Downtown’s Evolving Skyline Architecture Walk

Please note that advance ticket purchase is required for this tour.

When the Binz Building opened in 1895, Houstonians flocked there to see what the world looked like from the top floor — six stories above the street. And although the city’s skyline has changed a great deal since then, Houston’s fascination with the skyscraper hasn’t. This tour explores the changes in downtown Houston’s skyline during the past 100 years through buildings like 806 Main, called “Carter’s Folly” when it was completed in 1910 because some locals thought a 16-story building couldn’t stand on its own, and Philip Johnson’s groundbreaking Pennzoil Place, which set the stage for the postmodern skyline of the 1980s.

These buildings are a fascinating record of the city’s growth, and our 90-minute, docent-guided tour will discuss the engineering, architectural and cultural changes that shaped them.

Please note this is an exterior architecture tour only. The tour will not go inside any buildings. There are no public restrooms along the tour route.

Photo: Pennzoil Place (1976, Johnson/Burgee Architects) / by Jim Parsons

About the tour

Advance ticket purchase is required for the tour; tickets are offered on a first-come, first-served basis. We will not be able to accommodate walk-ups on the day of the tour. There are no refunds for tour tickets.

Registrants will receive parking and check-in information via e-mail.

In the event of inclement weather that prevents the tour from being offered as planned, we will notify registrants as far in advance as possible about their options to attend a rescheduled tour or transfer their reservations to another Preservation Houston tour.

Do you have an Architecture Walks pass?

If you have joined Preservation Houston and received a pass for a free Architecture Walk, you may redeem the pass for admission to this tour. E-mail [email protected] and we’ll be happy to help.

Passes are redeemable subject to ticket availability.