recession (the project had been conceived earlier but benefitted from being shovel ready when stimulus funding became available).

When it's finished, I hope I get summoned to jury service!

urban inspiration: 183 and Burnet

Neat use of aluminum straights and cut angle "irons".

Santa Fe: Cubist heaven.

When I die, I want to turn to dust, get mixed with water, and be an adobe brick in Santa Fe.