Name of Property
Historic Name: Farnsworth & Chambers Building
Other Name/Site Number: Gragg Building
Summary statement of significance
The Farnsworth & Chambers building, completed in 1956 by the eponymous company, was designed by MacKie & Kamrath, Houston's leading modemist followers of Frank Lloyd Wright's architectural principles. The most significant part of the building's history is its use as the headquarters for NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston while the Clear Lake campus—later named Johnson Space Center—was being designed and constructed. The building is nominated to the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A, with significance at the national level, as the headquarters building from 1962 to 1964 of NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center during the Mercury program. At this national level of significance, the property meets includes Criteria Consideration G for properties that have obtained significance in the past 50 years. The building is also nominated under Criterion C, Architecture, as an example of the work of MacKie & Kamrath, Houston's modemist adherents to Frank Lloyd Wright's design ideology. As part of their larger canon of work that includes a range of design choices including Prairie Style, the Farnsworth & Chambers building best exhibits a regional adaptation of Wright's organic and Mayan-influenced projects, such as Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona. The two periods of significance reflect the two criteria under which the property is nominated: 1956 for Criterion C and 1962 to 1964 for Criterion A.
Architectural Description: Summary
The 1956 Farnsworth & Chambers building is a one-story, reinforced concrete commercial building with horizontal emphasis and detailing reminiscent of Mesoamerican architecture, with battered stone walls and corbelled porte cochere canopy. One of Houston's leading construction firms of the time, the Farnsworth & Chambers Co., Inc., engaged the Houston architectural firm MacKie & Kamrath to design the building for their suburban headquarters. The building's location five miles southeast of downtown reflects the national trend after World War 11 to locate corporate headquarters outside of the city's core and in this case to locate it near Houston's first completed interstate highway, the Gulf Freeway.
Location
The Farnsworth & Chambers building is located at 2999 South Wayside in southeastHouston, one-half mile southwest of the Gulf Freeway. The nearest major intersection. South Wayside and Wheeler, is approximately 500 feet to the north. Telephone Road, named after the location of the first telephone line in the city, is located about a quarter-mile to the east.
Overall aesthetic
Designed by the Houston architectural firm MacKie & Kamrath, the one-story, reinforced concrete commercial building has clearly defined layers of materials that all enforce its horizontality. The lower battered concrete wall splays out to meet the ground. Above is an angled vertical mass clad with green quartzite stone laid in an uncoursed ledge rock pattern. Inset above the stone is a narrow band of continuous metal casement windows topped with a wide canopy supported by heavy, stylized angular brackets. Atop the canopy is a second horizontal concrete plane topped with an overhanging band of copper flashing that creates a strong horizontal band at the level of the flat roof This composition of angled and vertical planes mimics talud-tablero, a "slope-and-panel" composition commonly seen in pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican pyramid sites in Central Mexico. The grid plan is composed of two parallel north-to-south and two east-to-west corridors intersecting at right angles. These corridors branch out from an interior courtyard, featuring landscaping designed by noted American landscape architect Garret Eckbo (see Figures I and 2). At the end of each corridor, battered walls anchor the rows of ribbon windows between them. All of these elements are repeated on each facade of the building.
West elevation
The primary facade faces west onto South Wayside Drive and includes the semi-circular driveway and a wide projecting porte cochere. The west facade is asymmetrical and divided into six bays. The first and sixth bays anchor this fafade and are each composed of a battered green quartzite wall set on top of the splayed concrete base. The two angled walls are mirror images. The second bay, slightly recessed from the first, is composed of the layers repeated throughout the building starting with the splayed concrete curb, uncoursed serpentinite ledge, metal ribbon windows, wooden canopy and horizontal concrete band with copper flashing. The ribbon windows are divided by the stylized brackets and give this bay its nine-bay composition with an A-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-C pattem. The third, fourth and fifth bays include the porte cochere and building entrance flanked by battered uncoursed stone walls. The building entrance in the fourth bay is set back from the third bay.
The porte cochere roof is clad with five rows of painted rough-sawn cypress clapboards, jutting out in Mesoamerican like corbelling, a monumental version of the window canopy detailing on the building. The porte cochere roof continues the copper flashing band of the main roof and is supported by two large angled piers clad in the same mint-colored stone as the battered walls of the building. One stylized wooden knee bracket on each pier provides the visual reassurance that the large projecting roof is firmly resting on the piers. The piers rest in a small concrete flower bed framed with a splayed concrete curb.
The building entrance is recessed under the porte cochere. There is a set of low concrete steps with limestone treads leading to a limestone-floored landing. The splayed concrete motif is repeated in the low, stylized porch stoops on either side of the steps. Beyond each stoop, the splayed concrete base of the building surrounds planter boxes. The entrance is composed of floor-to-ceiling aluminum-framed window walls and a paired entry door, a modernist interpretation of the entry door and sidelights. The entrance is offset with three of the floor-to-ceiling window walls to the left of the double doors and a narrower floor-to-ceiling window on the right. The pattern is A-A-A-B-B-C. A Texas Red (pink) granite cornerstone dated 1956 to the left of the entrance is original to the building.
South elevation
The four-bay south facade is composed of two of the corridor ends (bays one and three) jutting out and defining a deeply inset void or courtyard of the typical canopied, ribbon windowed composition (bay two). The first bay is composed of three bays defined by the two brackets that support the canopy over a single aluminum framed glass door with sidelights. The third bay is similar in composition yet is divided into five bays by the four brackets supporting the canopy. The walls on either side of bays one and three continue the typical ribbon windowed composition. The fourth bay is a continuation of the ribbon windowed composition.
East elevation
The east or rear facade has a five-bay composition with three long horizontal planes (bays one, three and five) and two short projecting bays that correspond to the east-to-west corridors (bays two and four). The central recessed courtyard (bay three) on this facade features the building's rear entrance. Four low concrete steps with a pea gravel finish lead to the entrance landing. The entrance canopy is of the same style and materials as the porte cochere and window canopies; it is supported by two metal lally columns. The paired entrance doors are aluminum-framed, single-light glass and set in the center of the stone wall.
North elevation
The north facade is a close mirror image to the south facade; only the left wing jutting forward is a slightly different alignment to its south facade counterpart. There is a service entrance dock composed of two stone walls surrounding a loading dock. There is a small asphalt vehicular road, and a turning area leads to the service dock, which is not original to the building.
Interior
The building layout allowed the firm to separate its departments by function and allowed natural light into interior spaces. Administrative functions, including the offices of Richard Farnsworth and Dunbar Chambers, Sr., symbolically occupied the central core of the building, and their purchasing and leasable spaces were located in the southern two wings. Estimating and accounting took up the wings that protruded to the east, and the northernmost extension of the building was occupied by heavy engineering. The executive offices of Farnsworth & Chambers were located on opposing north south hallways.
Architects MacKie & Kamrath provided ample fenestration in public areas that emphasizes the building's connection to the outdoors. The main entrance, the dining areas and the primary interior corridors have plate glass window walls and aluminum framed glass doors. Office areas have a ribbon of steel casement and fixed windows at eyelevel when standing.
Many of the interior wall surfaces are wood paneling as was fashionable at the time of construction. Rubber tiles comprised the floor coverings in the hallways while offices contained asphalt floor tiles. Higher-end materials were used in more notable spaces as in the slate tile flooring in Chambers' office and in the adjoining large conference room. Restroom and kitchen floors are terrazzo. Farnsworth had the sole carpeted floor in the building.
Acoustic ceiling tiles with recessed can lighting can be found throughout the building. Most interior doors are wooden with metal louvers that served as return air ducts. Additional return air vents, disguised as wooden wall sculptures, are at the junction of the crossing both east/west axes on the north/south corridor. Doors to the exterior are aluminum narrow framed glass doors with aluminum pulls.
Design summary
MacKie & Kamrath's design has a distinct aesthetic likely inspired by Mesoamerican talud-tablero building practices and their modem applications in American architecture, including Frank Lloyd Wright's Maya-inspired designs, namely Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona. The battered stone walls and long bands of windows emphasize the horizontality of the building. The porte cochere and window canopies show a modem treatment of traditional building elements.
The most significant part of the Farnsworth & Chambers building's history is its use as the headquarters for the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSG) in Houston while the Clear Lake campus was being designed and constructed. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) began in October 1958, absorbing the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and other government agencies. Based largely at Virginia's Langley Research Center, which had been established in 1917 as an aeronautics testing center, NASA immediately set out to create a space exploration program with Project Mercury and the Space Task Group.
The Mercury program had three primary objectives: to place a manned spacecraft in orbital flight around the Earth, to investigate the impact of space conditions, such as zero- or low-gravity, on human functions and capabilities, and recover both the spacecraft and its passenger safely.Authorized in 1958, Project Mercury sought to "[develop] more sophisticated spacecraft which will carry trained scientific observers into orbit around the earth and on interplanetary fiights." In 1961, NASA chose for its new headquarters land in Clear Lake donated by Rice University; the 1,000-acre tract was called Site 1. While Site 1 was being developed, NASA had several satellite offices in the vicinity of South Wayside for personnel and laboratories. Its headquarters for the MSC and Mercury program were in the Farnsworth & Chambers Building, designated "Site 2," from 1962-1964." Mercury astronauts including Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton as well as project director Robert Rowe Gilmth maintained offices in the building. At this time, no other facilities primarily associated with Project Mercury are known to be listed in the National Register.
The political maneuvering necessary to bring the MSC to Houston was largely orchestrated by Albert Thomas (1898- 1966), a 15-term Congressman from Houston and Harris County's Eighth District. Houston was among several other contenders including Jacksonville, Florida (Green Cove Springs Naval Station); Tampa, Florida (MacDill Air Force Base); Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Shreveport, Louisiana (Barksdale Air Force Base); Victoria, Texas (FAA Airport); Corpus Christi, Texas (Naval Air Station); San Diego, California (Camp Elliott); and San Francisco, Califomia (Benicia Ordnance Depot). Specific site criteria were developed to facilitate the search. "The site required access to water transportation by large barges, a moderate climate, availability of all-weather commercial jet service, a well-established industrial complex with supporting technical facilities and labor, close proximity to a culturally attractive community in the vicinity of an institution of higher education, a strong electric utility and water supply, at least 1,000 acres of land, and certain specified cost parameters." Houston actually came in second place to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa because the Air Force planned to close its Strategic Air Command operations there. In third place was the Benicia Ordnance Depot in the San Francisco Bay Area. Before a decision and public announcement was made, the Air Force decided not to close McDill and thus Houston moved to first place. The needed 1,000 acres of land was committed by Rice University and was once part of the estate of James Marion West (1871-1941), a Houston banker and publisher.