Improbable metropolis : Houston's architectural and urban history /
This is a history of Houston told through its built environment. Houston has grown from a frontier town founded in 1836 to the fourth-largest city in the United States in 180 years, and its landscape tells the story of that growth. Bradley explores the many elements that have influenced Houston'...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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Austin :
University of Texas Press,
[2020]
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| Edition: | First edition. |
| Series: | Roger Fullington series in architecture.
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| Subjects: |
| Summary: | This is a history of Houston told through its built environment. Houston has grown from a frontier town founded in 1836 to the fourth-largest city in the United States in 180 years, and its landscape tells the story of that growth. Bradley explores the many elements that have influenced Houston's development over almost two centuries while delving into significant buildings of each era. Factors such as its role as a port city, the energy boom, the growth of the freeway system, the space program, the city's juxtaposition between South and West and an array of visionary urban planners and architects have all played a part in Houston's architecture. She also examines how chance events like natural disasters influenced Houston's trajectory, such as the hurricane that devastated Galveston in 1900 and made Houston the premier port in Texas, up through Hurricane Harvey. Moving through each period in the city's history, Bradley examines various types of building, residential, commercial, industrial, civic, recreational and religious, with copious photographs and plans, as well as the history and culture that played a part in shaping the urban landscape. Each chapter also includes a sidebar that goes into greater detail about one particular subject, ranging from Houston's wards and Montrose to public transportation and population diversity. |
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| Physical Description: | xiv, 397 pages : color illustrations, color maps ; 29 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 9781477320198 1477320199 |