Texas: The Latest Architecture and News

Thousands gathered Saturday to celebrate the grand opening of Santiago Calatrava‘s Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge that connects east and west Dallas seamlessly over the Trinity River. A parade of builders, including everyone from those to poured the concrete to Calatrava himself, were the first to march across the new Dallas icon, followed by nearly 16,000 other people. Although the bridge is still not quite ready for vehicular traffic, the city celebrated its commencement with an impressive display of fireworks. Continue reading for more.

SOL Austin - Solutions Oriented Living – is a model development of a sustainable community that integrates social, economic and ecological components to create a “holistic community”. The project was a result of a partnership between KRDB Architects, Beck-Reit contractors, the Guadalupe Neighborhood Development Corporation (GNDC) and the Austin Housing Finance Corporation. The medium density, single-family in-fill project in central east Austin, just three miles from downtown incorporates a significant portion of low-income and affordable housing, sustainable practices and consideration for the kind of future that developments like this can create.

Read on for photos, plans and more information about this project, considered for the AIA 2011 Design Awards in Urban Design.

+ 40

The concept of territorial architecture is a topic that questions various strategic understandings of complex site systems defined by conceptual ideologies, environmental implications, and identification of emerging phenomenal underlying patterns.

Borrowing influences from Zaha Hadid’s dramatic early paintings, the constructed landscapes of CJ Lim, and the writings by Sanford Kwinter, these investigations by Haecceitas Studio attempt to construct a series of methods, which will reveal the haecceity of multivalent landscapes. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Each year the Texas Society of Architects recognizes a building that was completed 25-50 years ago which they believe has “stood the test of time by retaining its central form, character, and overall architectural integrity”. This year, the prestigious honor is awarded to Fountain Place, designed by Henry Cobb of I. M. Pei & Partners and completed back in 1986 in Dallas, Texas.

Frank Harmon, FAIA, principal of Frank Harmon Architects PA in Raleigh, will be the featured speaker for the AIA Lecture Series in San Antonio, Texas, on March 30, beginning 6 p.m. in the historic Pearl Studio conference center on Grayson Street.

Houston is our focus this week for our Architecture City Guide series. We know Houston is packed with lots of great architecture so we are expecting to hear about your can’t miss buildings in the comment section below. Remember this list is intended to be added to by you, our readers. We will be updating our Architecture City Guides in the future to reflect your suggested buildings to visit.

Follow the break for our Houston list and corresponding map!

Slovenian architects OFIS Architekti shared with us this affordable sustainable housing project in El Paso, Texas.

The proposal separates the site in two roughly equal halves: North and South. The North is proposed for Phase II of the development, because its corner location suited best as commercial or mixed use development. Housing complex is located in more quiet, southern part of the plot and is gathered in a form of a nest – living mount of apartments, stuck one above another. The form makes a perfect shape as a shield protecting the units from sun and wind and the other hand offers quality environment: light, well ventilated with created different types of shared areas, both external and internal. Apartment units are orientated towards the internal park or towards the exterior. With its orientation keep intimacy and opened views to inhabitants. Apartments on level +1 around the internal park have atriums and terraces connected to the plaza.

Texas Tech University’s College of Architecture in conjunction with the American Institute of Architecture Students will host a symposium and workshop April 15-16 that will focus on making its campus more environmentally friendly.