Houston Deco: Modernistic Architecture of the Texas Coast

When Houston’s Gulf Building opened in 1929, the city’s planners were eager to align the growing metropolis with the dynamism of the American West, and art deco buildings proliferated: courthouses, schools, even car dealerships had sleek, modern designs, and movie palaces incorporated art deco murals. This book grew out of efforts by the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance, begun in 2006 to save some of these structures. The authors, who also did most of the color photography on every page, went through the city and its environs to chronicle existing structures. Some were well preserved, others in disrepair. The authors provide minimal information on the architects or building processes, but their work is intended more as a field guide than a history and may be of interest beyond Houston to similar preservation groups in cities across America. (Apr.)