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Home , Downtown Houston, Sam Houston, Sam Houston Park, The Galleria

Cite Fall 1985 Citelines SALE! 40% Off On All Works of Art A New At Speedby*s House for 0!flllMimji i As Well as Our Other Paper Fascinations Sam rthC.-19thC. Park Architectural Prints a capital choice for Park, wirh its groves of your favorite architect trees and grassy slopes that roll towards * , is the only large green -1&4M 15th C. Illuminated Initials space in Houston, Since 1954, for the most personal gift when the Harris County Heritage Society • was established, it also has been a reposi- Staiti Home. 1905, attributed to Otle }. Lorebn, architect (Photo courtesy of the Antique Maps of tory for the city's oldest buildings. How- ever, the historic houses, which the Heri- Harris County Heritage Society) for excursions of toe mind • tage Society acquired incrementally, do not conform to any master plan, and they do The Staiti House was probably designed orientation it had on Westmoreland. It Hunting Prints not outline a perceivable volume of space. by Olle J. Lorehn, but was remodelled by also will be surrounded by a representa- Tallybo! Presently, the park seems to be an inter- Alfred C. Finn, one of Houston's most tive sample of the extensive gardens • stitial zone between an elevated interstate prolific architects, following the Storm of designed in 1917 by Edward Dewson, one Flowers & Fruit highway structure to the west and the 1915. Over the subsequent 65 years of Houston's first known professional Seashells wall of downtown skyscrapers to the east. members of the Staiti family lived there. landscape architects. The Staiti House, Because they barely changed Finn's together with five other Heritage Society Birds & Wildlife design, it will be fairly simple for Barry houses, will mark the perimeter of a circu- to bring toe outdoors in Within six months, however, Sam Hous- ton Park will become a more memorable Moore Architects to reconstruct and re- lar brick walkway, shaded by a ring of place to visit. A new master plan by the store the house in the park. trees. The SWA Group's plan of contigu- Lacy Antique Valentines SWA Group will create a "village green" ous paths and trees will create a space for your love to unite the presently scattered houses Fortunately, the Heritage Society has an which will provide a datum for the his- • around a coherent outdoor space. Visitors exceptional collection of photographs and toric houses, and visitors will perceive September and to the park will encounter a much broader measured drawings of the Staiti House, as a village, rather than a series of randomly distributed October 1985 range of history than the earliest years of which had been deposited in the society's Houston, for they will find a house built archives. These provide excellent docu- buildings. • in Westmoreland Place in 1905 as well as mentation of Houston family life during a new building that contains an exhibition the early years of the 20th century. This On 22 March 1986, the 150th anniversary spanning the entire . year, the Staiti heirs donated the house to of Texas's independence, the Heritage **>$*$*» the society, and the Robert W. Knox, Sr. Society will open a new museum building The Staiti House, a 20th-century comple- and Pearl Wallis Knox Foundation pro- on the corner of Bagby and Lamar, adja- ment to the 19th-century houses presently vided the funds for its dismantling, mov- cent to the Long Row. The exhibit inside in the park, will be moved this fall from ing, and reconstruction. Once it is relo- will survey four centuries of Texas history. Westmoreland Avenue. It was built by cated in Sam Houston Park, the Staiti The society envisions this building as Henry Thomas Staiti, a petroleum geolo- House will serve as the interim adminis- intermediary, for within a few years it gist and businessman. The son of an Ital- trative office of the Heritage Society. In a plans to build a large, permanent museum 2015-F West Gray ian immigrant, Staiti was involved in few years, the inside will be fully restored on another site in the park. The Mayor's River Oaks Center and other oil fields in the early and open for tours. The exterior will be Committee on the Sesquicentenntal has Houston, Texas "019 years of the petroleum industry; as a restored immediately to its appearance endorsed the project and a capital funds ri3)«l-9652 member of Houston's afflulent middle shortly after Finn's remodelling. drive is well underway. Tues.-Sai. IOam-$pm class, he settled in Westmoreland Place, the first private-place type neighborhood The Staiti House will occupy a site in Sam Philip Arcidi to be developed in Houston. Houston Park that replicates the solar We believe a professional should hire

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Planning The study offers far-sighted recommenda- tions for parks along Buffalo Bayou, In August, 1984, Mayor Kathryn emphasizing development along the west Whitmire created the Buffalo Bayou Task sector (Shepherd to Sabine), the down- Force. The mayor asked the task force to town sector (Sabine to Allen's Landing), devise a plan for redeveloping Buffalo and the east sector (Allen's Landing to the Bayou in order to make it a civic and Turning Basin). In the west sector, the commercial asset to the city. On 18 April report suggests improved access, lighting, 1985, the task force released its prelimi- and paths. On the east side, parks at nary repurt, which focuses on three major McKee Street, , and El issues - flood control, water quality, and Mercado del Sol are recommended. While park development. In each of these areas, the report is focused on the immediate the study suggests specific, practical development of a improvements. The improvements are adjoining Wortham Theater in the down- good examples of effective city planning: town sector, it also suggests that plans be they are long-term, flexible solutions to pursued for redevelopment of areas at problems that affect large and varied parts Allen's Landing, Commerce Street, the of the city. Plaza, Holcombe Square, the Public Works Yard, and Sam Houston Park. By mentioning these other The proposals offered for flood control areas as potential projects, the task force include the building of detention ponds in has set up the machinery for the long pro- the upper parts of the Buffalo and White cess of developing specific plans and rais- Oak basins to protect against downstream ing adequate funds. flooding. The ponds will collect and store floodwaters, allowing releases only when there is capacity in downstream sections The task force report offers schemes that of the bayou. In addition, flooding in these might be used in a variety of areas along streams is seen as both a problem of the bayou. For example, the bayou might upstream runoff and downstream limits in be protected from further construction stream capacity. The task force tried to aiong its banks and other forms of deal with both problems by suggesting not encroachment by a "bayou easement." only the detention ponds in the upper Also, roads along the bayou, such as watershed but also de-snagging and anti- Bagby, Franklin, and Navigation, might be erosion work in the downstream sections given "scenic right-of-way" and improved of the stream. Furthermore, by requiring with plantings and billboard controls. detention ponds as part of new develop- With green spaces and parkways strung ments, the city should be able to protect along the bayou, it could become a public against future flooding. place that would be used by people from all parts of the city. The task force also suggests an enduring solution to the problems of water quality The Buffalo Bayou Task Force has pro- in Buffalo and White Oak bayous. The duced a good report. Their recommenda- group endorses the new instream water- tions fit in with existing government quality standards for Buffalo Bayou, and policies. For example, inclusion of deten- urged consideration of similar standards tion ponds is already a requirement for for White Oak. By specifying water-quality plat approval in the White Oak standards for these receiving streams, the watershed, while regionalization of authorities recognize that a stream can sewage-treatment plants is already under- only dilute and degrade ,i certain amount way at the Turkey Creek facility. Also, the of" waste before the stream's water quality recommendations use laws that are begins to fall. By setting a water-quality already on the books. Water-quality stand- standard for the bayous, a cap is put on ards have already been issued for Buffalo the total amount of waste that can enter Bayou by the state. The idea of a scenic the stream. right-of-way is supported by Section 4610 of the Houston Building Code, Finally, The task force report also offers water- they use existing funding mechanisms quality recommendations that could affect and, at the same time, attract new donors. widespread parts of the city. The report Regionalization and construction of deten- recommends regionalization of sewage- tion ponds are on-going programs sup- treatment plants in the upper watershed ported by joint-venture agreements and correction of pump-station overflows between the city and private developers. and treatment-plant bypasses in the lower The proposal for a Sesquicentennial Park watershed. The two-pronged suggestion has appealed to several private donors, makes sense. In the upper watershed of and has already enlisted the support of Buffalo Bayou, the principal problem was Tenneco. In conclusion, the task force the construction of many small, "package" should be congratulated. They have pro- sewage-treatment plants. The package vided good ideas that should be workable plants suffered from little or no supervi- solutions. The task force itself has sion and from inadequate design. By a pol- offered private support and guidance to icy of regionalization, the city and city policies and finances. Together, the developers can build large, cost-efficient, task force and its study have made a sig- sophisticated, well-supervised sewage- nificant contribution to planning for treatment plants that should have much Houston's growth and for improving its better effluent than the package plants. quality of life. On the other hand, the problem and the solution in the lower part of the David Todd watershed are different. There, the pump

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Conceptual plan of the Sesquicentenmal Pari Cite Fall 1985 A Survey Of Street Life

In November 1984, William H. Wbyte, DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) got widely respected urban analyst and author good grades for service from those who ofThe Social Life of Small Urban Spaces, use the buses regularly (about 20 percent), spoke to the Associa- and the downtown Hop-A-Buses are a tion on how to make our urban centers smash. But the city's bus shelters were more vital, active, and livable places. In almost universally condemned as poorly March 19RX Whyte conducted a survey of located and badly maintained. Some peo- downtown street life in Dallas, followed ple wrote that the shelters, especially the by a two-day seminar there. As we lack of them, was the main reason they thought the survey might offer lessons for don't ride the bus. On a related issue, 62 Houston, we requested this special report percent believed that the underground from David Dillon. (JKO) concourses should be extended, while 58 percent felt similarly about the skyways. Dallasites may talk a lot about street crime Whyte noted, however, that those who and street people, but many of them were opposed to extending the systems believe that downtown streets are safe. were strongly so ("lots of exclamation And despite the city's reputation as a points in the margins") while those in stuffy, puritanical burg, there is a hearty favor believed that since the city had appetite for vendors, outdoor cafes, street already spent some $12 million on the sys- performers, and other heretical Mediter- tems it might as well go the rest of the ranean pleasures. These are two of the way. Many people felt that downtown mure tantalizing conclusions to be drawn parking is inadequate, despite the pres- from William H. Whyte's survey of down- ence of 66,000 spaces. "That has to be a town street life in Dallas, which garnered record," Whyte gasped Many people also nearly 700 responses and was the subject mentioned housing as an essential ingre- of two lively public seminars at the Cen- dient of a lively downtown, though few tral Dallas Library. "There was great said that they would actually move down- enthusiasm for what I'd call grace notes," town themselves. Whyte said. "The results confirmed my feeling that these things will go in Dallas On more architectual matters, Plaza of the if given half a chance." America's was chosen as the friendliest office building, followed by LTV Center Whyte has been making regular visits to and Lincoln Plaza, Thanks-Giving Tower Extraordinary Creative Latin Cuisine Dallas since the late 1970s, usually in con- was named the least friendly, with Inter- junction with seminars sponsored by the First II and ARCO Tower closing fast. Dallas Institute of Humanities and Cul- Thanks-Giving Square was the most popu- 616 Westheimer • Houston 77006 ture. In 1984 the city commissioned him lar public space by a wide margin. There to study its barren City Hall Plaza in were also numerous mentions of the new hopes of making it something other than tables and chairs on City Hall Plaza, (713)520-6315 a grand setting for a piece of architectural accompanied by pleas for more of sculpture. Whyte made a number of his everything. familiar recommendations: moveable tables and chairs, food kiosks, windbreaks, The most significant missing grace note in Masonry and more and larger trees. His report was , according to the survey, lukewarmly received by local architects, is shopping. People wrote comments such who thought his proposals would com- as "Few interesting stores. Downtown promise the integrity of LM. Pet's design, looks beat." It was the main reason given but city officials were sufficiently for the low pedestrian count on downtown impressed to hire him to conduct a survey streets. "That was the one thing that came of downtuwn street life. through in all the questions," Whyte said. "People in Dallas feel very strongly about Whyte's questionnaire, published in the it, which of course delights me." This may daily newspapers, was intended to mea- explain the annointing of Plaza of the sure habits ("Do you use buses regularly?") America's as downtown Dallas's friendli- as well as impressions and assumptions est building. From the outside it is a chil- ("Where is the center of Dallas?"). On the ling monolith, first cousin to Renaissance latter issue, 178 people said that the cen- Center in Detroit and Bonaventure Center ter is the central business district, with in Los Angeles. It makes every critic's hit Thanks-Giving Square the hub of choice; list, Whyte's included. Yet it has shopping n 52 people thought the center is the inter- - 100,000 square feet of it, much of it section of the LBJ Freeway and Dallas expensive and all wrapped around an ice Parkway at ; 44 people said skating rink. Dallas has no center; and 6 were con- .1 rhmic material- vinced it is somewhere in the NorthPark Whyte said that he was far less interested Masonry Institute Houston -Galveston shopping center. One person wrote testily, in the statistical validity of the survey than 629-6024 "I don't identify with downtown Dallas at in what people said and how they said it. * all. Very few do. Why don't you pay atten- For this reason he did all the tabulations tion to where 90 percent of the rest of us himself, sifting through stacks of forms in live?" search of a penetrating aside or a reveal- ing squiggle. His general conclusion was that downtown Dallas is a livelier and more interesting place than it was a few years ago, when he first began visiting the Spoon. city. "If 1 were a member of the City A coffee spoon for all seasons, Council with an interest in downtown, I'd be very encouraged by the results of this Ihe Melitta coffee scoop survey," he said. "It wouldn't take a whole measures exactly one level hell of a lot to change things for the better tablespoon of coffee. Thafs .... There is an energy there, a drive to what the House of Coffee Beans be number one, that you don't find in a lot recommends as the basic of cities, I've recently spent a lot of time ; measure for each cup of coffee. in Topeka, Kansas. What is there to say Those of you who are used to about Topeka?" the two-tablespoon canned coffee measure mav be David Dillon surprised by that amount. Come by the store for a sample, and find out how good "less is more" can be. Especially when it's freshly roasted and properly brewed. HOUSE of COFFEE BEANS Houston's » • original coffee store since 1973. 2520 Rce Boulevard in the Village 524-0057 10-6 Monday • Saturday Cite Fall 1985 Rebirth for

Root Square . SOI Park 9# o

Root Square Park may soon symbolize hope for an expanded vital and humane central Houston. The 1.42-acre park cov- ers one full city block, bounded by Austin, L Clay, LaBranch, and Bell streets. After it was donated to the city in 1925 by A.P. and Laura Root, it enjoyed a heyday as "one of the thrilling sights of the city, with its lighted play areas 3nd its modern- istic white brick building with blue trim, where daily large crowds of children and adults meet for all types of sports and recreation." However, by the 1960s the it City Council member Eleanor Tinsley and City Planning Commission Chairman demography of the city center had Burdette Keeland view model of Root Square Park. Richard Profitt, designer, and changed and park programs failed to New attract enough participation to justify Vernon Henry and Associates, landscape architects upkeep on the recreation center with its office workers both a respite from the The heart of the square should be worth The Critical two handball courts and restrooms. In hot city streets and interesting to view discovering. The grid sinks in colored-riie 1972, the badly deteriorated facilities were from above. The existing trees had to be steps to form hard-edged pools with Edge demolished, leaving only the large live oak protected, redwood "California issue" deepening hues of magenta to light pur- Controversy in Recent and pecan trees that line Bell and Austin benches avoided, and the idea of a place, ple, marking slight increases in depth. American Architecture streets. not an expanse to walk across, was While wading is not officially sanctioned, edited by Tod A. Murder emphasized. the pools will not be cordoned off, and The Critical Edge identities and pre- When attention again was focused on will be tempting. The grid also will be -,enl>, L.IM.1 Iiislui ics of the 12 most Root Square Park in the 1980s, Burdette First place was awarded to UH student raised randomly to form seating. Beds of talked about building of our times. Keeland, chairman of the board of the Richard Profitt's design. The new "strol- azaleas are planned and crepe myrtles will No other buildings of this era have Park People, dreamed of a limited inter- ling" park will have a soft greenbelt further delineate the space and add sea- so aroused Ihc public. sodi\ ided Itu- national competition for its redesign. Four around a hard center. The entrance comes sonal color. profession, and so stimulated the architects - Michael Graves, Arata lsozaki, diagonally from the northwest corner of press as those that are discussed James Stirling, and Ricardo Legorreta - the block, responding to a perceived axis The rebirth of Root Square Park as an here. Introductory essays are by Tod would be paid for a scheme, and the three from the future convention center. The urban amenity is being coordinated by the A. Marder. Robert BruegnUUtn, and designs not used for the park would be pavement is gridded accordingly, loosely Park People and the Houston Parks and Martin Filler. Copuhlished with The held for future full-block city parks. forming a rotated square within a square. Recreation Department. This exemplary Jane Voomces Zimmerli Art Though the architects showed interest, Five-foot walls around the park, proposed collaboration of the public and private Museum of Rutgers University. the idea was dropped as too expensive, by the winning designer, were seen as too sectors is spearheaded on the private side 9x11 200 pp. MOillus.. and a very localized competition was held restrictive a way of creating a "space" and by Texas Eastern Corporation's Gloria in a fifth-year architecture studio at the replaced by gentle berms that can be Pierpont who is working to raise the 12 in color $25.00 University of Houston in 1983- crossed on foot. Yet the park is presented $750,000 needed to rebuild the park • as a cul-de-sac. So why should the park - $200,000 has already been donated by City Parks Director Don Olson and bounded by streets, not sandwiched in Texas Eastern, and another $50,000 has Burdette Keeland taught the design stu- between buildings as is Paley Park in been pledged since the fund-raising effort The MIT Press dio, stressing the need to design for the New York City - be so emphatically direc- began last May. area's future. Their 50-year vision tional? Is it impossible to have a "place" 28 Carlelon Slreet • Cambridge. MA 1)21-12 included not only the convention center that also permits passage? One hopes that Jan O'Brien now under construction, but a forest of the dated berm approach to directing skyscrapers. The students were told to people, so unsuccessful at Market Square, design an urban park that would be for will be a minor gesture.

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. 1 Cite Fall 1985 Arquitectonica At Blaff e r

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Taggart Townhouse;, 1984. Arquitecton- ica, architect (Photo by Paul Hetterl

[ The Sarah Campbell Blaffer Gallery at the w University of Houston will present I na a "Arquitectonica - Yesterday Today Tomorrow," an exhibition documenting a Hi] a the work of the Miami architectural firm, Arquitectonica, between 10 November and Itsa. ft DOUBII HUNG [ / l l l l 15 December 1985 Forty-nine projects that the firm produced between 1977 and •BlflBA L ' Marvin Windows can be 1984 will be displayed in drawings, mod- i j - ^ , made to order for you in els, and photographs. Included are build- * &JF& any of more than 1,500 ings and designs in Houston, Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, and Corpus Christi, sizes and shapes. You can choose as well as in Florida, California, New casements, gliders, double hungs, York, Peru, and Ecuador. The exhibition PRESERVATION TECHNOLOGY single hungs, pictures, triangles, was organized by Jan van der Marck for for exterior/lobby trapezoids, even round top windows, the Center for the Fine Arts in Miami. A RESTORATION & CONSERVATION terrace doors and patio doors. catalogue by Frederick Koepper will be • Jobsite Investigation & Reports All are extremely energy-efficient available at the gallery. In conjunction • Jobsite Technical Supervision with the exhibition, the Blaffer Gallery • Jobsite Field Service and made from beautiful Ponderosa will sponsor a tour of Arquitectonica's • Weatharguard/Cox Products pine. Yet they're no more expensive Houston buildings and a talk by Laurinda • Worldwide Preservation Network than other brands of quality windows. Spear and Bernardo Fort-Brescia. The Blaffer Gallery is open Monday through C

CRAUBART RUDY Young Rosenthal Baccarat Alessi Architects CRAUBART RUDY Forum Kosta BOda Buccellatl orrefors Takes Off

Although organized only last spring, the CRAUBART RUDY Young Architects Forum, a task force of Royal Copenhagen Dorothy Hafner the Houston Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, has already planned a full season of diversified CRAUBART RUDY activities. Christofle Ceorg Jensen Oggetti Soirees will continue to be held at the Driscoll Street Cafe (1834 Wesrheimer). where drawings shows will rotate on a six-week cycle. According to Natalye CRAUBART RUDY Appel, one of the 12 members of the Fine China, Crystal and Flatware forum's steering committee, the evening events have attracted between 75 and 100 River oaks center • 1985 w. Cray • Houston, Texas 77019 • 521-1397 young architects and other design profes- sionals and artists.

Beginning on Tuesday, 1 October, the forum will launch a four-part lecture ser- ies called "Emerging Architects: Architec- ture in Houston." Appearing will be Val Terra Surveying Company- Glitsch (1 October), Chelsea Architects (15 October), Compendium (29 October), providing a full range of land surveying and Makover-Levy (12 November). All lectures will be held at the Houston services to Houston and Austin's Design Center beginning at 8 nt A spring series is planned also; it will highlight new architectural talent from other Texas architectural community: cities. For more information on the lec- tures, telephone John Rogers at • Development Plats * Topographic Surveys 713/520-5082.

• Boundary Surveys • Tree Surveys Long-range plans being formulated by the steering committee include a possible • Completion Surveys super-studio, composed of students from Pam Wilson Graphics area architecture schools, focused on a Houston urban design problem to be worked out with the Houston Chapter 4900 Woodway 9020 Capital or Texas AIA Urban Design Committee. Tenth Floor Highway Houston. Texas Suite 346 Participation in the Young Architects 77056 SURVEYING Austin. Texas 78759 Forum is open to all interested individ- (713) 993-0327 COMPANY, I N C . (512) 343-6205 uals. For more information, telephone steering committee chairman Matt Starr at 713/524-2155.