We’ve recently discussed the past and present of downtown Austin’s ever-changing East Sixth Street, and though it’s obviously up for debate, our takeaway from the historical context of the street leads us to believe its present occupation as a hotspot for interchangeable shot bars between Congress Avenue and the highway doesn’t do justice to its past as…
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Brush Square is the Front Yard of Tomorrow’s Downtown Austin
A funny thing happened earlier this week when Brendan Wittstruck, an urban designer at local firm Asakura Robinson, presented plans to the City of Austin’s Design Commission detailing the Parks and Recreation Department’s efforts to rehabilitate downtown’s historic Brush Square. The plans themselves weren’t fundamentally different from the designs we saw . ….
Austin’s Travis Heights Neighborhood Headed For National Historic Status
The Travis Heights neighborhood of South Austin, one of the city’s more notable concentrations of historic domestic architecture, could attain its long-sought admission to the National Register of Historic Places by next year. The Texas Historical Commission’s State Board of Review unanimously approved the 353-acre district’s nomination to the federal register at a meeting last…
An Office Breaks New Ground for Infill on a Densifying West Fifth Street
Though limited in height and oddly packed with multi-story storage facilities for a major corridor literally seconds away from downtown, there’s a lot of room remaining for medium-density development along the stretch of West Fifth Street running west of North Lamar Boulevard — and a three-story office project breaking ground earlier this week from local developers Manifold Real…
On Downtown Austin’s West End, a Historic Building Stands in Its Own Way
The potential redevelopment of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International Headquarters Building on the west end of downtown Austin into a residential tower by developers Stratus Properties and Chicago architects SCB presents an interesting situation to the City of Austin’s Historic Landmark Commission: what happens when the organization that originally built a historic building — and actually…
Downtown Austin’s New Water Fountains Are Nice Enough to Actually Use
Using a public drinking fountain is just about the last thing anybody wants to think about in the midst of a viral pandemic, but Austin’s increasingly hot weather makes a pretty good case for their existence on a longer-term scale — along with well-serviced public restrooms, they’re essential tools for building more equitable public spaces. Unless you…