Houston - Rice University

[geomorph]

The Rice University campus in Houston, Texas, is located about 3 miles from downtown and adjacent to Hermann Park and the Texas Medical Center.

I will post three parts, grouped by general style or time of building.

This first part covers the historic buildings as well as later (and even recent) buildings inspired by them. Many of the oldest buildings are located along a central greenspace axis that organizes this orderly campus.

Lovett Hall:

1.


2.


3.


4.


5.


Herzstein Hall:

6.


7.


Sewall Hall:

8.


9.


Academic Quadrangle and Willy's Statue:

10.


11.


Rayzor Hall (foreground) and Humanities Building:

12.


Baker College:

13.


14.


Baker Hall:

15.


16.


17.


McNair Hall:

18.


19.


20.


21.


22.


23.


24.


25.


26.


Maxfield Hall:

27.


28.


Keck Hall:

29.


30.


31.


32.


Rice Memorial Chapel:

33.


34.


Brockman Hall for Opera:

35.


36.


37.


38.


39.


40.


41.


All photos taken by geomorph in 2021.

PART 2 IS IN POST #18 OF THIS THREAD. PART 3 IS IN POST #23 OF THIS THREAD

[mrnyc]

nice work and very timely as we are just thinking about taking a trip to houston later this winter.

i had no idea anything about this school or that it had such a nice looking campus. the greenspace is epic though and would seem to be tiresome going from place to place if you lived on campus. maybe its just your perspective, but i hope there are more intimate areas?

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

nice work and very timely as we are just thinking about taking a trip to houston later this winter.

i had no idea anything about this school or that it had such a nice looking campus. the greenspace is epic though and would seem to be tiresome going from place to place if you lived on campus. maybe its just your perspective, but i hope there are more intimate areas?

I'm an old guy and I don't find the Quadrangle at Rice to be all that daunting. Sparse (as in treeless) yes, but I think the photos make it look larger than it feels. I have a few campus photos (with lots of trees) on this thread: https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=241242
Starting with the 4th shot.

[MplsTodd]

Beautiful looking campus--reminds me of Stanford U. Though I've never been to the Rice campus, I have driven through Rice Village and thought that was an interesting business district.

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by geomorph

The Rice University campus in Houston, Texas, is located about 3 miles from downtown and adjacent to Hermann Park and the Texas Medical Center.

Great photos. Looking forward to more.

I love Rice. It's basically the neighborhood university for those of us who think of Montrose/Museum Area/Hermann Park/Midtown/Downtown and the Med Center as our (former) stomping grounds. And Rice and its students have such quirky, tongue-in-cheek, even sardonic attitudes. Google Rice Marching Owl Band (MOB) to get a taste of it.

This banner with a "slight" variation of Texas A&M's ATM insignia seen hanging from a Rice college (dorm) is a good example of Rice's snark.

[JMKeynes]

Beautiful!

[Murphy de la Sucre]

Sometimes it's hard to not notice the name is attractive to those Asian folks...

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by bilbao58

I'm an old guy and I don't find the Quadrangle at Rice to be all that daunting. Sparse (as in treeless) yes, but I think the photos make it look larger than it feels. I have a few campus photos (with lots of trees) on this thread: https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=241242
Starting with the 4th shot.

i see — very nice.

you can’t beat those texas oak trees they are really something special.

we just might have to take in a stroll around rice campus.

[AviationGuy]

I've visited the campus and remembered it as covered with historic live oaks. like that whole part of of the city. Wondering how they didn't show up in the photos.

Nonetheless, I've always loved the architecture. Great photos.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by AviationGuy

I've visited the campus and remembered it as covered with historic live oaks. like that whole part of of the city. Wondering how they didn't show up in the photos.

Nonetheless, I've always loved the architecture. Great photos.

he said above he would be posting more so we will see. i hope so — looking forward to it.

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

he said above he would be posting more so we will see. i hope so — looking forward to it.

Oh, so sorry. I missed that.

[JManc]

Did you get a chance to visit Valhalla? A really cool pub for grad students right on campus.

[jmecklenborg]

There is a bar on Rice's campus, under the steps of the Chemistry Building. I drank 1-2 beers there on a visit in the 90s. Apparently it's still there:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUser...ton_Texas.html

A lot of universities used to have bars on-campus, but MADD rooted out almost all of them.

[LAsam]

Thanks Geomorph! Your photo threads are always very comprehensive and informative, so I get excited when I see a new one posted. Rice looks somewhat familiar, as it seems to have some of the same architectural notes you see in Southern California at UCLA and USC. A little bit of Moorish influence, and some Spanish revival. Looking forward to seeing what else you have to share.

[sopas ej]

Great photos!

I found this one particularly interesting:

Originally Posted by geomorph

7.

Those "cone domes" look vaguely Anatolian, and remind me of the cone domes you often see on Armenian and Georgian churches.

[TexasPlaya]

Based off Rice University's wiki:

Founded in 1912, the university has been developed in a relatively uniform Mediterranean Revival style, emphasizing light brick facades, quadrangles, archways, and decorative columns. There are notable exceptions to this style, including examples of brutalism and modern architecture.

I always loved riding my bike through that campus when I lived nearby.

[geomorph]

Originally Posted by AviationGuy

I've visited the campus and remembered it as covered with historic live oaks. like that whole part of of the city. Wondering how they didn't show up in the photos.

Nonetheless, I've always loved the architecture. Great photos.

I did see large areas of oaks but it is interesting I did not focus on them, they are just on the edges of many of my photos! Two of the large quadrangles featured in part 1 are devoid of oaks though.

[geomorph]

The second part consists of midcentury modern and postmodern structures. While the midcentury designs are not extensive, several of the campus' tallest buildings are in this style. The postmodern designs are mostly pleasing without jumping out too far from the campus organization and massing.

Fondren Library:

42.


43.


Space Science:

44.


Jones College:

45.


46.


Lovett College:

47.


48.


49.


Old Richardson College:

50.


Richardson College: This is a contemporary building but is located next to and perhaps inspired by its older neighbor.

51.


52.


Herring Hall:

53.


54.


Duncan Hall:

55.


56.


57.


58.


59.


Brown College:

60.


61.


62.


North Servery:

63.


64.


Martell College:

65.


66.


67.


68.


Alice Pratt Brown Hall:

69.


70.


71.


72.


All photos taken by geomorph in 2021.

PART 1 IS IN POST #1 OF THIS THREAD. PART 3 IS IN POST #23 OF THIS THREAD

[dc_denizen]

Looks like Stamford

What an architectural asset for Houston

[AviationGuy]

I was proud of my Dad being an alumnus of Rice, which always had very tough requirements for entry. He graduated in about 1947 with a mechanical engineering degree, and went on to have a long career with Kellogg Brown and Root. So this thread really means a lot to me.