Archinect - BG Group Place: An architectural dynamo2024-11-07T08:01:13-05:00https://archinect.com/blog/article/126961557/bg-group-place-revitalizing-the-urban-landscape
BG Group Place: Revitalizing the Urban Landscape cgarcia472015-05-08T20:38:27-04:00>2020-09-24T11:50:07-04:00
<p><strong><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bXcqOUju7ac/VUxSwMi8xoI/AAAAAAAAAqU/Ktz1GgmhWSQ/s1600/1-3632_81R4319-2.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bXcqOUju7ac/VUxSwMi8xoI/AAAAAAAAAqU/Ktz1GgmhWSQ/s320/1-3632_81R4319-2.jpg"></a></strong></p><p> </p><p> Architecture is often dismissed as ineffective in bringing forth any real social or economic change to an area. However, at the heart of the Main Street corridor of Houston, Texas, an idea was envisioned: to rejuvenate the once prominent block of Downtown in the midst of economic collapse and the degrading social fabric of the area.</p><p><strong>Main Street Blight</strong></p><p> An article in the Houston Chronicle in 2007 mentioned the 800 block of Main Street as, “the most blighted block in all of downtown.” This site was home to boarded-up buildings and hotels that attracted criminal activity, such as drug use and prostitution. One of those hotels being the once prestigious, Cotton Hotel offered residents swanky rooms in a prime location for the bustling life of Houston. It was one of the first steel and concrete high-rises in Houston and the first to offer bathrooms in every room. After the name change in 1960 to the Montagu Hotel, however, the establishment began seeing more and more...</p>