October 27, 2013

Ground Control
Pennzoil Plaza
Houston, Texas

Guests:
Dr. Dina Al-Sowayel, University of Houston
Honorable Morteza Baharloo, Writer and Businessman Tony Chase, Businessman
Dr. Billy Cohn, Texas Heart Institute
Sue Deigaard, Community Organizer
Carolyn Farb, Fundraiser
Dr. Bud Frazier, Texas Heart Institute
William J. Hill, Independent Oil Producer
Dr. Stephen Klineberg, Rice University, Kinder Institute
Thuy M. Le-Thai, Principal, Sharpstown International High School Marc Melcher, Businessman
Chef Hugo Ortega, Hugo's Restaurant
Claudia Schmuckli, Director, The Blaffer Museum of Art

With: Ron Jean Gilles and Nick Duble

Documentation: Michael Isabell

Presenters:
Surpik Angelini
Sue Deigaard
Stephen Fox
Yasufumi Nakamori
Claudia Schmuckli

Special thanks to:
Cooktek
Paul Doyle
Elizabeth Duble
Steven Duble
Beth Eichelberger
Elaine and John Eichelberger
The Staff of the Blaffer Art Museum

Ground Control Furniture:
Eric Arnold
Josh Jow
Dr. Helena Kauppila
Bob Martin
Fernando Santangelo
Travis Weaver

Free enterprise is the given reason there is no formal land use policy or simply put, no zoning in the city of Houston. Things end up being where they need to be. Philip Johnson’s Pennzoil Plaza, completed in 1975 embodies this ethos. Houstonians by choosing to live in the city have known something the rest of the world is recently discovering and this moment was an ideal time to convene a notable group of Houstonians who have all contributed to the fabric of the city. The focus of the conversation will be on the question of the city and what reflects its present and future for innovation and diversity? The guests were chosen specifically for the contributions they have made to the city and ranged from the creators of the artificial heart to an independent oil producer.

The guests were seated at the table and chairs, Ground Control, designed by Mary Ellen Carroll/MEC design studios specifically for this Itinerant Gastronomy. The design of Ground Control is based on the lamella structure used in the construction of the roof of the Astrodome, an architectural emblem of Houston that was built in 1965 and is often referred to as the eighth wonder of the world. The Astrodome was the first domed and air conditioned stadium in the world and has not been in use since it housed over 23,000 victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Carroll’s design was also influenced by David Bowie’s famed song “Space Oddity,” for the name of the furniture, Daft Punk and space shuttle seating design. “A lamella is a small plate or flake, from the Latin, and may also be used to refer to collections of fine sheets of material held adjacent to one another, in a gill-shaped structure, often with fluid in between though sometimes simply a set of ‘welded’ plates.” The furniture was manufactured in Houston.