Places: Concrete and steel

Houston is home for many businesses, and businesses want offices. When you build in an urban setting, especially if you're Texas, you think big.

The Houston downtown area is an attractive mix of the old and the new.


Above is a section of the Houston skyline. I found downtown to be quite handsome.


The black building on the right (above) is 2 Houston Center. It's 40-stories tall and was constructed in 1974. It was originally the headquarters for Panhandle Eastern Company.

Above is part of the Houston Center, a retail and office complex. There's a mall inside with a food court with a grillion fast-food places. The previous image, 2 Houston Center, is part of this package of five properties.

The above shot is a look North on McKinney Street. (If I've misidentified any streets or buildings, readers please jump in and comment. I know Lair of Lucypher is from Galveston and Baywolfe's Lair is from the Dallas area. Maybe one of them can help me out.)

Above is a slightly different view of previous image.


The black building with a hole at the top is the CenterPoint Energy Plaza. Originally just a plain glass box built in 1974, it was sheathed in black granite and topped with a six-story open crown in 1996.

The above image is a look north along Lamar Avenue.

The glassy looking building on the right is Wells Fargo Plaza. At 72 stories tall, it's the second-tallest building in Texas and 39th tallest in the world.


When I walked around and shot my photos, I was impressed. Although it's a world-class city, Houston is not taking anything for granted -- it's still growing. This (above) is One Park Place and will be 350 residences when completed. It is located adjacent to Discovery Green park that I blogged about here.


Above is a fisheye image. It wasn't taken with a fisheye lens, but created with software. Give a man a toy, he'll play with it.

This skyline photo had an unattractive area with electical transistors or something (lower left). The sepia is an attempt to hide it.

You can compare my photos to those taken by professional architectural photographer Scott Teven, if you go here. Don't come back and give me any bad news.