The federal agencies of the New Deal brought some classic examples of Depression-era public works architecture to Austin in the 1930s, much of which embodies the forever-popular Art Deco styles known as Streamline Moderne and PWA Moderne. Though most of these buildings still stand in the city today, one shining local example remains decidedly under the radar, likely due…
architecture
Meet the BBVA Tower Planned at Sixth and Guadalupe, in All Its Narrow Glory
The Hanover Brazos Street tower we checked out yesterday isn’t the only project up for a density bonus review at the City of Austin Design Commission’s next meeting — the charmingly narrow 60-story mixed-use tower planned at 321 West Sixth Street by national developers Ryan Companies and banking outfit BBVA USA is also going before the Commission at its meeting this coming Monday, June…
Here’s Hanover Brazos Street, Ready for Its Close-Up in Downtown Austin
You’ll notice in our prior coverage of Hanover Brazos Street, the 45-floor, 308-unit apartment tower planned by Houston developers the Hanover Company for the southeast corner of East Third and Brazos Streets, there are almost no images including the top of the building. That’s because its architects at Chicago firm SCB were being pretty coy about releasing full views —…
Grab Some New Views of the 41-Story Condo Tower Headed to 84 East Avenue
As we announced back in February — which feels like a decade ago — the 41-floor downtown Austin condo tower headed for 84 East Avenue will bring a reported 283 “attainably priced” residences to the ever-popular Rainey Street District, courtesy of local developers Pearlstone Partners. A current view of the tower site on East Avenue. Though our minds are obviously occupied by…
At Roy’s Taxi, the Segregated East Austin Could Count on a Ride
In the early days of the Great Depression, construction jobs all but disappeared, and that was bad news for Mexican-American Austinite Roy Velasquez, who had risen to the role of foreman on a crew laying sewer pipe in the late 1920s before he was 20 years old. With no local work left, he traveled to Kingsland to…
The Chicago Architects Behind Downtown Austin’s Rising Skyline
As you might imagine, most tall buildings in and around downtown Austin are designed by architects from Texas. But looking at projects either planned or under construction in the central city, you’ll notice Chicago pops up a lot — not exactly a close neighbor, but as a hotspot for architecture (and towers in particular) it…