TA24-J F-Pages - Flipbook - Page 8
Contributors
is a
recent graduate of the
Gerald D. Hines College
of Architecture and
Design at the University
of Houston and is a
designer at Collaborate
Architects. Read his
article on the Alief
Neighborhood Center &
Park on page 82.
Rodrigo Gallardo
Jessie Temple is an
architect in Austin. See
her article “Plugged
In” on the new
functions libraries are
taking as resilience
hubs on page 56.
is
an architect at Low
Design O昀케ce and a
design commissioner
for District 3 in Austin.
Her article “Together
Again” (p. 50) outlines
the importance of
positive urbanism and
steps we can take to
achieve it.
Nkiru Gelles, AIA
works
at McKinney York
Architects in Austin.
In this issue, she writes
about the cultural
signi昀椀cance of public
swimming pools (p. 64).
Abigail Thomas
Letters
The following note was sent to the editor in response to the
November/December 2023 issue.
The following note was sent to the editor in response to the
November/December 2023 Portfolio article “Absolutely
Fabulous.”
I was reading the Nov/Dec issue of the magazine last night. Your Editor’s Note on housing
costs was excellent and 昀椀t in perfectly with the 3
articles on housing. Good timing on that, as there
are multiple recent federal actions at HUD and
with the International Code Council that directly
impact housing and a昀昀ordability for people with
disabilities. … A signi昀椀cant issue for developers
and builders are the lawsuits that hammered the
National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB)
and others, based on the confusion in applying
either the Building Codes, the ADA, or the Fair
Housing Act. In fact, the NAHB has their own
department for technical assistance (TA) for their
members, and they contacted me and two others
in our university asking us to develop a matrix/
昀氀owchart of which regulations apply for their TA
folks to respond to their membership lawsuits.
Projects can be under the purview of one or
two or any combination of the three regulations
depending on funding sources, elevators, number
of covered units, property lines, local jurisdictional adoptions, and ad-nauseum. And all this
a昀昀ects costs.
What about Bella?
Each day, I witness the heartwarming scene
of Bella’s grandmother accompanying her from
their quaint, wooden home, built in the 1930s,
to the local K-12 Arts Vanguard. Bella, a gifted
trombone musician and exceptional student, is
part of a school that has achieved a ‘B’ rating,
an impressive feat considering that 81% of
its students come from lower socioeconomic
backgrounds. The school’s success is a testament
to the fact that academic achievement is not
determined by economic status.
However, the construction of the upscale
HiFAB Haciendas in the vicinity of the school
and throughout the neighborhood is altering the
community’s a昀昀ordability and demographic landscape. The homes in the third phase of the Dallas
Hacienda project are priced just shy of $600,000.
My deepest concern is for students like Bella, who
may be at risk of losing access to this valuable
community resource — the thriving neighborhood school — due to new housing developments
that could displace long-standing families.
While the HiFAB Haciendas are lauded for
being “Absolutely Fabulous” and boast high-end
designs, they also pose a real threat to the community’s social cohesion, demographic diversity,
and the very fabric that holds the neighborhood
together. It’s a complex issue where progress and
preservation must 昀椀nd a balance.
Richard Sternadori, Assoc. AIA
Great Plains ADA Center, University of Missouri
The following comment was posted on texasarchitectmagazine.org in response to the November/December 2023
Of Note article “Tagore Grove Memorial Commemorates
Bengali Humanitarian.”
Excellent article capturing the essence of the
Grove. It is a mesmerizing place, especially if
you go with heart and mind open. The architect Alvaro Espinal has to be congratulated for
creating such an iconic structure for the city of
Houston.
Surajit Dasgupta
Tagore Society of Houston
6 Texas Architect
1/2 2024
Derwin Broughton, AIA, NOMA
Dallas