Houston

Houston was the last stop on our Texas field trip.  As I mentioned, this was an unplanned stop from the original itinerary but something that our professor has done with students before.  We got into Houston Thursday night around dinner time.  All of the girls wanted to visit the China Town in Houston so that is what we did.  We went to an authentic Chinese restaurant; it was incredible.  The girls ordered us all kinds of stuff and it was served family style.  By far the best Chinese food I have ever had.

Friday morning, our first stop was at Rice University.  We went to visit a pavilion, designed by James Burnett (a LSU graduate), that was built in 2008.  The Brochstein Pavilion is located centrally on the campus and acts a study retreat for students both inside the Pavilion and in the surrounding garden.

The second stop was nearby at the Museum of Fine Arts.  A famous sculpture garden, designed by Isamu Noguchi, is located in the courtyard of the museum.  After the sculpture garden, we went and visited the SWA Group office.  This is a very famous landscape architectural firm that has many offices throughout the country.

The last stop was at Discovery Green in downtown Houston.  This is a public park/greenspace designed by Hargreaves Associates.  The park is 12 acres located downtown.  It includes many rotating displays of public art, along with a lake, venues for public performances, dog runs, and recreational areas.

This was the last stop of our trip...back to Baton Rouge.  Overall it was a fun trip.  It is nice to get out of the studio every once in a while and see some built works.  Hopefully we get to get out more this semester.