Houston’s distinctive architecture stands out, but that's just one aspect of the city's charm. Dive into the full experience and discover all the things to do in Houston, encompassing both its iconic structures and vibrant lifestyle.
Sid Richardson Residential College
Sid Richardson Residential College, built in 1971, is a spectacular example of Houston architecture. To bring their vision to life, the design team of Barkow Leibinger split the atom with the design of Sid Richardson Residential College, producing a visually striking stepwise brick building with a prominent terrace. Broad stairs angle outward left and right, with tall exterior windows inviting you in for a bite to eat. Its interior is a columnless dining/meeting hall with space for 300 rowdy Texas undergrads. Looking up, you're covered by a triangulated steel-and-beam roof that radiates strength from the thickness of its struts.
Touring its corridors, you’ll pass by several workshops and event spaces. There's a veranda the designers meant to be a liminal space for impromptu get-togethers. In a nod to the local climate, the spaces adjoining the exterior doors have brise soleil (sun breaker panels) protecting them. They are oriented to catch the occasional puff of breeze.
The Historic Houston Post Office by OMA and its Adaptive Reuse
The Historic Houston Post Office by OMA is an architectural marvel, made up of three atria: X, O, and Z. They feed up through monumental staircases to the rooftop park. It lets you experience the rebirth of space, the same way Corteo saw his own mortality in our production named for him. It’s amazing to see what human ingenuity is capable of: This stunning example of Houston architecture was once just a warehouse.
Elevate your Houston Stay!
Ready for a whimsical twist to your Houston visit? Make the most of your day with high-flying Cirque du Soleil acts and vibrant shows!
Houston Endowment Headquarters
The Houston Endowment headquarters is a revitalization project south of Houston Heights and northeast of River Oaks on the banks of Buffalo Bayou.
So much more than just an office building, this low-slung white architectural complex looks as if it’s made from light. A warm glow emanates from behind the forward-mounted curtain walls that form its facade. It's set back in a field of green landscaping, as if it’s an earthly model of the house you’ll live in when you get to heaven.
The whole structure seems so light it levitates, especially at night when the only illumination comes from within. Inside the main entrance, an infinite corridor wraps all the way around the building core with vaulted ceilings supported by a Cordoban arcade of columns and arches. The office and shared spaces inside are open and inviting, presenting the first-time visitor with a feeling of open arms and a kind word.
Texas Tower
The Texas Tower can be seen from as far away as Sugar Land. This towering illustration of Houston architecture is a new addition to the city’s skyline. Even at 47 stories, it still stands in the JPMorgan Chase Building’s looming shadow. The segmented top floor feels like a Medieval castle in steel and dark glass. The exterior facets of the structure are all excitingly chunky and present assertive boxlike extensions all the way up.
Currently occupied by the flagship tenant Hines, the tower is an art piece, with lines calling to memory the industrial exuberance of Art Deco from a century before. Part of a reinvigorated downtown, the Texas Tower may be a sign of what lies ahead for the booming business district in Houston.
Nancy and Rich Kinder Museum
The Nancy and Rich Kinder Museum is located in the Museum District, all angles and deliberate-looking sight lines. It's close to the historic Rothko Chapel, which houses murals by Mark Rothko.
Stroll the elaborately landscaped grounds surrounding the property to take in its sharp lines and overhanging wall blocks, which are braided all the way up by textured striations molded into the living concrete. The effect is excitingly patterned, and it creates constant visual stimulation that turns architecture into an art installation.
The architectural firm of Steven Holl Architects planned out the 237,000-square-foot interior to make a neat split between the cavernous 215-seat exhibition theater, which is accessible from bunker-like underground tunnels. From here, crowds spill up and out into the screening room, silently directed by passive design layout into the 102,000-square-foot exhibition space.
We try to capture this feeling in the amazing experience of KOOZA, the story of an innocent clown whose life is transformed one day by the arrival of an enigmatic messenger. A simple telegram changes Kooza’s life, as our hero enters a new and far larger world of fresh discoveries.
Silos at Sawyer Yards
No place in Houston feels more vibey than Silos at Sawyer Yards, a repurposed former industrial site that lives again for trend-seeking Houstonians looking for something new in their cuisine, drinks, and social life.
Go northwest from Houston City Hall and Sam Houston Park in Downtown Houston. You’ll find the city’s many brew houses in this revitalized zone. It’s a vintage industrial-chic look and feel that’s uniquely Sawyer Park.
The Silos are built-for-purpose shared workspaces and former industrial warehouses now home to indie coffee shops and art walks. This is a place for creative industries and design firms. It's also a promising space for young artists and tech innovators looking for something better than the cubicle life.
Corrugated steel panels wrap around the Silos, which welcomes visitors through a crazed multicolor entryway that calls to mind the living works of Keith Haring. All pastels and disruptive lines, tilted angles, wide atria, and a fun vibe that keeps this architectural space dancing with possibilities.
Houston Ismaili Centre
The Ismaili Centre Houston, is a combination of a conventional meeting space for a minority community with traditional mosque architecture. It sports a low-stone zigzag maze of exterior corridors that creates an otherworldly effect that’s nothing like an office or industrial car park.
Look around at the white slate facade of this contemporary structure. It’s all clean lines and a fortress-like mass of interior space, rising into a glass parapet effect higher up. It’s a fusion of old and new, of Asia and America. Its design elements draw from 7th-century Arabia and matured into a special place for everybody in Houston, courtesy of the local Ismaili community.
We're also for everybody, and we love the throngs of fans who come to see our shows as much as we adore the diverse appeal of the Ismaili Centre. Come and share with us the stirring experience of ice skating, acrobatics, and fresh new faces that make up Cirque du Soleil Crystal, the fusion of complementary artistic forms on ice.
Menil Drawing Institute in Houston
The Menil Drawing Institute puts the brakes on the bustle with a headquarters that’s a study in minimalist architecture and cool, clean lines.
Artists have been working for generations to do more with less, without actually mounting a blank canvas. But here, a mere hop, skip, and jump from the Menil Collection by Renzo Piano, the effect has been achieved. It's a perfectly blank space, filled with a Zen calm. The interior classrooms train the next generation of inspired artists in Houston.
This lovely structure is white rectangles that meet at right angles. The bright white walls seem to erupt from the lush green grass all around, with nothing but a gap in shadow at one corner to signal that there’s an entrance. The exterior design's is a statement from Johnston Marklee, the design team that has finally hung the moon with this masterpiece of minimal design.
Glassell School of Art With Rooftop Garden
Art merges with modern architecture at the Glassell School of Art. This steel-and-glass redevelopment replaces a 35-year-old university building with exciting sloped sides and a unique slanted roof that’s home to a community garden. There’s more than art going on inside this visually striking complex, as it also houses a conservation center and exhibition gallery for students’ work.
We really feel this design. We share the aesthetic through the exciting jumble of Mad Apple, a tribute to the urban architecture of New York City, which seems a million miles away from Houston’s art and design district here.
OMA's Music Venue Design in Houston
The Office for Metropolitan Architecture’s music venue in Houston, The Terminal, is home to stunning performances. But its NASA-inspired architecture is the real show-stopper. Stepping into the foyer of this popping venue takes us through a colonnade under a low-slung room full of excited concertgoers. Past that, there’s an electric cool-blue lounge for pre-show socialization.
When the show starts, the lights fall, and the ingenuity of the venue’s brilliant acoustics comes alive from the orchestra pit to the back row.
Houston Architecture Is More Exciting Than Ever
Houston's recent years have been marked by a booming economy and an influx of bright young professionals, complemented by a vibrant live music scene that adds to the city's dynamic atmosphere. Here, that business boom has fed a cultural renaissance that has seen the central city erupt with new designs, beautiful architecture, and ambitious sights.
We're yet another new adventure in town. With a complete line-up of shows in Houston, you can have a wonderful experience visiting over and over again every Houston trip.