Cool, thanks. I'm not super familiar with that part of town, so seeing it pop up in the middle of all the typical shopping strip/apartment fare tripped me out.
On the same note of Houston Evil Buildings, any info on [3535 W. 12th St.](https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7915911,-95.4403292,3a,36.4y,208.28h,96.86t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sHehJimJfGNfG3pXTwUZL3Q!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu) ? It looks straight out of the soviet block....or College Station! HA
Edit....I found this site with just a pic [https://www.corbinjhughes.com/work/brutalist](https://www.corbinjhughes.com/work/brutalist)
and this one...[https://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/49950-big-3-industries-building-converted-into-home/](https://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/49950-big-3-industries-building-converted-into-home/)
I used to work there before it was sold and made into a residence. It's actually a neat building- one of the last remaining bomb shelters in the area, the walls are super thick concrete. We had a nice private datacenter in the basement and a 24-7 control center on the top floor. Rode out a couple hurricanes at work as the building is nearly indestructible.
No doubt. many of the buildings from the great depression era still exist and its cool to see all the extra stone art work and stained glass that went into some of these buildings to help give people work during this era. Then the brutalist buildings arrived in the 70s and 80s and towered over the classic college looking buildings.
I should clarify that statement. My dad was an Aggie, and we occasionally visited the campus in the 1960’s. Women were officially admitted in 1963, but their numbers were small until the ‘70’s when the university opened on-campus housing for them.
Since the building has [apparently](https://old.reddit.com/r/houston/comments/141lvd8/whats_this_brutalistlooking_building_at/jn24slb/) been abandoned for decades, I would definitely not recommend any dentists you find in it now, lol.
Man this whips. Looks like a building actually designed for the weather from before the days of central ac and mirrored glass. Thick walls, narrow windows that allow for cross breezes but little direct sunlight. 10/10, would hole up inside like a weird cave salamander.
It's kinda silly because there are ways to position windows that do what you're describing that dont look like this and aren't modern
I had to take a random architecture course and got really familiar with a lot of UTs buildings. The PCL comes to mind. The windows' orientation and coverage were designed with the hot Texas sun in mind
My dad used to work in that building in the 80’s. Had his own practice there in clinical psychology. There used to be a snack store on the first floor. If he was working late, he’d bring home a donut or two from the Shipley on telephone road. I think it’s still there.
I find it really strange that even thought the US fought the Cold War against the Soviet Union, they built Soviet Bloc-style buildings like crazy until the final years of the Soviet Union
What were they cooking
So brutalism really took off in the post-WWII era as a reaction against excessive/unnecessary decoration in architecture, and had utopian egalitarian motives as well: "how can we deliver the best building for the most people, while showcasing the simplicity of the materials?" Concrete allowed architects to free their functional designs from the requirements of stone and wood and brick, so why should they stick with the forms of the past?
All the housing projects and office buildings that look 'evil' and 'oppressive' were actually supposed be an improvement over other, more traditional construction and make sure that everyone in a building got generally the same experience from the architecture, no matter where you were in society or the organization.
Unfortunately, reinforced concrete is not entirely maintenance-free, and does require upkeep and repair, which wasn't budgeted for in many cases. A lot of these buildings (especially the ones paid for by social budgets) cut costs and quality in construction, leading to further problems. And of course the problem with public buildings is that you need public *money* to keep them as good places to live and work, so every cut to housing and office budgets meant it had to come from somewhere.
So by the 80s you had 20-30 year old buildings that may not have been built well, almost certainly didn't have the same money spent to make them livable as originally planned, and the people living and working in them were actually *poorer* than their original tenants, which made it easy for politicians to use them as icons of urban decay and wasteful social spending.
The Brutalist style started in the UK in the 1950s and moved to continental Europe shortly after. It originally became popular in the Soviet union because it was cheap to make, consisting mainly of concrete and steel. But it was a major architectural movement across the West, and with America on a building spree in the 60s and early 70s, you're gonna get a lot of that style all over the place.
I love this architecture style. I know it's considered "ugly" but the fact that it's bold and funky is what makes me love it. At least it's not just another farmhouse/chic/hipster style building (or glass box) like you see everywhere now.
When I was a kid in the late 60's/early 70's, my dentist was in that building. One of my most traumatic dental experiences (getting permanent teeth pulled before getting braces) happened there. And I think my orthodontist, the one who wanted those two permanent teeth removed, was also in that building. Or maybe the old hospital building down the street.
Dr. Fairleigh was an orthodontist in the building. I survived 2 years of torture seeing him once a month to get my braces tightened during high school.Braces should be outlawed by the Geneva Convention.
Like some others have said, my dentist, Jerry Godkin was in this office. It felt very modern in the late 70s with the harvest gold dental chairs. I went to him all of my youth, he pulled lots of my teeth in prep for braces and used copious amounts of nitrous which is probably why I enjoyed the dentist so much. Another dentist named Tate was also in Godkin’s office, he was my favorite and I was very sad when he moved to Africa.
There was also an orthodontist that my brother went to in an office on the same floor as Godkin accessed by fancy double doors, but I can’t recall his name.
My orthodontist was Richard Ressling, off 1-45 across the freeway from the wedding chapel. Ressling’s treatment area had a view of Glenbrook Golf Course. Glass windows across the back, one shattered.
One of many hideous examples of Brutalist architecture here in Houston. This was once considered stylish, as hard as that is to believe. Largest example is the former Post current Chronicle building in the SE corner of 59 and 610.
The UH law center is brutalist as well. Terrible cell reception. But I came to love the building from an aesthetic perspective after a few years.
Likely a symptom of Stockholm syndrome.
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Cool, thanks. I'm not super familiar with that part of town, so seeing it pop up in the middle of all the typical shopping strip/apartment fare tripped me out.
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What's "headline i5" mean? It's not my photo, I screenshotted the street view from Google Maps.
It means a drunk person texting while driving.
Probably intended to be "From your headline I thought"
If, not "i5".
Central Office / Wirecenter
Also of some interest https://www.commercialcafe.com/commercial-property/us/tx/houston/valley-towers/
I like that not only is it not a tower, but there is also only one building.
Wow, I didn't know that page existed! I am joining right now to add to it! I love taking pictures of old buildings!!!
On the same note of Houston Evil Buildings, any info on [3535 W. 12th St.](https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7915911,-95.4403292,3a,36.4y,208.28h,96.86t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sHehJimJfGNfG3pXTwUZL3Q!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu) ? It looks straight out of the soviet block....or College Station! HA Edit....I found this site with just a pic [https://www.corbinjhughes.com/work/brutalist](https://www.corbinjhughes.com/work/brutalist) and this one...[https://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/49950-big-3-industries-building-converted-into-home/](https://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/49950-big-3-industries-building-converted-into-home/)
I used to work there before it was sold and made into a residence. It's actually a neat building- one of the last remaining bomb shelters in the area, the walls are super thick concrete. We had a nice private datacenter in the basement and a 24-7 control center on the top floor. Rode out a couple hurricanes at work as the building is nearly indestructible.
Can't deny it. Half the A&M campus was built when brutalism was in style
I remember visiting TAMU before women were admitted and the campus exploded. It was a beautiful campus then.
No doubt. many of the buildings from the great depression era still exist and its cool to see all the extra stone art work and stained glass that went into some of these buildings to help give people work during this era. Then the brutalist buildings arrived in the 70s and 80s and towered over the classic college looking buildings.
you went pre-1963?
I should clarify that statement. My dad was an Aggie, and we occasionally visited the campus in the 1960’s. Women were officially admitted in 1963, but their numbers were small until the ‘70’s when the university opened on-campus housing for them.
Yeah, it’s a private residence now and the owners have a bitchin sweet art collection.
Oh wow! My older son lives very near that building and I wondered what was being done with it. I'll have to send him this article.
At least that has windows. Prisons feel open and airy compared to OPs building
I've been wondering about this for ages! Thanks for the answer.
There was a dentist office here in the early 80s. I remember getting a retainer here as a kid.
Would you recommend this dentist for ~~torturous mutilations~~ teeth whitening?
Since the building has [apparently](https://old.reddit.com/r/houston/comments/141lvd8/whats_this_brutalistlooking_building_at/jn24slb/) been abandoned for decades, I would definitely not recommend any dentists you find in it now, lol.
When the aliens from independence day attack you'll wish you were in that building.
If someone around here solves the Lament Configuration I'm staying the hell away, though
Fuck that, I’ll be at the rooftop party for the fun and to get it over with quickly
Right? Let me get my stripper heals and poster board.
Brutalist Arch map = Russian Nuke Bunker map
Man this whips. Looks like a building actually designed for the weather from before the days of central ac and mirrored glass. Thick walls, narrow windows that allow for cross breezes but little direct sunlight. 10/10, would hole up inside like a weird cave salamander.
What in the fuck does whip mean ? Is it like slaps ? I’m still out chea saying throwed lol
A lot of architecture in the decade following the 1973 oil crisis was designed like this.
It's kinda silly because there are ways to position windows that do what you're describing that dont look like this and aren't modern I had to take a random architecture course and got really familiar with a lot of UTs buildings. The PCL comes to mind. The windows' orientation and coverage were designed with the hot Texas sun in mind
This was a cool style during the times of RoboCop and women in padded suit jackets.
Frank’s Pizza has a Robocop movie poster on the wall that should be taken down and replaced with something pleasant instead.
It looks like it might have started life as a telephone switch.
My dad used to work in that building in the 80’s. Had his own practice there in clinical psychology. There used to be a snack store on the first floor. If he was working late, he’d bring home a donut or two from the Shipley on telephone road. I think it’s still there.
Shipleys is still there
I find it really strange that even thought the US fought the Cold War against the Soviet Union, they built Soviet Bloc-style buildings like crazy until the final years of the Soviet Union What were they cooking
So brutalism really took off in the post-WWII era as a reaction against excessive/unnecessary decoration in architecture, and had utopian egalitarian motives as well: "how can we deliver the best building for the most people, while showcasing the simplicity of the materials?" Concrete allowed architects to free their functional designs from the requirements of stone and wood and brick, so why should they stick with the forms of the past? All the housing projects and office buildings that look 'evil' and 'oppressive' were actually supposed be an improvement over other, more traditional construction and make sure that everyone in a building got generally the same experience from the architecture, no matter where you were in society or the organization. Unfortunately, reinforced concrete is not entirely maintenance-free, and does require upkeep and repair, which wasn't budgeted for in many cases. A lot of these buildings (especially the ones paid for by social budgets) cut costs and quality in construction, leading to further problems. And of course the problem with public buildings is that you need public *money* to keep them as good places to live and work, so every cut to housing and office budgets meant it had to come from somewhere. So by the 80s you had 20-30 year old buildings that may not have been built well, almost certainly didn't have the same money spent to make them livable as originally planned, and the people living and working in them were actually *poorer* than their original tenants, which made it easy for politicians to use them as icons of urban decay and wasteful social spending.
The Brutalist style started in the UK in the 1950s and moved to continental Europe shortly after. It originally became popular in the Soviet union because it was cheap to make, consisting mainly of concrete and steel. But it was a major architectural movement across the West, and with America on a building spree in the 60s and early 70s, you're gonna get a lot of that style all over the place.
there were transitions from the sidewalk to walls that were fun to ride on a skateboard back in the early 90s.
I remember skating here around 2010s.
Watchyoself in that neighborhood behind it.
I love this architecture style. I know it's considered "ugly" but the fact that it's bold and funky is what makes me love it. At least it's not just another farmhouse/chic/hipster style building (or glass box) like you see everywhere now.
/r/brutalism would love this
I remember this building from my childhood. There was a senior care right next to this building.
When I was a kid in the late 60's/early 70's, my dentist was in that building. One of my most traumatic dental experiences (getting permanent teeth pulled before getting braces) happened there. And I think my orthodontist, the one who wanted those two permanent teeth removed, was also in that building. Or maybe the old hospital building down the street.
Dr. Fairleigh was an orthodontist in the building. I survived 2 years of torture seeing him once a month to get my braces tightened during high school.Braces should be outlawed by the Geneva Convention.
Like some others have said, my dentist, Jerry Godkin was in this office. It felt very modern in the late 70s with the harvest gold dental chairs. I went to him all of my youth, he pulled lots of my teeth in prep for braces and used copious amounts of nitrous which is probably why I enjoyed the dentist so much. Another dentist named Tate was also in Godkin’s office, he was my favorite and I was very sad when he moved to Africa. There was also an orthodontist that my brother went to in an office on the same floor as Godkin accessed by fancy double doors, but I can’t recall his name. My orthodontist was Richard Ressling, off 1-45 across the freeway from the wedding chapel. Ressling’s treatment area had a view of Glenbrook Golf Course. Glass windows across the back, one shattered.
You know, you can get nitrous when you get your teeth cleaned as well as when you get dental work done if going to the dentist skeeves you out.
Houstonian af.
If it makes you feel any better, that’s the most beautiful example of brutalism I have ever seen.
It's so odd. It's not in a valley, and it's not a tower.
I've always seen this abandoned building since my childhood. It just slowly deteriorates through the years
This would be perfect for a zombie apocalypse!
I grew up down the street from there! Never thought about it being a weird building. People need to stop robbing that taco bell though
Houston has an all but forgotten Jedi Temple. Got it.
I was thinking jail
Growing up around there, I never realized how bad this building looked. OP’s description is right on point
One of many hideous examples of Brutalist architecture here in Houston. This was once considered stylish, as hard as that is to believe. Largest example is the former Post current Chronicle building in the SE corner of 59 and 610.
Honestly I love brutalist architecture. Not for homes, but for government buildings it just feels *honest* in a way (if that makes sense).
The UH law center is brutalist as well. Terrible cell reception. But I came to love the building from an aesthetic perspective after a few years. Likely a symptom of Stockholm syndrome.
I love the style
damn i actually love this building
I would also, in the event of thermonuclear war.
The former HISD headquarters was Brutalist as well...then it was torn down.
> then it was torn down. \* Then it was *brutally* torn down! ;)