Champagne and Chocolates
Monday, October 1
Sunset Settings
1729 Sunset Boulevard
5:30 - 7:30pm
RSVP: 713/520-5138 by September 30
Last year the Chapter launched a new partnership with the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. The Board approved a proposal presented by Ernesto Maldonado, AIA, and supported by Dan Searight, AIA, Director for Design, to budget part of the proceeds from the Sand Castle Competition each year to fund the development of a collection of 20th and 21st century objects designed by architects to enhance the decorative arts collection at the Museum.
At the Holiday Party last December, Chapter members selected three objects for purchase: a desk by Sir Norman Foster, three Branzi vases, and a set of sterling flatware by Saarinen. Additional donations from individuals and firms augmented the Chapter's budget. Subsequently, two additional objects were donated to the collection: a prototype desk by Sally Walsh, donated by Raymond Brochstein, FAIA, and a Gehry chair, donated by Knoll.
It's time to celebrate the collaboration, thank the donors, and to begin to think about this year's objects. Mark your calendar for this focus on modern design hosted by Carolyn Brewer. And bring your ideas for the 2001 additions to the collection.
Monday, October 8
Duncan Hall, Rice University
6 pm Reception in the Foyer
6:45 pm Forum in McMurtry Auditorium
$30, AIA and AGC members; $20 AIA interns and associate members; $45, non-members
RSVP by October 4 by calling 713/520-5138. Reservations cancelled after October 4 and no-shows will be billed.
Parking in Visitor Lots in front of Lovett Hall, Entrance #1 off Main Street, and the Abercrombie Lot, Entrance #16 off Rice Boulevard.
Join your colleagues in the construction industry to hear a discussion of issues important to our industries and to the city. Mayor Lee Brown, Council Member Chris Bell, and Council Member Orlando Sanchez will respond to a series of questions prepared by the AIA/AGC Policy Council as well as take questions from the floor. The Forum will be moderated by Stephen Klineberg, Professor of Sociology at Rice University and principal investigator for the annual Houston Survey.
Don't miss this annual opportunity to explore issues of mutual interest to architects and contractors and this biennial opportunity to present these issues to those who seek to lead our city.
This meeting is sponsored by Diamond Affiliate Southwest Cyber Systems, Inc.
Annual Meeting at Enron Center South on October 22
5:30 pm Tours and cocktails
6:45 pm Annual Meeting and remarks by Roger Lewis, FAIA
RSVP by October 15 to 713/520-5138. Reservations cancelled after October 18 and no-shows will be billed.
$10 intern and associate members and guests; $15 architect members and affiliate members and guests; $25, non-members.
1.5 LUs, 1 HSW
Parking in the Allen Center Garage.
AIA Houston members will have the opportunity to have cocktails on the sky ring over Smith Street, tour the new trading floors, elect 2002 officers and directors, recognize colleagues contributing to the success of their projects, and hear about the importance of regular commentary in the press on urban design and planning issues.
Roger Lewis, FAIA, is an architect in Washington, D. C., who teaches in the School of Architecture at the University of Maryland. Since 1984 his award winning column, "Shaping the City," on architecture and urban design, has appeared weekly and bi-weekly Washington Post. He also illustrates his ideas with cartoons that bridge the gap between the public's interests and the architect's sometimes technical jargon. Lewis authored Architect? A Candid Guide to the Profession, published by the MIT Press in 1985 and co-authored The Growth Management Handbook, published in 1989. He will speak to us about the role of the architect in generating public discourse about the shape of the city.
The Annual Meeting is generously sponsored by McGraw Hill Information Systems and CHPA.
Philip Johnson and Texas: Photographs by Paul Hester
Photographs from the book project by Frank Welch, FAIA, published by the
University of Texas Press, 2000.
Opening Thursday evening, September 13, and continuing through
October 26.
Williams Tower, 2800 Post Oak Boulevard (formerly Transco
Tower). For more information, call 979/378-4220.
AIA Auxiliary Fall Event
Saturday, September 22
9 am - 5 pm
$22 per person
Tour four of the Painted Churches in the Schulenburg area and enjoy a buffet
lunch at the Oakridge Smokehouse. Guests welcome. RSVP by September 17.
Mail your check payable to Martha Bair, 9573 Doliver Drive, Houston, 77063.
For information call Martha Bair at 713/975-9419 or Rose Sundin at
713/666-3014.
From the re-creation of an urban townhouse to a Mexico-inspired
hacienda, homes on the 2001 tour of the American Institute of
Architects/Houston Chapter reflect the diversity of the homeowners'
lifestyles and desires as brought to fruition by talented local
architects of the AIA/Houston.
The tour will be held from 1-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, October
13-14.
Tickets are $15 and can be purchased during the tour hours at each home
as well as the AIA office, 3000 Richmond.
An information booklet on the homes will be available with the
purchase
of a ticket. For more information, the public may call the AIA/Houston
office at 713-520-0155.
The following homes are on the tour:
14103 Carolcrest Circle, Carolina Weitzman, AIA: An architect, whose
firm specializes in commercial work, designed this spacious home for her
own young family. An open concept on the first floor is cleverly broken
up by partial walls that function as anchors for the fireplace and
dining room buffet. To accommodate the family's lifestyle, which
includes entertaining friends and a large extended family, outdoor
"living spaces" are included on the first- and second-floor levels. The
Spanish style of the home reflects the homeowners' heritage: her family
emigrated from Nicaragua and her husband's family is from Argentina.
6142 Bordley, Joe Adams, AIA: When the fourth and fifth sons arrived
together as twins, it was time for this family to remodel and expand
their existing ranch-style home. The architect responded by anchoring
the new home around an internal, circular music room where the piano of
the wife, a musician, became center stage. The room is edged with
built-in banquettes while light for the space is "borrowed" through
windows into adjoining rooms and a giant skylight. Features include the
exotic stone, curvaceous countertops in the kitchen. In order for the
home to survive five active boys, materials, especially in the creative
boys "bunk room," were selected for their durability.
10239 Pineland, Pat Brooks, AIA: Built five years ago, this residence is
an example of the timeless appeal of an architect-designed home. The
exterior, with Mission style touches, is a combination of stucco and
stone with a red-tiled roof. Large windows and a screened rear porch
take advantage of the view of mature oak trees. The downstairs rooms
have a comfortable, English cottage ambiance, with aged wood flooring.
Custom touches include built-in banquettes flanking the downstairs
fireplace and recessed areas for dressers flanking the upstairs
fireplace in the master bedroom.
2522 Bluebonnet, Rodney Collins, AIA: This home began with a
double-trunk oak tree that the homeowners selected from a tree farm and
had relocated to their property. Picking up that theme are natural wood
floors and cabinetry, rare stone surfaces, a custom-designed stone
"floor" for the dining table and a custom-made steel gate. A secondary
theme of a ship is found in arching ceiling beams in the main family
room, a custom etched glass art piece in the master bathroom and a "bow"
balcony that extends out from the master bedroom. A third-level deck
serves as a spot for serious star-gazing. For the pre-teen son, Collins
designed a two-level bedroom with upper loft space.
3005 Avalon, Michael Landrum, Assoc. AIA: One of the homeowners of this
residence, who grew up in Mexico, wanted to be able to access the
outdoors from every single room. To accommodate this, the architect
designed an open, easy flowing interior that accesses courtyards and the
backyard pool through French doors. The Spanish Mission style exterior
includes arches and vintage metal gate railings. Downstairs floors are
stained in an unusual blue-green while lively colored walls punctuate
the interior. The kitchen was designed so that the homeowners can see a
school's park across the street, a specially painted blue exterior wall,
and the side entrance of the home.
1755 West Main, Barbara Brown Tennant, AIA: Residents Gerald Moorhead,
FAIA, and designer Yolita Schmidt took a Perry Homes townhouse in the
framing stage and made it uniquely their own. While happy with the
overall plan, which includes a large open living and kitchen space on
the second level, they made key changes that turned a traditional styled
home into a clean-lined, modern one. The fireplace was replaced by more
useful bookshelves, a light well over the entry was filled in to create
a second-floor seating nook, crown moldings were eliminated and
baseboards and door trims were modified to a simple, plain profile. At
the heart of the home, the kitchen was transformed with site-built birch
cabinets, a unique circular island topped with granite and sliding
cabinet doors painted in four Frank Lloyd Wright colors from the '50s.
Three brilliant colors, inspired by Mexican paper flowers, follow the
planes of the home through its three levels.
1920 Sunset, Michael Landrum, Assoc. AIA: The homeowners wanted their
new house to look as though it had always been in this Southampton
neighborhood. Architect Michael Landrum, Assoc. AIA, designed the
residence to evoke the romantic appeal of a 1920s Mediterranean style
house with stucco exterior and a tile roof. Plaster cove ceilings, heavy
textured wall finishes and recycled mosaic glass from a church in St.
Louis are some of the unique touches. Floors are antique pine, fireplace
surrounds are stucco and the main stairwell was created from antique
iron gates. Other details include a groin vault entry ceiling
decoratively painted in a Moroccan pattern, a gilded and painted barrel
ceiling in the dining room, and a variety of antique iron fixtures.
4510 Oleander, Wittenberg Partnership, AIA: A traditional form was given
a contemporary lift in this Bellaire home designed for an empty nester
couple, one of whom is an artist. Traditional elements, such as the
sloped metal roof and big stone chimney, are reminiscent of a Southern
farm house. But the heart of the home is the open 1,000-square-foot
central family space on the first floor, which includes kitchen, dining
and entertainment areas. Large wall surfaces with natural lighting were
designed to hold the couple's extensive artwork collection. The
comfortable, stream-lined interior is by interior designer Marlys
Tokerud, ASID.
