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75 O ur second annual portfolio series celebrates 75 Design Icons of Texas — people, places, architecture, and objects that have the power to engage and inspire. From John S. Chase's Phillips House and the Watson By Cynthia Toles. Additional reporting Catherine D. Anspon, Billy Fong, and Rebecca Sherman. ALAMEDA THEATER, San Antonio (1949, restoration ongoing): More than 1,050 pieces of cold cathode adorn the 86-foot high marquee of the Alameda Theater. Inside, fluorescent blacklight murals depict the history of Texas and Mexico, while massive white ALLEY THEATRE , H o u s t o n (1968): German-born, New York- based architect Ulrich Franzen moldings undulate like piped fondant from balcony to stage. When it opened, the Alameda was the largest movie palace ever dedicated to Spanish language film and performing arts, with architecture by San Antonio's N. (Nathan) Straus Nayfach and paintings by Hanns R. Teichert of Chicago and local artist Pedro Teran. Efforts to restore the theater are ongoing, while the adjacent improved Texas Public Radio headquarters is completed. COURTESY ST. MARY'S UNIVERSITY Chateau to Jean Lacy's stained-glass windows featuring Civil Rights leaders and the grain elevators that dot the Panhandle, the sweeping survey took countless hours to compile as we poured through hundreds of possibilities, helped along the way with guidance from colleagues in the design and architecture world. collaborated with Alley Theatre founding director Nina Vance on the Brutalist-style building called at the time the most modern and elastic theater in the world for the dramatic arts. A first-of-its-kind light grid, woven of miles of aircraft cable, allowed lighting technicians to walk on and adjust lighting, eliminating the need for footlights, spotlights, and curtains. U.S. Federal Courthouse, Alpine Alley Theatre CHRIS COOPER PHOTOGRAPHY 58