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The local architecture firm of Allen Bianchi has a very interesting project.  It’s called the Westheimer Tower and construction is supposed to begin this year.  According to the Houston Architecture Forum, the project is located next to Indika on Westheimer.  For those of you who haven’t tried Indika, it is just East of Montrose.  This 24-story tower will look odd in a residential neighborhood, but I do like the audacity and hope that it gets built.  I give it a very low probability of success though.

Cite’s Spring 2007 issue features a modern pre-fab dog-trot house called the FRAMEwork house. FRAMEwork Architecture’s members  are the creative minds behind this daring design. 

Finding Houston architects doing innovative design takes a bit of work in this cash-flow oriented city (compared to Austin), but there is compelling Houston architecture out there.  The basic idea of the design is an open breezeway that cuts through the center of the house allowing wind to cool the area during the hot Texas summer. The breezeway makes the design modern–though the original design dates back to times before air-conditioning.

For about $138,000 you can buy a basic 1600 sf model with finishes and fixtures.  The house just screams for a family looking for a second home in the country.  If you’re that family, please invite me for a visit.