Product Details
Houston Deco: Modernistic Architecture of the Texas Coast

Houston Deco: Modernistic Architecture of the Texas Coast
By Jim Parsons, David Bush

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Product Description

When it comes to art deco, Houston is rarely cited in the same breath as Miami, New York, or Los Angeles, but this Texas city boasts many gorgeous examples of this early-twentieth-century style, some of which are in jeopardy of being forever altered or demolished. In the 1920s, as Houston was beginning its transition from medium-sized southern city to major American metropolis, local business and civic leaders made a conscious decision to create a new image for their community. As the Roaring Twenties gave way to the Great Depression, Art Deco zigzags and Art Moderne streamlining reshaped the city's stores, skyscrapers, factories, and apartment buildings. More than one hundred color photographs showcase the fine detailing on Houston's surviving Art Deco and Art Moderne structures. From downtown landmarks to east end industrial sites, this lavish guide captures the grace and beauty of these innovative designs with an eye toward the importance of conservation, restoration, and preservation.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #948511 in Books
  • Published on: 2008-01-01
  • Original language: English
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • 128 pages

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
When Houston's Gulf Building opened in 1929, the city's planners were eager to align the growing metropolis with the dynamism of the American West, and art deco buildings proliferated: courthouses, schools, even car dealerships had sleek, modern designs, and movie palaces incorporated art deco murals. This book grew out of efforts by the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance, begun in 2006 to save some of these structures. The authors, who also did most of the color photography on every page, went through the city and its environs to chronicle existing structures. Some were well preserved, others in disrepair. The authors provide minimal information on the architects or building processes, but their work is intended more as a field guide than a history and may be of interest beyond Houston to similar preservation groups in cities across America. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Captures the grace and beauty of these innovative designs."  —Houston House and Home



"Smart little book."  —Houston Chronicle

About the Author

Jim Parsons is a freelance writer, an editor, and a photographer. David Bush is the director of Programs and Information for the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance. Madeleine McDermott Hamm is a former home design editor for the Houston Chronicle, a board member of the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance, and the co-author of I Hate Red, You're Fired! and A Moment of Luxury: Discovering the Beauty Around You.