The park is behind a row of trees on the recently rebuilt Crawford Street so many drivers have only glimpsed it or do not know it is there.  The Astros’ fans see it and some “hang out” with their kids looking around while someone gets the tickets. Then a few steps to the doors and they are off to the ball game.

The stadium is a great structure and far better with the park lying between the two west entries. The park softens the feel of the industrial architecture that intentionally reminds one of the rail station long ago at this location. Many places to sit and wait for the game to start or just to let traffic go by.

The park should be easy to maintain if the grass grows and the plants are kept healthy. Surely there are issues with vandalism but the benches, statuary and other amenities are rugged and not ornate. Thereby allowing repainting and repair that must be done immediately as I have never seen anything out of place.  Grounds maintenance is something the Astro’s management “knocks the ball out of the park”.

I am proud that our street reconstruction project created a Crawford street setting that complements this small oasis. Be sure to look across Crawford and notice the “Baseball” fountain at the corner of Crawford and Preston.

The part that relates to public space is that they re-worked the front entrance into a simple mini-park. There is no need to write about what you can see in the photos. The message to me is that even a law firm can step up and build a place for the general public to stop to sit. Or, when passing by enjoy the streetscape enhanced by a green space.  The photos do not do justice to how the green space at the corner of the intersection “softens” the intersection.Note that one of the first photo is from the skybridge immediately above. For those of us that work far above the street we can appreciate something below to breakup the monatany of horizontal and vertical hard faces.

If you are in The Shops go to the food court and take the skybridge to see this great addition to our urban landscape.

The photos here (click for a larger view) shows what was done with the standard gray concrete plaza. The new bold colors are beginning to be less staggering to me and I will get over thinking the large very plain shade structures are just too plain. This playground appearance between the very modern Central Library and the very elegant Julia Ideson Library–just behind the oaks–is the typical strong contrast often found in Houston.

I do like the concept of the words cast in shadows on the pavement below when the sun is shinning. There is something artistic about the shadows. It appears to me that the architect wanted to create something to make children feel like it is a playful place and fun to be there.  If the colors accomplish that and more children come then it is a great design.

As you can see the shade structures are fabricated steel painted black. Surely the simple framework and dark color is to try to make them less visible. I wish they had more of the “garden trellis” look complimenting the large live oaks and the trees we planted along the streets.

I do acknowledge that the colorful look has a strong place-making value as there is nowhere else in downtown like it.

I came across a solution that seems to be almost perfect as it is cheap, no one will steal it, you cannot sleep on it and it should age and discolor evenly and look like other aging concrete structures that are not considered unsightly.
If you have read this far I am pleased as the idea is so simple that the photos clearly show the solution to the problem.  I was surprised when I saw this installation that it was not being used in other locations. The large concrete rubble from recycled concrete creates a clear, uniform surface no one could use. The concrete pieces are large and similar in size. There are no small pieces that would allow weeds to grow. Simple, very effective and supports sustainability.

The one issue is that trash will blow into it and sooner or later will fill the crevices and then be visible. I expect that when that occurs a good backpack style blower will blow the visible paper and vegetative debris to the other side to be retrieved.

If you want to see it “live” then go to the north side of the Montrose Bridge over Buffalo Bayou in Houston Texas. The walkway in the foreground of the first image is the new Rosemont Trail that connects Montrose’s pedestrians to the hike-bike trail along Buffalo Bayou and the new Rosemont pedestrian bridge over Memorial Dr. and the Bayou.

On the north and west side of downtown you will find a different set of layers that present stronger contrasts than the tunnels to the high-rise  buildings. These photos show the beautiful gardens and bayou with trees and plants under the IH-45 freeway bridges that are layers of transportation on top of interlocking gardens–the Sabine to Bagby promenade.

The bayou does not bubble along and even if it did the drone of cars and trucks overhead would drown it out. But there is still a clear sense of serenity, plus, in many places, the feeling of seclusion and the comfort of not being in the race.  The thought of the highway noise may make the mental image not so appealing but the bridges also create a feeling of intimacy when you are surrounded by the greenery and the very lazy bayou.

If I was designing a park then I would work have a place to view the space and beyond from different levels. At Discovery Green the upper level of The Grove restaurant and the high ground at viewing area for the stage provide views from different levels.

I am proud to say the second floor deck at The Grove stemmed from my suggestion (in the Project for Public Spaces workshop) of adding a tree house in the oaks where one could eat and sit back while looking down on the fun times at ground level.  In that very flat part of downtown the view looking down through the trees while being in the limbs is great–at least for the little boy in some of us.

If you want to visit the Sabine to Bagby Promenade there is on-street parking on most of the cross streets under IH-45. Parking on the streets is free on Sundays and there are no rush hour restrictions.

The rabbit and I have that in common as while sitting on the bench and looking past the tree’s canopy to the skyscrapers on the other side of the street and beyond I realize the giants are not going away and I have to go back to work.

As this blog is targeted at those that develop public spaces I will set aside the esoteric view and say that my philosophy is when a public space takes me to a different place or time, even for a moment, it succeeded. That is not an original thought but one that I believe.

Some spaces provide an escape, some a peaceful or inspiring place and the best transport one to a new reality that includes all the others. How that is achieved is different for different people. My younger friends might think this place is a bit tame and best for us older types. But, even that thought is an indication they were transported to a different time. Those with children will watch the kids try to climb the tree and remember when they were a child and the trees they climbed–a different place and time.

If you want to experience this place then click here for a map of the location.

The trail is used often by joggers and bike riders. The interesting part to me is how different the city seems from down below. Of course it depends on when one as during morning rush cars and buses race by as Smith is a heavily used route. You are only one block from the end of the IH-10 Eastbound exit ramp from the Katy Freeway.

When the water recedes the big issue is removal of the silt and sand that washes onto the walkway and the grass. The areas where the grass is not solid is actually silt that filled in the sod. As you can see the wall that holds back the street is lush.

An interesting thing about the area, as evidenced by the wall, is that downtown was once at the bayou level when cotton was put on barges and other freight was shipped out on sailing ships from this same location. Someone then surely sat on the docks where this bench is and saw a very different view than one does today.

The first area created for container gardens is at the corner of Walker and Smith Streets in front of the City’s building known as 611 Walker. The latest location is in Tranquility Park across the street from the first. Click for Map.
The large pots at 611 Walker were planted in the middle of a hot Houston summer and thrived despite some of us being skeptical. What made the difference was great soil, healthily seedlings and a lot of TLC from employees in the building that adopted a pot and choose the plants. Okra has really thrived and other plants have also grown well.  As you can see here the plants are a bit “leggy”–typical of vegetables as they mature.  The pots are positioned in what was an empty plaza with a few struggling trees. They are not irrigated and therefore are watered using a hose. As you can see they are thriving-evidence of the enjoyment they bring to many on each floor.

The most recent container garden is in Tranquility Park. The park design provides various levels and shapes to the built spaces between the walkways. [Read more soon about this park in a future post]. The photos here show how several of those levels have been converted from empty, grassed areas to now holding container gardens comprised of steel cylinders. The cylinders were selected to repeat the theme of three metal columns that are three tall fountains in the center of the park commemorating the three astronauts.

An interesting aspect of this addition to the mid-size park is a new destination and at least two things to do have been added. Additional park use will occur and that should lead to more people stopping, or at least slowing down, as they walk through. Perhaps the first victory of the victory gardens will be to re-activate the park.

This is another project of the City’s new Director of Sustainability, Laura Spanjian. Other contributors were: City of Houston Parks and Recreation Department, Public Works and Engineering, Urban Harvest, Keep Houston Beautiful, Asakura Robinson, Fischer Schalles Associates, Texas AgriLife, University of Houston Downtown Environmental Club, HEB, Nature’s Way Resources, San Jacinto Environmental, Thompson and Hanson, and Scotts.

Check back for updates on how well the gardens thrive and if they attract more visitors to the park.

I do not want to portray myself as an expert on this issue but rather someone who has dealt with art installation, deterioration and restoration in the public space.

Directly related to the maintenance is how it is installed. I know that is obvious but installing art is not like installing a bike rack–you cannot  buy a new one and plug it in. The workers could be skilled but not familiar with the technique or using adhesives or grout that is not the best or wrong for the application. One of the bigger issues is the impact the sidewalk or park location will have on the installation. What could last in an art sculpture garden or courtyard will suffer more the street environment.

The installations that we still strive to make work are the mosaics in the sidewalks on Texas Avenue in downtown Houston. All but one of the eleven original installations–installed by the artist’s contractor–fell apart due to a several issues. The primary problem, according to the leading mosaic installation contractor in the region, Cangelosi, is that the adhesive grout did not coat the bottom and wrap around each small piece of marble. One would think that any skilled tile setter would know that and they do. But, that is a long story having to do with the way mosaics are assembled in China. Watch for a post here soon about that installation.

You also want to be careful if the work and the artist’s rights are protected by Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 (VARA). You will incur additional responsibilities to the artist if it meets the criteria in that Act. The best protection for you is to have the artist waive their VARA rights.

For more info go to NewUrbanStreets.com and review the posts about art in the sidewalk.

Lauren’s Garden is a memorial to Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas, a Houstonian killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. She was a passenger on United Flight 93, the hijacked airplane that crashed in the Pennsylvania countryside.  The garden includes a fountain and a memorial to all victims of the 2001 tragedy. It is another of the destinations inside the one-acre park that has a sense of place all to itself. Certainly the memory of that horrific day and the deaths of so many like Lauren brings a much deserved respectful quiet and peace to the small area.

Water to the fountain is provided by the nearby equipment in the vault built by the Cotswold project in 2003 when the art table fountain was built on Congress St. The pumps in the vault were enlarged and the piping adjusted to serve this new fountain.

My photos here do not do the garden justice. I do not think a photograph can ever convey the feeling I get when standing or sitting in the garden to “feel” the space. You will have to go there.

Note how a separate destination and place was created in this small park to serve a completely separate purpose. Lauren’s Garden provides a place for those that want to escape the dog-park, activity-seeking, foodie-types and others that also want a place to be.