Houston 2020 Visions

Address
315 Capitol Suite 120, Houston TX 77002
Hours
Mon–Thu 9 am–5:30 pm, Fri 9 am–3 pm

The Houston 2020 Visions exhibition features innovative projects seeking a more forward-looking and resilient future while tackling some of Houston’s most urgent challenges. The Houston 2020 Visions Lecture Series features curated discussions with regional and national resilience experts..

Life on the Gulf Coast changed in late August 2017 when Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Southeast Texas.  The week that followed brought historic levels of precipitation across the region as the storm slowed and stalled out over the city, flooding Houston neighborhoods with over 50 inches of rain in a variety of diverse communities and far spread bayous.  Yet it was by no means the first storm we had seen, with two 500 – year flood events in the previous two years and memories still keen to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Ike within the past decade.  We had also witnessed other recent, nearby disasters like Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana in 2005, the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010, and the Drought of 2011, which was the driest year ever recorded in the state of Texas.  But this storm had been epic, devastating and biblical in proportion.

As Harvey passed, crews began to remove debris, volunteers mucked out the thousands of damaged buildings and homes, and neighbors helped neighbors. The Cajun Navy and other local heroes carried out rescues of the many stranded victims and survivors.  Even as these first efforts began to wrap up and folks packed up their gear, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner observed that Harvey did not discriminate.  The storm rained everywhere and on everyone:  rich and poor, young and old, conservative and progressive, regardless of ethnicity, gender or religion.  There were many urgent calls for action and change, and it was clear that something must be done. 

With City officials and employees working around the clock, Mayor Turner tapped former Shell CEO Marvin Odum to serve as the Hurricane Harvey Recovery Czar.  The Mayor encouraged Houston Housing Department Director Tom McCasland to step up city efforts to produce stronger and safer housing policies, and he set about implementing more stringent requirements for new building standards and restrictions for construction within the 100-year and 500-year flood plains.  And, Mayor Turner also agreed to engage the local community of design professionals, embracing a first of its kind collaboration between the City of Houston and AIA Houston.

Houston 2020 Visions was launched in January 2018 with the approval of the local AIA’s Board of Directors. Czar Odum and Director McCasland committed to a multi-phase process, including a design competition that focused on the Mayor’s signature initiative, titled, “Complete the Community: An Affordable Housing and Design Competition.”  The results and best designs of that effort, some of which are already under contract, are now in the works for replacing the city’s ravaged housing stock and have raised the quality and sustainability of all the programs involved. On the first anniversary of the storm, we launched a second initiative with the issuance of a “Request for Visions” or “RFV” that solicited innovative ideas and solutions that sought a broader perspective on citywide, regional, and even national challenges related to the emerging threats of global climate change.

The year-long competition concluded on the second anniversary of the storm and a jury of experts in design and resiliency was convened in the Fall of 2019.  Their charge was to review and judge the dozens of entries submitted for consideration and inclusion in the Houston 2020 Visions program.  The resulting exhibit reflects the careful curation and organization of what were deemed “Promising Practices” and outstanding “Visions” from all of the submissions.  Here these projects are presented as “Clusters” of ideas with so-called “Gaps” in submitted entries that highlight other noteworthy resiliency issues. This exhibition opens in tandem with the City of Houston’s launch of its unique “Climate Action Plan,” with additional support from the “Resilient Houston” initiative, and the recent announcement of Houston Climate Week. 

However, as the devastation of Hurricane Laura provides fresh evidence of the constant threat of storms to our city and region, with COVID-19 defining a new reality, as we fight for social justice and the fact that Black Lives Matter, one wonders how much longer we can survive before implementing meaningful change.  For Houston this is an existential challenge, not only for the future of the Energy Capital of the World, but also for the lives and souls of its people.

- City Council Member David W. Robinson, FAIA

 

This is exhibition is funded through a grant generously provided by the American Institute of Architects.
Houston 2020 Visions may be viewed online at www.houston2020visions.org, and in-person by appointment only.