Building Conditions
I live in Midtown Houston (the older part of Midtown where older people live,) so I walk through downtown every morning, it feels so “urban,” and if I pay attention, I discover something new and interesting every day.
I am fascinated by structures and like watcing how they evolve and adjust to their owners, inhabitants, and environments through time.
Some buildings make me cringe, others inspire me, a few give me hope, and some make me sad.
I feel sorry for this modern who, at some point, lost all his windows, we can see right through him, he must be so embarrassed. And this former beauty, poor thing, had so much work done she’s unrecognizable, but my heart goes out to this one. He used to be the tallest in the land, but it’s the other way around now. He is forced to exist in the shadows of his former self. They don’t even let him spin around anymore, but he is getting old, so I’m thinking he is probably ok with that. There he sits, trying to make the best of his views, longing for the good old days when all the swinging dicks would visit him, I bet JR Ewing was a regular.
It’s true what John Huston said in the hit movie Chinatown; “Ugly buildings get respectable if they last long enough,” but buildings are stuck here, they don’t get to die like we do, they waste away until humans “play god” and do something about it.
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So, I have started a new ritual this year, while on my morning walks. I shoot my favorite buildings and give them a condition, something like a DSM-IV for buildings, so here you go.
- The Kirby Mansion, Alzheimer’s
Built in 1897, and originally owned by John Henry Kirby, an entrepreneur noted as “Houston’s first tycoon” in the 1920’s. My mom said when she was a girl scout in the 1950’s, they went to cheer up a bunch of sick and dying Army War Vets who were housed there. It’s been vacant for years, but I think it could be a great high-end retirement home. This poor building has been reused so many times it doesn’t even remember what it used to be.
2) GreenStreet, Posers
GreenStreet at 1206 Main. This is the most god-awful combination of mixed-use spaces I have ever seen. I guess young people think it’s cool to work out, eat, drink, and rent a cheesy office space where they pretend to work, I don’t get it.
3) First Church Of Christ Scientist, Penis Envy
This one is so obvious I shouldn’t even have to give it a condition. It speaks to me, claiming to be the best there ever was.
This has been a fun and probably never ending project. See the evergrowing list here.
