Architecture of Houston

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The Houston architecture includes a variety of award-winning and historic examples located in different areas of Houston, Texas. From the beginning of history to the present day, the city inspires innovative and challenging design and construction buildings, as it quickly grows into an internationally recognized commercial and industrial center in Texas and the United States.

Some of Houston's oldest and most distinctive architectures are found in downtown, as the city grows around Allen's Landing and the historic Market Square area. During the middle and later centuries, Downtown Houston was a collection of modest mid-rise office structures, but has grown to become the third largest horizon in the United States. The Uptown District experienced rapid growth along with Houston during the 1970s and early 1980s. In the late 1990s Uptown Houston saw the construction of many medium and high residential buildings. The Uptown District is also home to other structures designed by architects such as I. M. Pei, CÃƒÆ'Ã… Â© sar Pelli and Philip Johnson.

Houston has many examples of residential architecture with a variety of styles, from the mansions of River Oaks and Memorials to the homes of several wards. A number of the oldest houses in Houston are located in what is now Sam Houston Park. Houses in Heights have a variety of architectural styles, including Victorian, Craftsman, and Colonial Revival. The post-war housing built throughout Houston reflects many architectural styles.

Video Architecture of Houston

Skyscraper

Some of Houston's oldest and most distinctive architectures are found in the northern part of the city center, as the city grows around Allen's Landing and the historic Market Square district, where several representations of 19th century urban architecture still stand.

The Hilton Houston Post Oak Hotel (formerly Warwick Post Oak) was designed by I. M. Pei. Its twin towers join a large lobby with a curved glass ceiling that during the day illuminates the entire space. The hotel has more than 30,000Ãƒ, sqÃƒ, ftÃƒ, (2,800Ãƒ, mÃƒ,Ã‚Â²) . meeting rooms and 448 rooms, including two 3.000Ãƒ, sqÃƒ, ftÃƒ, (280Ãƒ, mÃƒ,Ã‚Â²) . presidential suites and just a block from the Galleria. In 2005, the hotel was renovated to reflect a more contemporary style that reflects the original design.

The Rice Hotel, built in 1912 on the former site of the old Capitol Building of the Republic of Texas, was restored in 1998, after years of standing unused. The original building was destroyed in 1881 by Colonel A. Groesbeck, who later established a 5-storey hotel called the Capitol Hotel. William Marsh Rice, founder of Rice University, bought the building in 1883, added a five-story pavilion, and renamed it the Rice Hotel. Rice University then sold the building in 1911 to Jesse Jones, who destroyed it and built a 17-story structure on the site. The new Rice Hotel building opened on May 17, 1913. This historic hotel now functions as an apartment building known as The Rice Lofts, designed by Page Southerland Page.

The Texas State Hotel was built in 1926 from a design by architect Joseph Finger, who also made plans for Houston City Hall. The hotel has a detailed Spanish Renaissance and carved metal canopies, most of which are still intact even though the building, until now, has been vacant since the mid-1980s. This hotel is a designated landmark of Houston City, and with its refurbished terra cotta detailing the faÃƒÂ§ade, has been re-actively used.

The Gulf Building, now called the JPMorgan Chase building, is an Art Deco skyscraper. Completed in 1929, it remained the tallest building in Houston until 1963, when the Exxon Building passed it. Designed by architect Alfred C. Finn (designer of San Jacinto Monument), Kenneth Franzheim, and J.E.R. The carpenter, this building is seen as the realization of the second place entry given by Eliel Saarinen to the Chicago Tower competition. The restoration of the building began in 1989, in what is still considered one of the largest privately-funded conservation projects in American history.

The Niels and Mellie Esperson buildings are an example of Italian Renaissance architecture in downtown Houston. Designed by John Eberson, two buildings were built in 1927 and 1941, respectively. They are detailed with large columns, large urns, terraces, and large tempietto at the top, similar to those built in the San Pietro courtyard of Rome in 1502. Mellie Esperson has the first building built for her husband, Niels, real estate and oil tycoon. His name is carved on the side of the building with a capital letter on the road surface. The name "Mellie Esperson" is carved on the accompanying structure, known as the Mellie Esperson building, though it is really just a 19-storey annexe to the original building.

Designed by Fort Worth architect Wyatt C. Hedrick, Shamrock Hotel is an 18-story building built between 1946 and 1949 with a green paved roof and 1,100 rooms. The hotel is conceived by wildcatter Glenn McCarthy as a scaled city-sized hotel for conventions with a resort atmosphere. Shamrock is located in a suburban area, three miles (5 km) southwest of downtown Houston on the outskirts of the countryside and is intended to be the first phase of a much wider indoor shopping and entertainment complex called the McCarthy Center, anchored next to Texas Medical planned. Center. On the north side of the hotel there is a five-story building containing a garage of 1,000 cars and an exhibition space of 25,000 square feet (2,300 m). To the south is a luxurious hotel park designed by Ralph Ellis Gunn, a huge 165-by-142-foot (43 m) terrace and large swimming pool that is described as the largest outdoor swimming pool in the world, which accommodates water skiing exhibits and features three floors - high diving platform with open spiral staircase. Despite protests by local preservationists, Shamrock was destroyed June 1, 1987. The Institute of Biosciences and Technology now stands at its original location.

The 18-storey Prudential building, designed by Kenneth Franzheim, was built in 1952 at Texas Medical Center. The Prudential Building ground floor walls are lined with dark red Texas granite; upstairs on the northwest and northeast sides of the Texas limestone. The southwest and southeast sides, though, are faced with a full-height aluminum arrangement to "harness sunlight and air circulation to influence the economy in air conditioning." It was the first local corporate office building in Houston located outside of the central business district. The Prudential Building was destroyed January 8, 2012.

In the 1960s, Downtown Houston was a collection of modest mid-rise office structures, but has grown to become the third largest horizon in the United States. In 1960, the central business district had 10 million square feet (1,000,000 mÃ‚Â²) of office space, rising to about 16 million square feet (1,600,000 mÃƒ, Ã‚Â²) in 1970. Downtown Houston was on the verge of a boom in the year 1970 with 8.7 million square feet (870,000 mÃƒ, 2) of planned or built office space and major projects launched by real estate developers.

The largest proposed development is the Houston Center, originally planned to cover 32-block areas. However, in 1989, when the company that acquired the original developers sold the Houston Center, the complex consists of three office buildings, shopping malls, and hotels. Other large projects include the Cullen Center, Allen Center, and towers for the Shell Oil Company. The skyscraper surge reflects the boom of skyscrapers in other basking cities, such as Los Angeles and Dallas. Houston had accelerated the construction of the city center in the 1970s with a booming energy industry.

The first large skyscraper built in Houston was One Shell Plaza on the 50th, 714-foot (218 m) floor in 1971. A series of skyscrapers was built throughout the 1970s, culminating with Houston's highest, floor 75, 1,002-foot (305 m) tall JPMorgan Chase Tower (formerly the Texas Trade Tower), designed by IM Pei and completed in 1982. In 2010, it was the tallest man-made structure in Texas, the twelfth tallest building in the State State and a skyscraper the 43rd highest sky in the world.

Pennzoil Place, designed by Philip Johnson and built in 1976, is the most award-winning skyscraper in Houston and is known for its innovative design. The 46-story One Houston Center, built in 1978, is 207 m (678 ft) and designed by S.I. Morris Associates, Caudill Rowlett Scott, and 3D/International.

Fulbright Tower, built in 1982 and designed by Caudill Rowlett & amp; Scott Architects, is a 52-story tower made of steel with concrete supported on metal deck floor plates. The exterior wall consists of ribbon window walls with granite spandrel panels and framed aluminum windows with insulated glass. The spandrel panel is a polished granite supported by a steel frame system. The interior wall surfaces are constructed from Italian fire pieces of Rosa Beta granite, dug in Sardinia, mixed with Makore wood and stainless steel trim.

In 1983, Wells Fargo Bank Plaza was completed, which became the second tallest building in Houston and Texas, and the eleventh highest in the country. It was designed by Skidmore, Owings & amp; Merrill and Lloyd Jones Brewer and Associates and supposedly resemble the abstract dollar sign in the plan. From the street level, the building is 71 stories high, or as high as 972 feet (296 m). He also expanded four more stories below the road surface.

The Bank of America Center is one of the first significant examples of postmodern architecture built in downtown Houston. The building, completed in 1984 and designed by Philip Johnson and partner John Burgee, reminiscent of the architecture of Dutch Gothic canal houses that used to be common in the Netherlands. The first part is 21 floors, while the entire building reaches a height of 56 levels.

Heritage Plaza is a 53-storey tower, 232 m in the city center. Buildings designed by M. Nasar & amp; Partners P.C., completed in 1986. The building is known for the Mayan granite temple design at the top, which was inspired by the architect's visit to Mexico YucatÃƒÆ'Ã‚Â¡n. Recently renovated at a cost of six million US dollars, the building was the last major office building completed in downtown Houston before the collapse of the Texas real estate, banking and oil industries in the 1980s.

The Houston building boom of the 1970s and 1980s ceased in the mid-1980s, due to the excess oil of the 1980s. Construction of skyscrapers back in 2003, but new buildings are simpler and not as high. During the year George Lancaster, a spokesman for the Hines company, said, "I predict J.P. Morgan Chase Tower will be the tallest building in Houston for some time."

In the early 1990s many older office buildings throughout Houston remained uninhabited. At the same time new office building for large companies opened.

In 1999, the Houston-based Enron Corporation began construction of a 40-story skyscraper. Designed by Cesar Pelli & amp; Partner and Kendall/Heaton Associates, and completed in 2002, the building was originally known as the Enron Center. The company collapsed in a manner that was published in 2001, and the building became officially known by its address, 1500 Louisiana Street

One of the main landmarks in downtown Houston is Discovery Green, a large public park designed by Page Southerland Page with Hargreaves Associates.

The Uptown District, located on Interstate 610 West (referred to locally as "West Loop") between US Highway 59 and Interstate 10, was boomed along with Houston during the 1970s and early 1980s. During that time the area grew from farmland in the late 1960s to a collection of high-rise office buildings, residential properties, and retail companies, including the Houston Galleria. This area is an example of what architectural theorists call the edge city. In the late 1990s, Uptown Houston saw the construction of many of the tallest intermediate and high-rise residential buildings around 30 floors.

The highest structure in Uptown Houston is the 901-foot (275 m) Williams Williams tower, designed by Philip Johnson (formerly "Transco Tower"), built in 1983. At that time, the building became the highest in the world. skyscrapers outside the downtown business district. The building is above it with spinning spotlights that constantly search the horizon. Williams Tower was named "Skyscraper of the Century" in the December 1999 edition of the magazine Texas Monthly .

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Landmarks and monuments

The Merchants and Manufacturers Building (M & amp Building) was built in 1930 and was the largest building in Houston at the time. It displays 14 miles (23 km) from the floor space and can accommodate one third of the city's population. The Art Deco-style building is recognized as part of the National Register of Historic Places, is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, and is considered a Contributing Building in the Main Market District of Houston. Since 1974, the M & amp; M has been part of the University of Houston-Downtown and was given the official title as "One Main Building" by the university.

The historic Trinity Church in Midtown on Main Street, dating from 1919, is a neo-Gothic structure, designed by the architectural firm, Cram and Ferguson, whose Houston work also includes several buildings at Rice University and Julia Ideson Building of the Houston Public Library. The Morrow Chapel church was renovated in 2002 and features stained glass, artwork, and liturgical furnishings by artists such as Kim Clark Renteria, Kermit Oliver, Troy Woods, Shazia Sikander, and Selven O'Keef Jarmon.

The Uptown District is home to structures designed by architects such as IM Pei, CÃƒÆ' Ã‚ Â© sar Pelli and Philip Johnson, including Saint Martin Episcopal Church (with towers and antennas reaching 188 feet (57 m) to the sky), designed by Jackson & amp; Ryan Architects and completed in 2004. St. Martin is featured on the cover of three national magazines: Civil Engineering (April 2005), Modern Steel Construction (May 2005) and Structure (December 2005). The San Jacinto Monument is a 570 feet (173.7 m) column-high above it with a 220-ton star commemorating the San Jacinto Battle site, a decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. The monument, dedicated to April 21, 1939, is the world's tallest tower of monuments and rock towers, and is located along the Houston Ship Channel. The column is an octagonal shaft faced with a Cordova shellstone. This is the second highest monument in the United States. The monument was designated as a National Historic Landmark on 19 December 1960, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was also designated as the Landmark of Civil Engineering Historic in 1992.

The Williams Waterwall is a storied fountain fountain located at the southern end of Williams Tower in Uptown. That and the surrounding gardens were built as an architectural amenity for adjacent towers. Both fountains and towers were designed by Pritzker Prize architects, Philip Johnson. Completed in 1983, a 64-foot semi-circular fountain (20 m) and was among 118 trees in Texas Live Oak. Approximately 11,000 gallons of water per minute flows down large sheets channeled on both sides of the narrow circle up from the circle to the wider base below.

Theater District

The Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts, commonly known as Jones Hall, is a performance venue in Houston and the permanent home of the Houston Symphony Orchestra and the Houston Society for the Performing Arts. Completed in October 1966 at a cost of $ 7.4 million, it was designed by Houston-based architectural firm, Caudill Rowlett Scott. The hall, which occupies the city block, has a white Italian marble exterior with eight-story high columns. The lobby is dominated by a 60-foot (18 m) high ceiling with a huge bronze statue by Richard Lippold entitled "Gemini II." The concert hall ceiling consists of 800 hexagonal segments that can be raised or lowered to alter the acoustics of the hall. The building won the 1967 America Institute of Worthiness Award, which is awarded only to one building each year.

Alley Theater Building was opened in November 1968 and contains two stages. The main stage has 824 seats and is called "Hubbard"; the more intimate stage, 310-seat, is "Neuhaus." Outside, there are nine towers and an open terrace. Inside, a spiral staircase from the front hall goes into the second floor lobby. The theater was built largely by a $ 1.4 million grant from the Ford Foundation to support an innovative theater architecture, and the ultimate architect on the project was Ulrich Franzen.

The Wortham Theater Center is a performing arts center officially opened in Houston on May 9, 1987. The center was designed by Eugene Aubry of the Morris-Aubry Architects and built entirely with $ 66 million in personal funds. The Brown Theater, with 2,423 seats, was named for donors, Alice and George Brown. It is used primarily for opera and large ballet production. The Cullen Theater, with 1,100 seats, is named for donors Lillie and Roy Cullen. This is used for smaller ballet production and other events. The entrance of Wortham's signature arches is made of glass and stands 88 feet (27 m) tall. The large staircase (which is actually an escalator bank) is surrounded by a site-specific artwork created by the New York Albert Paley sculptor.

Lyric Center is located in the heart of the Theater District, just across the road from Wortham Center and adjacent to the Alley Theater. The black and white striped office building has dozens of law firms, but the block where the tower is probably best known by the giant cellist playing outside. This is the work of the sculptor David Addickes, who also created the statue of Sam Houston outside Huntsville, Texas.

The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts is a relatively new addition in the Theater District. It was designed by architect Robert A. M. Stern and completed in 2002, providing two special theaters for theater and musical performances. Sarofim Hall, a 2,600-actress designed acoustic theater for a Broadway production tour, is home to "Theater Under the Stars." Zilkha Hall, an intimate 500-seat venue with full orchestral holes, features a smaller tour group.

Museum District

The original building of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, designed by William Ward Watkin, opened in 1924. This is the first art museum built in Texas and the third in the South. The museum building has been growing for years. Cullinan Hall, designed by Mies van der Rohe in International style, was opened in 1958. In the 1970s, the addition was received additionally, also designed by van der Rohe. These two additions are a statement of modern architecture that uses an abundance of glass and steel.

In 1968, the Miller Outdoor Theater building, designed by Eugene Werlin and Associates, won several awards, including the American Iron and Steel Institute's Biannual Award (1969), the American Institute of Steel Construction's Award of Excellence , and James E. Lincoln Award Las Arc Foundation . The 1968 theater building was refurbished beginning in 1996, adding a small stage at the eastern end of the facility that serves to a newly opened square area.

Also in the Museum District is the non-denominational Rothko Chapel, founded by John and Dominique de Menil, designed by Mark Rothko and Philip Johnson and completed in 1971. The interior serves not only as a chapel but also as a masterpiece of modern art. On the walls there are 14 colorful black paintings by Mark Rothko, which greatly affects the shape and design of the chapel. Rothko was given creative control, and he clashed with Philip Johnson over the plan. Rothko continued to work first with Howard Barnstone and then with Eugene Aubry, but he did not live to see the chapel finish. In September 2000, the Rothko Chapel was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Museum of Contemporary Art occupies a stainless steel building at a prominent site on the corner of Montrose and Bissonnet - the heart of the Houston Museum District. This highly recognizable building was designed for the Museum by Gunnar Birkerts and opened in 1972. In 1997, the museum underwent a major renovation of its first facility in 25 years.

In addition, St. Chapel Basil, on the nearby campus of St. University Thomas, is a work of art designed by Philip Johnson who has won many awards for his architecture. The chapel, built in 1997, contrasts with all the other buildings on campus, as it is made of white stucco and black granite, rather than a pink brick. It also consists of three geometric shapes: cubes, balls, and fields. The cube forms the majority of the buildings, including the main seating area, while the semi-spherical dome of gold is covered with 23.5 carat gold leaves rising high above the cube. The granite plane divides the cube and opens the chapel into light. The connection of the cube and the plane with the dome, creates the impression that the dome is not a cover for the Chapel, but rather an opening to the sky.

Designed by Renzo Piano, Menil Collection is a museum of contemporary art known for its simplicity, flexibility, open space and natural light lighting located in a small park surrounded by housing. Opened in 1986, a steel-box, wood, and glass of two and a half meters (123 m), contains a collection of works by John and Dominique de Menil.

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Residential architecture

Houston is home to a variety of architectural styles of residence, from mansions at River Oaks and Memorials to rowing houses in several wards. The oldest houses in Houston are now located in Sam Houston Park, including Kellum-Noble House, which was built in 1847 and is the oldest brick house in Houston. During the late 1930s and early 1940s, Kellum-Noble House served as a public office for the Houston City Park Department, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Nichols-Rice-Cherry House (which was moved from San Jacinto Street) is also located in Sam Houston Park. This is an example of the Greek Revival architecture and was built around 1850 by Ebeneezer B. Nichols from New York. Between 1856 and 1873 it was owned by financial owner William Marsh Rice, whose land helped create the Rice Institute (now Rice University) in 1912.

Houses in Heights have a variety of architectural styles, including Victorian, Craftsman, and Colonial Revival. This neighborhood consists of several large houses and many cottages and small bungalows, many built in the late 19th and early 20th century. After 1905, Victorian cottages tend to be replaced by bungalows.

Although there are several examples in Colonial Rise Colonial Heights, the most popular "elite" type of the 1910 era, other upscale homes were adapted from certain historical models popular in the 1920s, such as Shefer House with the Dutch. The colonial Javanese roof and the Tibbott-style Mediterranean-style house on Harvard Street, with French doors opening the inside of the house to its site and the eastern side loggia replacing the ancient front porch. Since enforcement of committed deeds in the Heights area, the majority of homes built in the early 20th and early 20th centuries still retain the character of the old Heights.

Many homes built in the Eastwood neighborhood represent Craftsman, Arts and Crafts, Foursquare and Mission revival architectural styles. Eastwood is one of the first master-planned sub-divisions in Houston. Developed in 1913 by William A. Wilson, who also developed his sister neighborhood, Woodland Heights, Eastwood has one of the largest collections of Houston homes designed in this early 20th century style. In the new section of Eastwood (built from the 1920s and 1930s), there are bungalows, meadows, colonial and federal styles.

The post-war housing built throughout Houston reflects many architectural styles. Although most of the houses built for "baby boomers" reflect designs that have existed for decades, a number of homes are designed in medieval modern style, featuring flat roofs or butterflies, open floor plans, glass walls, atriums, and terraces.. A good example of this style is the William L. Thaxton Jr. House, located in Bunker Hill Village, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built in 1954.

The Memorial Bend consists of 1950s and early 1960s homes built in modern (contemporary), farm, and traditional style. This neighborhood is considered to have the highest concentration of medieval modern houses in Houston. Architects who design houses in this neighborhood include William Norman Floyd, William R. Jenkins, William F. Wortham, and Lars Bang. Many houses in Memorial Bend are featured in national architecture and design magazines such as American Builder , House & amp; Home , Practical Builders , Better Houses & amp; Gardens and Beautiful Home .

Beginning at the end of the 20th century, many traditional houses, townhouses and high-rise condos were built (or converted) to residents who wanted to live in downtown and inner loop areas, driven by a focused revitalizing effort after years of suburban exodus. These emerging urban dwellings can be found in a variety of eclectic styles.

The Commerce Towers, originally developed as an office building in 1928 by Houston businessman Jesse H. Jones, has been converted into condominiums. In addition, many office buildings and old warehouses around downtown are recently converted into lofts. The Humble Towers Lofts, built in 1921, was originally a base for Humble Oil. The Beaconsfield Lofts is listed on the US State Department's National Register of Historic Places.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s decades, there was a mini-boom construction of medium- and high-rise residential towers, with some more than 30 floors. Since 2000 more than 30 high-rise buildings have risen in Houston; all say, 72 high-rise towers above the city, which adds up to about 8,300 units.

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Public facilities

City and county governments

The Houston City Hall Building, built in 1938-1939, is an example of the Job Progress Administration architecture. The simple designed structure displays many construction details that have helped make this building a classic architecture. The design on the lobby floor describes the protective role of government. The doors feature historical figures including Thomas Jefferson, Julius Caesar, and Moses. Above the lobby entrance is a stone statue depicting two men defusing a wild horse. The statue is meant to symbolize a united community forming a government to tame the world around them. Cast a cast for this statue, and twenty-seven prints for the friezes around the building, performed by Beaumont Herring Coe artist and co-designer Raoul Jassett.

The George R. Brown Convention Center opened on 26 September 1987 on the east side of downtown Houston. The 100-foot red-white and blue building (30 m) replaced the obsolete Albert Thomas Convention Center, which was later redeveloped into the Bayou Place entertainment complex in downtown Houston Theater District. The George R. Brown contains nearly half a million square meters of exhibition space, 41 meeting rooms, a 3,600-seat theater area and a grand ballroom of 31,000 square feet (2,900Ãƒ,Ã‚Â¨Ãƒ,Ã‚Â²). .

The new Harris County Civil Courts Building, completed in early 2006, is 17 floors and a basement. The 660,000-square-foot (61,000 mÃƒ, Ã‚Â²) building is filled with state-of-the-art technology and has 37 typical courtrooms, 1 tax court, 1 ceremonial courtroom and 6 expansion courtrooms. It also has a three-story atrium lobby with thirteen lifts and two escalators. The flood court house is protected to a height of 41 feet (12 m) and can be accessed through the tunnel from the existing downtown tunnel system. Interior finishes include limestone, granite, wood veneer, terrazzo and stainless steel.

Movie theater

The River Oaks Theater was built in 1939. It is one of only a few of today's retail buildings of Houston's age and style. It's a cinema-built movie theater built by the Interstate Theater Corporation and the only one still operating as a cinema.

When Houston and the rest of the country recovered from the Great Depression, the art-deco style theater in the late 1930s was built in many residential neighborhoods throughout the city. In addition to the River Oaks, neighborhood cinemas like Alabama, Tower, Capitan, and Ritz-Majestic Metro are some of the places where Houstonians are looking for entertainment. Alabama serves as a prime example of adaptive reuse, repurposing architecture is considered obsolete in terms of modern usage. Opened as a Bookstop bookstore in 1984 after the original theater was closed, the building was later converted into a Trader Joe specialty grocery store in 2012. The grocery store took great pains to preserve much of the original architectural splendor of the building, including the original tile-front porch of the entrance as well as the floor balconies two.

The Majestic Theater, designed by John Eberson and built in the city center in 1923, is considered the most famous movie theater built in the city. The design is not from a standard theater interior, but an outdoor plaza and a garden with a starry sky above. The blue palate of the Mediterranean, an inset with flickering lights, displays a cloud that hovers over the head of the audience during playback. The Majestic is the world's first "atmospheric" movie theater.

Airport

Designed by architect Joseph Finger (who also designs Houston City Hall), the Houston City Airport Terminal was built in 1940 to fulfill Houston's growing role as a center of air trade in the 1930s. The terminal building is an example of the classic art deco airport architecture of the 1940s. The terminal served as the main commercial air terminal for Houston until 1954. The terminal, located at William P. Hobby Airport, houses the 1940 Air Terminal Museum which currently features several collections focusing on the history of Houston flights.

Stadia

70,000 seat Rice Stadium, designed in 1950 by Hermon Lloyd & amp; W.B. Morgan and Milton McGinty, are reinforced concrete with 30-inch (760 mm) diameter columns supporting the upper deck. Architecturally, the stadium is an example of modernism, with simple lines and unadorned functional design. All lower seat bowls are located beneath the surrounding ground. Aimed only for football matches, the stadium has excellent views from almost every seat.

Astrodome, the first vaulted stadium in the world, conceived by Roy Hofheinz and designed by architect Hermon Lloyd & amp; W.B. Morgan, and Wilson, Morris, Crain, and Anderson. Structural engineering and structural design is done by Walter P Moore Engineers and Consultants of Houston. Height 18 floors, covering an area of â€‹â€‹9.5 hectares. The stadium is 710 feet (220 m) in diameter and its ceiling is 208 feet (63 m) above the playground, which is 25 feet (7.6 m) below the road surface. Despite the innovations required by design novelty (including simple smoothing of the supposed "half-ball roof" to handle structural deformation caused by the environment and the use of a new paving process called "lime stabilization" to handle soil consistency issues and facilitate paving) Astrodome finishes in November 1964, six months ahead of schedule.

Located near the Astrodome, NRG Stadium is a marvel of design and engineering of modern sports facilities. The 69,500 seater stadium has a natural grass playing field and a retractable roof - the first for the NFL. There are also 165 private suites, 8,200 club chairs, and over 400 new concessions and kiosks. The playground is palletized and removable, allowing for the addition of significant dirt layers to accommodate the annual Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo events, or using concrete floors for concerts, trade shows and conventions.