WE NEED HEROES

Of course, with all the media attention there has to be a hero, and that means Randall Davis. His first development in Houston was Dakota Lofts in the warehouse district north of Buffalo Bayou. Despite the fact that several other smaller warehouse conversions had existed in this area for years, the big money that his partner David Weekly brought to the project assured media and city attention. His self proclaimed title of "true urban pioneer" is unquestioned by the media and public in general. Davis' other projects, Dakota, Tribeca, The Rice, and Hogg Palace, all follow the model of taking vacant structures and retrofitting them to resemble an imagined "New York Style" loft. Exposed mechanical systems, open floor plans and hardwood floors combined with secure parking, laundry facilities and expresso bars provide everything the upwardly mobile young professional or cultural sophisticate could want. He seems to favor the more recent incarnation of SoHo to the rough and ready artist driven neighborhood SoHo once was. His recently completed project, Metropolis, is located in that destitute part of town, River Oaks ;-) Randall has found his true calling. Metropolis is a structure which, by virtue of its timeliness and content, reaches the level of "art". In fact, Metropolis is a work of art more interesting than anything seen on Colquitt in years. This building says more about the culture that created it than Moroles could ever put into one of his blocks of stone.

Don't let the photographs fool you,
that's not stone and brick, it's natures'
finest Taco Bell siding and brick!

Purse Building
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Cleft Palette

Cleft Palette
Metropolis-June'98
Heroes/Disclaimer
Context/Disclaimer
Architecture/Art
Questions/Future

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Credits
This issue of Cleft Palette is made possible by a Creative Artist Grant funded by the City of Houston through the Cultural Arts Council of Houston/Harris County.

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DISCLAIMER 1

Now, I need to clarify that I do not believe that art is necessarily meant to provide some positive models for our culture. I do not believe that in order for a work to qualify as art it must reinforce some positive aspect of our existence. It might also succeed by pointing out our weakness. For this artist, all an object (or non-object..lets not get into that!) must do is communicate something about the world around it. Of course just about anything can meet this criteria, but sometimes, an object succeeds by telling us something about ourselves in ways other objects can't. In the case of Metropolis, it sends chills up and down my spine. I like that!

CONTEXT