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When 170,000 gallons of heavy crude oil spilled into Galveston Bay on March 22, naturalists noted that the timing was potentially catastrophic. In Spring, Galveston Bay is a rest stop on a superhighway of bird migration. According to a recent report in the Houston Chronicle, as of April 4, 39 dolphins, 17 turtles, and 331 birds had died in and around Galveston and Matagorda Island since the spill. Apparently, wind blew much of the oil into the Gulf. Damage to the bay could have been far worse.
Still, the best hope for our region is to see our defenses against storm surges, our industrial base, and our natural habitats as coexisting in a single system rather than locked in conflict, according to proposals backed by John Nau and James Baker, as well as academic experts associated with the SSPEED Center. OffCite covered the proposed basic idea. Lisa Gray wrote about University of Houston architecture professor Thomas Colbert’s concept for linking tourist infrastructure and a storm barrier with bird habitats.
But what would Galveston Bay look like as a tourist destination?
Erling Cruz, a student who worked with Colbert, has a proposal to make that migratory world more visible --- six iconic towers drawing people to witness the bird migrations.
Consider Smith Point. Little more than an hour from Downtown, located on the northeast side of Galveston Bay, it is a windswept spot visited by birders from around the world but nearly unknown to Houstonians. Hawks gather there in the dozens, resting before they cross the bay.
Cruz’s designs for the towers at Smith Point and five other locations with very high bird counts take inspiration from the migratory flight path of the birds as they ride thermal currents in a spiral to gain altitude before gliding across the bay. The steel structures jut and angle like Frank Gehry’s Los Angeles house. At first glance, they appear unstable, but the towers were designed to resist hurricane winds and surge waters. A structural engineer reviewed the plans.
Meant to have a minimal environmental impact on fragile sites, the towers would be situated in a selection of characteristic landscape conditions: saltwater and freshwater marsh, riparian forest, and beachfront. Each would mark the intersection of hiking and paddling trails at vehicle drop-off points.
Each tower was uniquely designed for its location but shares with the others a common structural system and architectural vocabulary. Each provides fresh water, restrooms, and misting systems for visitors while being completely energy self-sufficient.
The proposal received a 2012 Student Design Merit Award from AIA Fort Worth. It was included in the exhibition “Sketch” at the Fordham University Center Gallery on Columbus Avenue in New York. It also received one of four student design awards, and the People's Choice Award, at the AIA Houston Gulf Coast Green Symposium and Expo in 2013, and it was awarded a design prize by the 2013 Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture Graduation Awards Jury.
By Raj Mankad
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