Letter from the Guest Editor
In the 1990’s, a new wave of architecture professors at Rice University took on Houston as an experiment in urbanism. Whereas American cities like Boston and New York offered infill and contextual strategies by which to analyze and investigate, the seemingly blank canvas of the “Space City” offered up the idea of a new breed of city, or anti-city. As students we were rolled out to all corners of the region to investigate the hidden city — how the industrial warehouse, the bayou, the suburban tract, the mega-mall, the parking lot, and all the spaces in between created the tapestry that is Houston.

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Sept. 10 marked the release date of the latest issue of Cite magazine. The issue focused on infrastructure; largely ignored by most but, nonetheless, the bedrock on which all other endeavor— literally and figuratively—rest. Read below the introductory essay in the issue by Cite Editor Raj Mankad

Letter from the Editor
My day normally begins with a bicycle ride through the bungalows near the Menil Collection, across the Dunlavy bridge over the Southwest Freeway, and through Boulevard Oaks and Southhampton to Rice University. The nearly continuous live oak canopy keeps me cool on the hottest of days. I add extra loops and turns to take in the museums and architect-designed homes, many of which have been featured in Rice Design Alliance tours and Cite reviews. If that is what you want to read about—that soothingly coherent world—don’t open this issue.

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Cite 71 was sandwiched in-between several hurricanes. Published in the summer of 2007 — after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and before Hurricane Ike — the issue managed to digest the still-raw lessons learned from the devastation in New Orleans and offered a prescient analysis before the arrival of Ike.

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The Architecture Center Houston and the Houston Public Library hold a monthly program called Authors in Architecture. The series highlights one book or publication. It is held every 3rd Thursday of each month with a presentation and discussion at the Downtown Library and a following reception and book signing at the Architecture Center.

The Thursday June 18th event will feature Raj Mankad, editor of Cite: The Architecture + Design Review of Houston.

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Let’s start at the end. In order to set the context for the work featured in this issue, we asked Stephen Fox—the preeminent historian of Texas architecture—to trace the descent of architectural stars upon the state. His essay on the last page of this issue reveals just the tip of the iceberg. Visit his post on this blog for a comprehensive list of projects built in Texas since 1886 by prominent architects from other parts of the world.

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Guest Editors: Anna Mod and Christof Spieler

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Guest Editors: Barry Moore and Susan Rogers

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Guest Editors: Thomas M. Colbert and Bruce C. Webb

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Guest Editors: Stephen Fox and Lynn M. Herbert

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Editorial Consultants: Danny Marc Samuels and William F. Stern

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