AIA Presents:
Location:Houston, TX
Architect:Philip Johnson, FAIA; Johnson/Burgee Architects; Wilson, Morris, Crain and Anderson
Year Built:1976
Fact:The offices in the top of the building under the angled roofs were some of the first to be leased.

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Pennzoil Place
Rate: starstarstarstarstar Votes: 27

Pennzoil Place

The two trapezoidal-shaped towers of Pennzoil Place are separated only by 10 feet, creating a distinct, 500-foot-tall sliver of light on the Houston skyline. The towers are connected at street level by a dramatic, glass-enclosed galleria.

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I also think that, as only Philip Johnson can do, is he gave modern architecture, right or wrong, the permission to make, let’s call it, subjective decisions about how buildings look.

Michael Hricak, FAIA
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Contemporary corporate buildings today are very different than, and will never be the same as they were in the 70’s.

Bruce Race, FAIA
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But the little 10-foot sliver between the two towers is really what gave it much of its charm. From the standpoint of, as one rotates around the base of that building and sees the interplay between the two trapezoidal towers has a real unique setting and feel.

Bryce Weigand, FAIA
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Well, some of it’s economic, which is unique to this building is that, normally an owner would look at maximizing the amount of square footage that they could lease or rent and by doing this kind of truncated, angular, roof, you obviously end up with less square footage to rent. But there was a presence to the building, an ambience to the building that made it so significant that it became a higher real estate value.

Dan Williams, FAIA
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