The architecture of the U.S. state of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

comes from a wide variety of sources. Many of the state's buildings reflect Texas' Spanish and

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

roots; in addition, there is considerable influence from mostly the

American South The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

as well as the Southwest. Rapid economic growth since the mid twentieth century has led to a wide variety of contemporary architectural buildings.

Traditional architecture

The first European buildings in Texas were a series of religious Spanish Missions established by

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Dominicans,

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

s, and

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

s to spread the Christian doctrine among the local Native Americans, and to give Spain a toehold in the frontier land. The missions introduced

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

vegetables Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...

, and industry into the

region. In addition to the ''presidio'' (fort) and ''pueblo'' (town), the ''misión'' was one of the three major agencies employed by the Spanish crown to extend its borders and consolidate its colonial territories. In all, twenty-six missions were maintained for different lengths of time within the future boundaries of the state. The

San Antonio de Valero Mission The Alamo is a historic Spanish mission and fortress compound founded in the 18th century by Roman Catholic missionaries in what is now San Antonio, Texas, United States. It was the site of the Battle of the Alamo in 1836, a pivotal event of t ...

known for the Battle of the Alamo is a prime example of this kind of architecture. Each Texas county has a distinct courthouse. These buildings reflect many different styles of architecture. Image:Bexar County Court House perspective.jpg, The

Bexar County Courthouse The Bexar County Courthouse is a historic building in downtown San Antonio, Texas, USA. The building was designed by architect J. Riely Gordon, and borders Main Plaza, along with such other architectural landmarks as the Cathedral of San Fernand ...

Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...

is a work of

Romanesque Revival architecture Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

from 1892. Image:UTMB old red.jpg, Nicholas J. Clayton's "Old Red" built in 1891, is on the campus of the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and is a registered Texas historic landmark.

Capitol building

The Texas State Capitol, located in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

, is the fourth building to serve as the seat of

government. It houses the chambers of the Texas State Legislature and the office of the

Governor of Texas The governor of Texas heads the state government of Texas. The governor is the leader of the executive and legislative branch of the state government and is the commander in chief of the Texas Military. The current governor is Greg Abbott, who ...

. Originally designed by

Elijah E. Myers Elijah E. Myers (December 29, 1832 – March 5, 1909) was a leading architect of government buildings in the latter half of the 19th century, and the only architect to design the capitol buildings of three U.S. states, the Michigan State Capito ...

, it was constructed from 1882–88 under the direction of civil engineer Lindsay Walker, and a $75 million underground extension was completed in 1993. The building was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1970 and recognized as a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1986. It is the largest

State Capitol This is a list of state and territorial capitols in the United States, the building or complex of buildings from which the government of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia and the organized territories of the United States, exercise its ...

building, but smaller than the

National Capitol Capitolio Nacional (or National Capitol) is a building on Bolivar Square in central Bogotá, the construction of which began in 1848 and was finished in 1926. It houses both houses of the Congress of Colombia. It was designed by Thomas Reed. ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Contemporary architecture

In addition to Texas's traditional

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

the state also has noteworthy contemporary buildings. Many world class architects and

Pritzker Prize The Pritzker Architecture Prize is an international architecture award presented annually "to honor a living architect or architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produ ...

winners have left their enriching marks on Texan cities and landscapes.

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

had four buildings in Texas, while

Tadao Ando is a Japanese autodidact architect whose approach to architecture and landscape was categorized by architectural historian Francesco Dal Co as "critical regionalism". He is the winner of the 1995 Pritzker Prize. Early life Ando was born a few m ...

Modern Art Museum Museums of modern art listed alphabetically by country. Argentina * Latin American Art Museum of Buenos Aires (MALBA) * Buenos Aires Museum of Modern Art (MAMBA) Australia *Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney 140 George Street, The Rocks, Sydney ...

and

Louis Kahn Louis Isadore Kahn (born Itze-Leib Schmuilowsky; – March 17, 1974) was an Estonian-born American architect based in Philadelphia. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935. Whi ...

's famous

Kimbell Art Museum The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, hosts an art collection as well as traveling art exhibitions, educational programs and an extensive research library. Its initial artwork came from the private collection of Kay and Velma Kimbell, wh ...

are permanent landmarks of the city of

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

. Other super architects such as

I.M. Pei Ieoh Ming Pei
– website of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners ( ; ; April 26, 1917 – May 16, 2019) was ...

and Philip Johnson have numerous works across the state. Among their famous works one can mention the

Fort Worth Water Gardens __NOTOC__ The Fort Worth Water Gardens, built in 1974, is located on the south end of downtown Fort Worth between Houston and Commerce Streets next to the Fort Worth Convention Center. The 4.3-acre (1.7 hectare) Water Gardens were designed by ...

Amon Carter Museum Amon may refer to: Mythology * Amun, an Ancient Egyptian deity, also known as Amon and Amon-Ra * Aamon, a Goetic demon People Momonym * Amon of Judah ( 664– 640 BC), king of Judah Given name * Amon G. Carter (1879–1955), American pu ...

Chapel of St. Basil The Chapel of St. Basil is a chapel on the campus of the University of St. Thomas in Houston, TX, designed by Philip Johnson in 1997. Location The Chapel of St. Basil is located at the North end of the University's Academic Mall. The mall itsel ...

Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center The Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center is a concert hall located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas ( USA). Ranked one of the world's greatest orchestra halls, it was designed by architect I.M. Pei and acoustician Russell Johnson's ...

, and

Thanks-Giving Square Thanks-Giving Square is a private park and public facility anchoring the Thanksgiving Commercial Center district of downtown Dallas, Texas, United States. Dedicated in 1976, the complex consists of three components: a landscaped garden and non-den ...

. In Austin, Gordon Bunshaft's

Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, also known as the LBJ Presidential Library, is the presidential library and museum of Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th president of the United States (1963–1969). It is located on the grounds of t ...

(also a

winner) is particularly noteworthy, while

Steven Holl Steven Holl (born December 9, 1947) is a New York-based American architect and watercolorist. Among his most recognized works are the 2019 REACH expansion of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the 2019 Hunters Point Library in Q ...

, Robert A. M. Stern, Jaime Prize, and

César Pelli César Pelli (October 12, 1926 – July 19, 2019) was an Argentine-American architect who designed some of the world's tallest buildings and other major urban landmarks. Two of his most notable buildings are the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur a ...

are other architect legends who designed buildings that grace the

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

and

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

areas. Sir Norman Foster's Dallas Center for the Performing Arts is the latest addition to such architectural landmarks in Texas. Some facilities even harbor the marks of multiple architects. Houston's Museum of Fine Arts for example, was designed by

winner Rafael Moneo, landscape architect extraordinaire Isamu Noguchi, and the pioneering master of

Modern Architecture Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that form ...

Mies van der Rohe Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd ...

. Image:SAPL3.jpg, Ricardo Legorreta's

San Antonio Public Library The San Antonio Public Library (SAPL) is the public library system serving the city of San Antonio, Texas. It consists of a central library, 29 branch libraries (as of the fall of 2017), and a library portal. SAPL was awarded the National Medal for ...

is an excellent example of

postmodern architecture Postmodern architecture is a style or movement which emerged in the 1960s as a reaction against the austerity, formality, and lack of variety of modern architecture, particularly in the international style advocated by Philip Johnson and Henry- ...

in Texas. Image:Fort Worth Water Gardens 2003.jpg, Philip Johnson's landscaping masterpiece: the

Skylines

Texas is also home to some of the tallest skyscrapers in the United States. The Houston skyline has been ranked fourth-most impressive in the United States when ranked by breadth and height, being the country's third-tallest skyline and one of the top 10 in the world;Tallest Cities of the World?
'SkyscraperPage Forum, August 30, 2006'' however, because it is spread over a few miles, most pictures of the city show only the main downtown area. Houston has a system of tunnels and skywalks linking buildings in downtown. The tunnel system also includes shops, restaurants, and convenience stores. :''Images shown below are the eight tallest buildings in Texas.'' Image:Chase_Tower,_a_block_away.jpg, 1. JPMorgan Chase Tower
Houston Image:Wells Fargo Bank Plaza, Houston, from base.jpg, 2. Wells Fargo Bank Plaza
Houston Image:Bank of America Plaza.jpg, 3. Bank of America Plaza
Dallas Image:Renaissance Tower.jpg, 5. Renaissance Tower
Dallas Image:Bank_One_Center.jpg, 6. Comerica Bank Tower
Dallas Image:Bank of America Center Houston 1.jpg, 7. Bank of America Center
Houston Image:Heritage Plaza Building Houston Texas.jpg, 8.

Heritage Plaza Heritage Plaza is a postmodern skyscraper located in the Skyline District of downtown Houston, Texas. Standing at , the tower is the 5th-tallest building in Houston, the 8th-tallest in Texas, and the 60th-tallest in the United States. The bu ...

Houston

References

{{North America in topic, Architecture of *

Traditional architecture

Capitol building

Contemporary architecture

Skylines

See also

References