John Saunders Chase, the first black licensed architect in Texas, is responsible for some of the finest examples of midcentury design still standing in East Austin. Chase, who died in 2012, was also one of the first two African-American students to enroll at the University of Texas in . . . Become a patron to get the full story and…
design
This Downtown Austin Office Plan Has an Art Gallery – But What Is Art, Anyway?
Let’s say you’re building an office building on top of a parking garage in a pedestrian-heavy area of downtown. Though some projects manage to get away with not doing it for various tricky reasons, for a building of this variety Austin’s land development code typically requires parking garages to be screened from the street by…
See the Stunning Design of an Expanded MACC in the Rainey Street District
No matter how many downtown Austin condo and apartment towers rise in the Rainey Street District — and the answer is “a lot” — the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center (ESB-MACC) at 600 River Street will always be the most important building in this neighborhood. Designed by the late Mexican architect Teodoro González de León with help from Hispanic-owned local…
Shape the Future of a Downtown Public Space at Cypress and Shoal Creek
As part of its larger plan to improve trail connectivity and recreational spaces along Shoal Creek in downtown Austin and beyond, the Shoal Creek Conservancy along with the City of Austin and Downtown Austin Alliance hopes to create a new public destination in the heart of the area sometimes known as the
Downtown Austin’s Iconic Central Fire Station Considers a Careful Upgrade
Dating back to 1938, the New Deal-financed Austin Central Fire Station No. 1 sitting at 401 East Fifth Street on the northwest corner of Brush Square is an unlikely gem of downtown architecture, one of the few really striking examples of the
See Austin Condo Tower Construction Up Close With ‘Beyond the Fence’ Episode 2
Construction outfit Flintco, currently putting up developer Intracorp’s 44 East Avenue condo tower in the Rainey Street District of downtown Austin, is giving us another episode of its documentary series “Beyond the Fence” — providing an unusually inside look at the kitchen-sink process . . . Become a patron to get the full story and gain access to TOWERS’ archive….