Built around characteristic features of modern life such as rapid change, built-in obsolescence, indeterminacy, media orientation, a culture of style, and instant gratification, Houston is an ephemeral city, hard to pin down and understand. Its lack of zoning (Houston is the only major city in America without it) and a burgeoning population that doubles every generation have created a new urban paradigm, where displacements of traditional patterns of stability and urban ritual are now the norm.
Since 1982, Cite: The Architectural and Design Review of Houston has explored the nature of Houston's evolution as an urban place by publishing commissioned articles by nationally known writers and architectural historians and high quality photography. This volume brings together twenty-five exceptional articles from Cite's first twenty years, along with 224 black-and-white photographs, maps, and plans. The book is divided into three sections: "Idea of the City," edited by Bruce C. Webb, "Places of the City," edited by Barrie Scardino, and "Buildings of the City," edited by William F. Stern. The sections are introduced with new essays written by the editors to provide cohesion for the anthology and commentary on where Houston might be going in the twenty-first century. Most articles are followed by a brief update and bibliography of related articles published in Cite.
The editors chose these articles to explore the developmental history and architecture of a flat, sprawling, free-spirited city that is impossible to capture through any one episode or explain through any one place. With a diversity of voices and a selection that includes both narrow and broad topics, the volume constitutes a collage that captures the essence of a remarkable place—inchoate, patchwork, full of youthful vigor, favorable to private enterprise, and one of the world's most fascinating cities.
Barrie Scardino, a Houston resident from 1979 to 1998, is an architectural writer now living in New York City. She was a founding editor of Cite and, from 1996 to 1998, its managing editor. In addition to writing numerous articles and reports on Texas architecture, she coauthored Houston’s Forgotten Heritage and Clayton’s Galveston.
William F. Stern practices architecture in Houston, where he is a principal with Stern and Bucek Architects. He is also Adjunct Associate Professor of Architecture at the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture. He was a founding editor of Cite and has frequently served as chairman of its editorial board.
Bruce C. Webb is Professor of Architecture and former Dean of the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture, University of Houston. He was a founding editor of Cite and has frequently served as chairman of its editorial board. Webb is coeditor of three volumes: Constancy and Change in Architecture, Urban Forms, Suburban Dreams, and The Culture of Silence.
