2 Houston Center, Houston, TX
Posted by: 
JimmyEv
N 29° 45.373 W 095° 21.807
15R E 271462 N 3294113
Wandering along the third-story terrace of this 40-story, 1974 skyscraper, you can piece together some of the original plans hatched by William L. Pereira Associates for their 75-acre, city-within-a-city project.
Waymark Code: WMZR8
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 11/26/2006
Views: 105
In 1970, a pipeline company, Texas Eastern Transmission Corp., developed a grandiose plan for the eastern edge of downtown. The company acquired 33 blocks for a huge, inter-connected complex to be built atop a four-level, 40,000 car parking garage. Buildings, some higher than any other in Houston, were planned to rise out of the garage, stepping towards the street with outdoor terraces. Through the terraces would be built a people-mover, whisking workers efficiently around the site. An elevated loop road, connected to the US 59 bridge, was to crown the upper levels of the complex.
2 Houston Center was built and the plans came to an end. Other buildings – 1 Houston Center, the Shops at Houston Center, the Four Seasons Hotel, First City Tower, Fulbright Tower – were built, but the only ones to reflect elements of the original plan were 1 and 2 Houston Center, connected together over San Jacinto Street. Terraced walkways ring the buildings; prominent X's mark the areas where the people mover was planned. Wandering along the promenades between 1 and 2 Houston Center you can piece together some of the original plans for the complex – a veritable Hanging Garden of Babylon.
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