Pennzoil Place

History

Pennzoil Place was designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee of Johnson/Burgee Architects. The building was completed in 1975. In May 1976 Deutsche Bank and other partners in a West German investment group bought a 90 percent interest in the Pennzoil Place building for $100 million.

As of 2002 Arthur Andersen was vacating about 300000 sqft of space in Pennzoil Place. In 2025, the development was placed for sale for the first time since its construction.

Development and style

Pennzoil Place, developed and managed by Gerald D. Hines Interests, consists of two 495 ft trapezoidal towers placed ten feet apart and sheathed in dark bronze glass and aluminum. The buildings are mirror images of each other. The entire street-level plaza joining the two structures is enclosed in a 115 ft glass pyramid-shaped atrium. Deliberately designed as an optical illusion, Pennzoil Place's appearance will vary depending on the different locations from where it is viewed. Pennzoil Place is considered significant in architectural circles for breaking the modernist glass box design made popular by followers of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and for introducing the era of postmodernism. The buildings combined contain 1400000 sqft of leasable space.

The interior offices were designed by M. Arthur Gensler Jr. & Associates, the San Francisco-based interior architecture firm.

Architect Philip Johnson was awarded the 1978 AIA Gold Medal and became the first laureate of the Pritzker Prize in Architecture in 1979 for his work on Pennzoil Place. Pennzoil Place was named "Building of the Decade" in 1975 by The New York Times architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable because of the dramatic silhouette it added to the Houston skyline.

|File:2024-0109-Pennzoil Place gap.jpg |Exterior view of the gap between towers. |File:2024-0109-Pennzoil_Place_east_lobby.jpg |East lobby. |File:2024-0109-Pennzoil_Place_interior_gap.jpg |Gap between towers in the lobby/atrium. |File:2024-0109-Pennzoil Place atrium.JPG |Atrium ceiling from between the two towers.

References

References

1. "Pennzoil Place | Energy Star".
2. "Architecture of Pennzoil Place – Houston, Texas, United States of America".
3. Mark Lamster, ''The Man in the Glass House'' (2018), p.372: "As Attia would have it, he and not Johnson — and certainly not Burgee — had been responsible for the firm's aesthetic vision during his ten years at the firm. More than a decade after his departure, this became a matter of contention when Attia claimed credit for a series of the firm's designs, among them Pennzoil Place. Johnson responded with an open letter claiming that while Attia was an 'important member' of the design team, his claim of credit was, 'to put it mildly a gross exaggeration.' Attia complained and Johnson recanted, writing a second letter, composed in consultation with Attia, stating that 'the buildings he lists in his brochure are his main achievements' and that his decade-long tenure was 'wonderful.'"
4. See [https://eliattiaarchitect.com/more-about-%E2%80%94-selected-projects.html#pd-pennzoil-place-d Eli Attia's notes on his design of Pennzoil Place], at www.eliattiaarchitect.com.
5. "Pennzoil Place". www.greatbuildings.com.
6. Ackerman, Allyson. (April 30, 2025). "Downtown Houston's iconic skyscraper hits the market".
7. Hickman, Matt. (May 19, 2025). "Pennzoil Place, Houston's Most Influential Skyscraper, is for Sale".
8. Murphy, Jack. (May 28, 2025). "Houston's Pennzoil Place is on the market".
9. link. (July 12, 2012 ." ''[[The New York Times]]'' at ''[[The Palm Beach Post]]''. Sunday May 21, 1978. F19. Retrieved from [[Google Books]] (138 of 191) on April 5, 2010.)
10. Bivins, Ralph. "[http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2002_3563732 Halliburton headquarters moving here / 5 Houston Center lease brings firm from Dallas]." ''[[Houston Chronicle]]''. Tuesday July 16, 2002. Business 1. Retrieved on January 23, 2010.
11. (April 29, 2025). "The World's Most Important Skyscraper is For Sale".
12. "Pennzoil Place – Johnson/Burgee – Great Buildings Online".
13. "Pennzoil Place, Houston, TX : Hines Interests".
14. "Design powerhouse has put its stamp on Houston's skyline". Houston Downtown Management District.
15. "Pennzoil Place, Houston".