Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis-Designed Arthouse Opens in Austin This Weekend

Image courtesy of Lewis.Tsurumaki.LewisWelcome to Texas, LTL. We've always been appreciators of the New York firm's work, and were thrilled when they signed on with Hometta as part of our second round of studio recruiting earlier this year. Now they've completed their first project in the Lone Star State, the renovation of Austin's Arthouse, and it sounds like a smashing, if subtle, success. Jeanne Clair van Ryzin, architecture critic for the Austin American-Statesman, praised the Congress Ave. building just down from the Texas State Capitol, dubbing it "the antithesis of icon architecture.

After a recent spate of vigorously designed, attention-grabbing cultural institutions, Austin is welcoming an example of what might herald a countermovement of museum design — one that prizes subtlety and intelligence over spectacle, one that exercises environmental common sense and financial efficiency over snazzy technology and design driven by conspicuous consumption.

Those are all things Hometta loves, too. Another thing we love about the project is that it marks the revival of an 1850s-era downtown building marred by successive renovations. The Statesman piece worth a read in its entirety; find it here. The new Arthouse is being rolled out this weekend, with events throughout the weekend, including a fundraising dinner Friday night and the public opening on Sunday. Details here.