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hostess Della Phillips, Chase chose to dramatically perch the large open main level, used for entertaining, between an outcropping and a natural rock wall. This timeless commission for a middle-class client underscores why Chase is considered Texas' best and most influential Black architect. R I V E R OA K S S H O P P I N G CENTER, Houston (1937, 21st-century alterations): Attorney Hugh Potter, one of the developers of River Oaks, conceived the idea of a shopping center located next to the new "country estates" of the well- to-do. The landmark project was the first auto-centered suburban shopping center in Houston and one of the first in the nation. This late Deco survivor by Nunn & McGinty is among a mere handful of viable retail buildings of their age and type in the city. DIONICIO RODRÍGUEZ (1891– 1955): In the 1920s, this Mexican- born artisan set about capturing nature in concrete civic structures in his adopted city of San Antonio: bus stops resembling palapas and footbridges that mimic logs and branches in the style known as faux bois or trabajo rústico. Often overlooked in their ubiquity, Rodríguez's works are as associated with San Antonio as Guimard's Métro entrances are with Paris; many appear on the National Register. Great-nephew Carlos Cortés' Studio Cortés continues the practice today. RUIDOSA CHURCH, Presidio (1915, restoration ongoing): The adobe building, formerly known as El Corazón Sagrado de Iglesia de Jesús, is a hand-built frontier version of a Catholic church, sited in a small unincorporated town on the Rio Grande. Its interior arches are thought to be the largest of their kind in the state. The church fell into advanced decay with R U BY C I T Y, S a n A n t o n i o (2019): Showcasing the Linda Pace Foundation collection, this contemporary art center represents the vision of the late Linda Pace, artist/philanthropist who established the internationally known residency program Artpace San Antonio. Designed by her friend Sir David Adjaye, the Ghanian-British architect, Ruby City is based on a dream drawing of blazing red towers that Pace shared with him just before her death. The precast concrete façade — imbued with a rich red pigment and roughened with two hues of embedded red glass — sparkles in the light. Adjaye is best known for the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. SENGELMANN HALL, Schulenburg (1894, restored 2009): The original 1890s dance hall had been closed 60 years when Dana Harper, a Houstonian with deep Schulenburg roots, renovated the building in 2009. This historic dance hall, built by German and Czech immigrants, once was the hub of social life in this charming hamlet, and was sensitively restored by Stern and Bucek, saving faded stenciling on the walls and the longleaf pine dance floor, and replicating the historic bar and iron balcony. THE SILOS AT SAWYER YARDS, Houston (1960, restored 2015): This former agrarian ruin in the First Ward consists of a cluster of 34 repurposed '60s-era Success SAN JACINTO MONUMENT, Houston (1939): Construction of the monument began on April 21, 1936, the centennial anniversary of the decisive battle of the Texas revolution. It was the brainchild of architect Alfred C. Finn, engineer Robert J. Cummins, and entrepreneur Jesse H. Jones. Taller than the Washington Monument and considered the tallest masonry column in the world, this feat of engineering is planted on the wet clay soil of the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site and required the years-long Herculean labor, innovations, and skill of the W.S. Bellows Construction Company to complete. RO U N D TO P A N T I Q U E S & DESIGN SHOW (1968): Beginning life more than a half century ago as a humble, albeit vetted, antiques fair in a tiny town that still spoke German, the Round Top Antiques & Design Show has catapulted into one of the world's largest and finest — now a tri-annual event with 4,000 vendors, 20-some miles of venues, and more than 100,000 visitors logged each spring and fall. That's for a town with a Pop. 90 city-limit sign The first antique fair began with one staunch woman, Emma Lee Turney, and 22 antiques dealers at the old Rifle Hall, 150 years old this year. DROR BALDINGER population decline in the 1950s; Friends of the Ruidosa Church now own the property, raising funds to complete restoration and create a gathering space for both sacred and secular events. Ruidosa Church Ruby City (Continued) 75 TEXAS DESIGN ICONS © GERALD MOORHEAD FAIA 76