AUSTIN | Misc. Discussions - No Politics

[SkyPie]

I've long considered the AT&T buildings as two of the most hideous buildings in downtown Austin. When walking by the brick building I noticed the the alley side had some interesting details that I'd never noticed before. I looked under the honeycomb concrete and all of the windows that are covered with the concrete lattice work have the same or similar detail. It's a shame that what was once a decent looking building was transformed into the monster it is today. Also, I've never noticed that the top floors look like they were added on after the building was built. Maybe one day the building will be restored...

4-12-2015

Alley view:


Street view:

[The ATX]

I never noticed that building before. But my god, it's a prison.

[LoneStarMike]

I have and I agree - it's hideous. I never noticed that the upper floors look they they were added at a later date, though. Good eye, SkyPie.

[KevinFromTexas]

Years ago when my folks had AT&T for our phone service, I'd go downtown with my dad to that building to pay the phone bill. That was before the days of doing it at your grocery store.

[drummer]

When you posted that, I initially wondered if the concrete latices over the windows were an attempt at aesthetically-pleasing bars over the windows for security or something (a major fail), but then I noticed your picture in the alley doesn't have this. That tells me that they serve no purpose whatsoever. It's a prison, indeed - I agree with Hill Country.

[austlar1]

I think the building mostly housed (and still houses??) banks of switching equipment. Not too many people worked in this "prison", but the original two or three story building probably once housed lots of telephone operators directing calls on banks of switchboards.

[LoneStarMike]

Here's some old photos from the Portal to Texas History.

Back then it was known as the Southwestern Bell Building.




http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/675...res/?width=930




http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/675...res/?width=930




http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/675...res/?width=930




http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/675...res/?width=930

The first three photos are from 1950 & 1951. The last one is from 1961.

[sammyk]

Looks like most AT&T Central Offices...bland, windowless fortress type building.

[SkyPie]

Those pictures are great LoneStarMike. Thanks for finding and sharing.

[lzppjb]

I think it was a pretty handsome little building before they changed it.

[hookem]

Now that I look at those historical pictures, they may have done the vertical additions in front of all the windows to "fix" the mismatches created by adding on. The windows weren't the same, the spacing wasn't the same, and the brick was obviously not a match. So the vertical top-to-bottom architectural features, while ugly, disguised the patchwork look and made it look like an intentional 4-story building. Probably for cheap, too.

Looking at the significant shades on only 1 side of even the original building, perhaps they were also necessary to reduce heat on the equipment inside.

[The ATX]

That was a just plain horribly done building expansion.

[Tech House]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

Years ago when my folks had AT&T for our phone service, I'd go downtown with my dad to that building to pay the phone bill. That was before the days of doing it at your grocery store.

And before the days of mail, and even the Pony Express, apparently.

[KevinFromTexas]

It's funny you should mention that, one of my dad's first jobs was working for Pony Express. I don't know. My dad always looked for an excuse to go downtown. I don't think he was an unwitting urbanist or anything, but he mostly was interested in downtown because of the history.

[Tech House]

I wonder how many of us were influenced by our dads, in forming our appreciation of cityscapes. My dad grew up in a one-room farmhouse near Ojai, CA, during the depression. He was in awe of progress and of cities, and he was a real estate broker whose favorite activity was to cruise around looking at property. I would often ride with him and just soaked up his enthusiasm.

In the late 60s, Santa Barbara (my home town) got its first freeway interchange. It's still there, no changes; it's a sad little thing with only 2 ramps, where the 2-3 mile "freeway" going to UCSB T's into US 101. The first time we drove past it, my dad glanced back and looked almost horrified with awe, and he said, "Look back at that thing!" I'll never forget that moment, or the look on his face. It was like an immigrant seeing NYC for the first time. I wonder what he'd think he thinks of the new 5- and 6-level stacks we have in Texas.

[The ATX]

It's amazing that SRV and Double Trouble are just now getting inducted into the Rock & Roll hall fame considering all of the lame (IMO, of course) non-rock & roll inductees.

http://www.twcnews.com/tx/austin.html

[lzppjb]

Originally Posted by Tech House

I wonder how many of us were influenced by our dads, in forming our appreciation of cityscapes. My dad grew up in a one-room farmhouse near Ojai, CA, during the depression. He was in awe of progress and of cities, and he was a real estate broker whose favorite activity was to cruise around looking at property. I would often ride with him and just soaked up his enthusiasm.

In the late 60s, Santa Barbara (my home town) got its first freeway interchange. It's still there, no changes; it's a sad little thing with only 2 ramps, where the 2-3 mile "freeway" going to UCSB T's into US 101. The first time we drove past it, my dad glanced back and looked almost horrified with awe, and he said, "Look back at that thing!" I'll never forget that moment, or the look on his face. It was like an immigrant seeing NYC for the first time. I wonder what he'd think he thinks of the new 5- and 6-level stacks we have in Texas.

Neither of my parents helped form my appreciation of skylines or cities. They are both the kind of people that yearn for the old Austin. But my dad doesn't get up in arms about how the skyline is changing. He just accepts it and moves on.

To be quite honest, I have no idea where it came from. Nobody I know cares about skylines or cityscapes or development. Nobody I know lives downtown. Nobody I knew growing up even spent time downtown. I guess it just started with seeing a cool night skyline shot of Austin with the river reflecting all the lights. I used the photo on my myspace profile. It must have been around 2003. It's the one with the gigantic full moon photoshopped in the sky.

I still prefer night skyline shots.

[lzppjb]

Ha. I think this was the one.

[wwmiv]

I really wish that all those buildings still lit their decorative lights at night...

[lzppjb]

Which ones don't?