![]() ![]() It’s named for Edgar Odell Lovett, the young chairman of the Princeton Astronomy Department, who was brought to Houston to guide the formation of Rice University. With its red, white and blue design, it always reminds me of a luxury steamship.ġ0 – Lovett Hall (today the Rice University administration building, photo below) was built in 1911. Brown, a civic leader whose Texas Eastern Corporation donated six of the 11 blocks on which the center sits. Brown Convention Center (photo below) is named for George R. This historic hotel now serves as an apartment building known as The Rice Lofts and has several street-level bars and restaurants.ĩ – George R. I love coming here from street level (rather than underground), for the eight-story tall columns and massive overhang.Ĩ – The new Rice Hotel building (photo below) opened on May 17, 1913. Very exciting!ħ – Jones Hall for the Performing Arts (photo below), designed by Caudill Rowlett Scott, opened in 1966. ![]() Hines.Ħ – Heritage Plaza (photo below), designed by architect Mohammed Nasr, looks like a Mayan temple erupting out of a postmodern glass-clad skyscraper. (They are actually connected at the ground level.) It was developed by Gerald D. The 36-story twin towers make it seem like two buildings separated by a 10-foot space. The narrow step-up design is meant to suggest the Dutch Gothic architecture of the canal houses once commonplace in The Netherlands.ĥ – Pennzoil Place (photo below) was completed in 1976 and designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee. Go inside to fully appreciate the historic detail.Ģ – Houston City Hall (photo below), an Art Deco government building designed by Joseph Finger and completed in 1939, is fronted by the Hermann Square reflecting pool.ģ – Like the Julia Ideson Building (#1), the Niels and Mellie Esperson Buildings (photo below) are an example of a historic structure (in this case, Italian Renaissance style) surrounded by Houston’s downtown skyscrapers.Ĥ – Bank of America Center (photo below) – known as RepublicBank Center when completed in 1984 – was designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee. In the meantime, here’s where I would guide my friend to see the old and new Houston:ġ – The Julia Ideson Building (photo below), named for the city’s first professional librarian, is adjacent to the Houston Public Library downtown. They’re simply my favorite 15 crush-worthy structures.Ī note: The best possible way to see the historic side of downtown Houston is to leave the car behind and take one of Buffalo Bayou Partnership’s twilight pontoon boat tours. These are not necessarily the most historically significant or biggest or baddest buildings in town. I’ve rounded up the Houston landmarks where I would take out-of-towners for a Houston architectural tour. ![]() What buildings would you choose to represent Houston? Would you do a Heights crawl, street by street? Include the Astrodome? Visit the Beer Can House? Drive out to Stafford to view the astonishing BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Hindu temple (photo below)? Click images for source You want our hometown to be seen in the best possible light. Let’s say you have an architecture-loving friend coming to Houston for the weekend. ![]()
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