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.
