We are pleased to announce dates for our 36th annual architecture tour, which will occur Saturday, March 24 and Sunday, March 25, 2012. The tour, Living with Art, will showcase significant houses in Houston that exhibit impressive art collections.

Living with art changes the architectural dynamics of a house. The houses on the tour demonstrate how art can reshape architecture, most intriguingly in houses that were not originally designed with art exhibition in mind. “Houstonians are fortunate to live in a city abundant with uniquely diverse art institutions and museums. Although the majority of our city may not be aware, we are also fortunate to be surrounded by equally significant private collections scattered throughout our neighborhoods—collections that foster a belief in art and deep personal reflection,” says Julie Kinzelman, home tour committee member and owner of Kinzelman Art Consulting.

The tour will feature eight distinctive homes where tour-goers can peruse the art collections, as well as the structures housing the collections. RDA members and their guests are invited to attend the tour.

EVENT INFORMATION

What: Rice Design Alliance Architecture Tour – Living with Art
Dates: March 24-25, 2012, 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. each day

Locations:

1527 Kirby Drive
1937 William G. Farrington Company

1540 Kirby Drive
1937, Joseph W. Northrup, Jr.

3763 Jardin Street
2010, Michael Landrum

1529 Maryland Street
2006, Parra Design Group

528 Buckingham Drive
2000, Kevin Young Designers

2526 Bellmeade Drive
2006, Glassman Shoemake Maldonado

2002 Mason Street
2003, Wittenberg Oberholzer

1528 W. 24th Avenue
2010, John Blackmon and Ian Glennie

Tickets: The tour is open only to RDA members and their guests. RDA memberships begin at $45 and can be purchased during the tour or in advance at the RDA office, and include one complimentary tour ticket at the Student or Individual level or two complimentary tickets at the Household level and above. Ticket prices for members and their guests are $25. To purchase tickets online, please click here.

The Rice Design Alliance has held architecture tours every year since 1975 to acquaint Houstonians with the best examples of architecture, interior design, and landscape design in the city.

The Rice Design Alliance is an AIA/CES Registered Provider of educational programs. For this tour, attendees will earn two Learning Units. Learning Units will be reported to CES Records on the member’s behalf. Registration at one house on the tour is required. Non-AIA members may pick up a Certificate of Completion to fulfill state MCE requirements.

When: Thursday, April 19, 4-7 pm

Where: University of Houston

Three presentations by prominent folklorists, complemented by a photo exhibit, offered to celebrate the inauguration of the Global Studies minor of the Department of Comparative Cultural Studies.

All three talks will center on community religious expressions and how they communicate values, belief, and esthetics. Each of the talks will be based on the speaker’s intensive ethnographic research. Each will highlight “the local knowledge” of distant folk communities that possess close analogues in the Houston area.

The photographic exhibit, “Seeing the Unseen,” created by the Folklife and Traditional Arts program of the Houston Arts Alliance, will feature the visual and ritual arts of the Houston area’s varied religious communities.

The three speakers:

Henry Glassie, speaking on Mehmet Gursoy and the stars of Kutahya.

Glassie is University Professor Emeritus of Folklore at Indiana University, a past president of the American Folklore Society, the 2011 American Council of Learned Societies Haskins Scholar, and author of sixteen books, including three cited by the New York Times as Notable Books of the Year: Passing the Time in Ballymenone (1982), The Spirit of Folk Art (1990), and Turkish Traditional Art Today (1994). He has worked extensively with Mehmet Gursoy, a Turkish ceramic artist whose religious art adorns a Houston mosque.

Diane Goldstein, speaking on folkloric response to tragedy in Newfoundland.

Goldstein is Professor of Folklore at Indiana University, current president of the American Folklore Society, past president of the International Society for Contemporary Legend Research, and an internationally known specialist in folk belief and the legendry of AIDS. Her talk will concern folkloric responses to the accidental drownings of two young boys in Pouch Cove, Newfoundland, and especially ways in which community members used local traditions to create spontaneous rituals and shrines to express their grief for the boys as well as the resistance to the ways in which government officials responded to the deaths.

Pravina Shukla, speaking on the Indian concept of darshan and the central role of image in Hindu spirituality.

Shukla, Associate Professor of Folklore at Indiana University, is also Associate Curator of the Mathers Museum of World Cultures and a member of the adjunct faculties of Indiana University’s Department of Anthropology, India Studies program, and Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Her first book, The Grace of Four Moons (2008), explores adornment and body art in the everyday lives of Indians.

Pat Jasper, Curator; Debra Ham et al., Photographers; and the Houston Arts Alliance, “Seeing the Unseen.” An exhibit of the arts of Houston-area congregations created as part of HAA’s Sacred Songs, Sacred Sites initiative. The exhibit was featured in the HAA gallery for several months in 2011.

This program will serve as a way of foregrounding the new Department of Comparative Cultural Studies at the University of Houston, creating a link between the university and the Folklife and Traditional Arts program of HAA, strengthening links between the university and the various international communities and organizations focal to the interest of the Comparative Cultural Studies Department, and generally emphasizing the richness of Houston’s diverse traditional communities.

The 2012 Houston Modern Home Tour

Saturday, March 3, 2012

11am-6pm

Tickets: $25 in Advance/ $30 Day of Tour

http://houston.modernhometours.com/tickets/

January 23, 2012 – On Saturday, March 3, 2012, eight to twelve of Houston’s finest modern and mid-century homes will open their doors for a tour, as curated by Ingrid Spencer, former managing editor and current contributing editor for Architectural Record magazine.

More than just an aesthetic, “Modern” embodies new construction techniques and materials, and new ways of addressing old problems.  “Modern” is not just what you live in, but how you live.  From attainability to sustainability, the singular thread that connects “Modern” is an outlook that embraces new possibilities in living and lifestyle.

Modern Home Tours, LLC was founded by partners Matt Swinney & James Leasure to introduce Modern architecture and living to people across the nation.  Through fun and informative tours in dozens of cities across the United States and Canada, people are invited into some of the most exciting examples of Modern architecture and design in the nation.  With carefully selected architects, neighborhoods and architecture, home tours are unlike anything you’ve ever seen.  Not only will you learn about the cutting edge of home design, but you might even get an idea or two for your next home project!

Modern Home Tours, LLC is currently accepting home submissions for this event.  To learn more, please visithttp://houston.modernhometours.com/homes/.

This is a self-guided driving tour and tickets can be purchased in advance for $25 using the following link:  http://houston.modernhometours.com/tickets/

Advance tickets will not be mailed.  Tickets will be picked up at any of the three will call locations on the day of the tour beginning at 11:00am.  Will call locations will be announced approximately two weeks prior to the event and will be at actual tour homes.  Tickets can also be purchased the day of for $30.

When: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday March 9, 10 and 11, 2012. Opening ceremony and ribbon cutting at 10:30, Friday March 9, Lazy Lane entrance to Bayou Bend Gardens.

Cost: Tickets for six admissions $20: $15 before March 1st and $5 single site admission. Admission to The Forum of Civics Building and Gardens is free.

The Azalea Trail features four private residences in River Oaks and three well-known historic sites: Bayou Bend, Rienzi and the River Oaks Garden Club Forum of Civics Building and Gardens.

Special Note: The Forum of Civics will feature an indoor garden display by Condon Gardens Nursery and Patio Shop, an exhibition of blossoms by the Camellia Society, and expert horticulturists will be available to answer organic gardening questions. On Friday, March 9, 2012, the Buffalo Bayou Invasive Plant Eradication Unit Vehicle will be on site to provide expert advice on eradicating invasive plants. In addition, there will be a presentation on Bayou Bend’s new Lora Jean Kilroy Visitors and Education Center, a silver LEED status building, designed by architect Leslie Sasser of Leslie K. Elkins Architecture. The aspects that contribute to its sustainability status will be explained – from the heat reflective roof to the bike stands.

Theme: This year’s theme, A Legacy of Pink, Going Green, will emphasize conservation!

Proceeds from the Azalea Trail support city beautification projects, scholarships, educational, horticultural and civic programs in the Houston community.

2012 Azalea Trail Chairmen: D’Anne Brownell Anderson and Vaughan Huge Clark

Information: Visit our website at www.riveroaksgardenclub.org or call the River Oaks Garden Club at 713-523-2483

RDA is pleased to announce its thirteenth annual grants program for students and faculty of the Rice School of Architecture, the University of Houston Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture, the College of Architecture at Prairie View, and the Department of Urban Planning and Environmental Policy at Texas Southern University.

RDA will make separate awards of up to $5,000 each to a student and a faculty winners.

The Initiatives for Houston grants program focuses on Houston’s built environment, its history, present condition, and future development. A variety of regional projects will be considered, including historic research, speculative studies and projects, problem solving and planning projects, and studies that document the conditions of the city and its architecture. Proposals will be evaluated in terms of their potential for making a significant contribution to our understanding of the city and/or the region.

Projects must describe a dissemination component, which may be in the form of a paper or manuscript, exhibit, or a video or other presentation. In addition, the results of the project may be presented by the grantees in a public lecture or published in the Rice Design Alliance journal, Cite. Awards of up to $5,000 are available for projects to be completed in one year. More than one proposal in each category, student or faculty, may be funded. Past award-winning proposals are available for review in the architecture libraries of the participating schools.

The total application must include:
• A completed application
• A written proposal for the project (one to three pages), describing goals, expected outcomes, work plan, and schedule for the project, and a discussion of its significance. Applicants also should describe past work in the area of the proposed research.
• Resume for each participant
• Students will need a faculty advisor and a letter of support.
• A project budget (equipment such as computers, digital cameras, etc. may not be included)

Applications will be due March 26, 2012. Please mail application and supporting materials to:
Rice University
Rice Design Alliance MS-51
P.O. Box 1892
Houston, Texas 77251-1892

Anything That Floats challenges participants to build a device to float a short distance along Buffalo Bayou with discarded building materials provided the day-of by RDA.

What: Anything That Floats hosted by rdAGENTS

When: April 28, 2012

7:30-8:00: Teams arrive and unload materials along Preston St. between Smith St. and the bayou.
8:00-11:00: Build
11:30-1:30: Float, followed by Judging and Awards

Breakfast will be provided by RDA.

Where: Sesquicentennial Park along Buffalo Bayou

RDA Member Ticket Prices:

Anything That Floats only: $20
Anything That Floats + Bayou Bash: $35

Non-RDA Member Prices:

Anything That Floats only: $25
Anything That Floats + Bayou Bash: $40

To purchase tickets and register for the event, click here.

Parking:

Teams will be allowed to unload materials at Sesquicentennial Park along Preston Street between 7:30 and 8:00am in between Smith St. and the bayou. Vehicles will be allowed back after 1:00 p.m. to pick up materials.

Parking can be found underground in front of the Wortham Theatre.

More details on rules and judging criteria coming soon!

What makes something float?

Buoyancy, or the force pushing upward on an object in a fluid, is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object. The relationship between buoyancy and the weight of the displaced fluid is called Archimedes’ Principle.

Objects submerged in fluid appear to weigh less than they do out of the fluid. This is caused when the force at the bottom of an object in a fluid is greater than the force at the top of the object. The overall force is in the upward direction and acts against the downward weight of the object. The upward force is called the buoyant force.

So why do some objects float and some objects sink? The answer lies in the object’s density. Density is the relationship between an object’s volume and its mass. An object will float in a fluid if the density of that object is less than the density of the fluid.

Air also plays a role in whether some objects sink or float. A heavy steel ship is built of a steel shell with a hollow inside. So the volume of the ship is made up mostly of air. The ship and air together have a density that is less than that of water. They can displace a weight of water equal to or greater than their weight. As the boat displaces the water, the water pushes upward against the boat. These forces together cause the boat to stay afloat.

The cargo on a boat also becomes a factor. If a boat is loaded with too much cargo, it will have a higher density and will ride lower in the water because it has to displace more water to stay afloat.

Reception and book signing will follow the discussion.

When: Thursday, February 16, 2012, 6pm

Where: Architecture Center Houston (315 Capitol, Suite 120; Houston, TX 77002)

Parking available in the Hobby Center Parking Garage; entrances on Rusk and Walker

You’re invited to the 2011 Animal Architecture Awards opening at the Architecture Center Houston on Jan. 19th, 2012. If you are in the Houston Area please swing by for a visit to see the award winning projects and to say Hello! Additionally Ned Dodington, Chief Editor of Animal Architecture, will be delivering a short lecture followed by panel discussion with other members of the Animal Architecture Awards Jury, again at the Architecture Center, on February 2nd, 2012. The Architecture Center is located at 315 Capitol, Suite 120 Houston, Texas 77002.

For more information please click HERE.

A Houston Tomorrow Distinguished Speaker event with John Nielsen-Gammon, State Climatographer and Regents Professor in Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A&M University.

Looking into the distant future, the safest bet is that global temperatures will continue to increase, causing Texas droughts to be warmer and more strongly affected by evaporation.

Don’t miss this important presentation on the outlook for more heat and drought this year as climate change effects kick in on top of the dreaded La Niña effect.

About Dr. Nielsen-Gammon
Dr. Nielsen-Gammon’s weather-related work involves jet streams, extreme rainfall events, and land and sea breezes. His air quality research includes field forecasting support, numerical simulation, and diagnostic analysis of ozone events in Houston and Dallas for the Texas Air Quality Studies in 2000 and 2005-6. Dr. Nielsen-Gammon has also worked on drought monitoring and forecasting, air pollution climatology, and improvements to the climate data record. He teaches courses in weather analysis, weather forecasting, climatology, and atmospheric dynamics.

Dr. Nielsen-Gammon received a Presidential Faculty Fellow award (now known as PECASE) from the National Science Foundation and the White House in 1996, a Distinguished Achievement Award in Teaching at Texas A&M University from the Association of Former Students in 1996, and was named a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) in 2011. He is Past President of the International Commission for Dynamical Meteorology and is past chair of the AMS Board on Higher Education.

Where:
United Way of Greater Houston, 50 Waugh Drive, Houston, Texas 77027

For more information click HERE

The Houston Coalition for Complete Streets is fighting to change the way we build our streets. This film is an excellent example of how these types of changes can effect cities. Come and check out what we’re working for.

The film will be in the Post Rice Lofts Party Room. $5 suggested donation. Please consider using transit.

CONTESTED STREETS explores the history and culture of New York City streets from pre-automobile times to the present. This examination allows for an understanding of how the city – though the most well served by mass transit in the United States – has slowly relinquished what was a rich, multi-dimensional conception of the street as public space to a mindset that prioritizes the rapid movement of cars and trucks over all other functions.

Central to the story is a comparison of New York to what is experienced in London, Paris and Copenhagen. Interviews and footage shot in these cities showcase how limiting automobile use in recent years has improved air quality, minimized noise pollution and enriched commercial, recreational and community interaction. London’s congestion pricing scheme, Paris’ BRT (bus rapid transit) and Copenhagen’s bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure are all examined in depth. New York City, though to many the most vibrant and dynamic city on Earth, still has lessons to learn from Old Europe.

For more information click HERE
Click here to view the trailer: http://www.contestedstreets.org/