PENNZOIL PLACE , HOUSTON , TEXAS

• Designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee and built in 1975, Pennzoil Place is
Houston's most award-winning skyscraper and is widely known for its innovative
design.
• Pennzoil Place is a set of two 36-story trapezoidal towers which are separated by a 10
foot wide spatial void and connected by a 115 foot high glass atrium in downtown
Houston, Texas, United States.
• Pennzoil Place is composed of brown glass and aluminum, which are meant to help
lower costs of construction and function. The brown glass is reflective and this helps
workers tolerate the Texas heat during the summer, which dramatically lowers energy
costs and consumption.
• Pennzoil Place, Johnson’s first postmodern skyscraper, deprives elements from ancient
Egyptian architecture such as monumentality, symmetry, and unique elements of local
Houston culture.
• The developer, wanted a building that could provide a distinctive identity for more than
one major tenant. Therefore the idea for two buildings rather than one was born and
imposed upon them reflective symmetry and a 45-degree geometry; making it
considered significant in architectural circles for breaking the modernist glass box made
popular by followers of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and for introducing the era of
postmodernism.
 Despite of its
short height
it is one of
THE BUILDING the most
CREATES AN Distinctive
OPTICAL building of
the area
ILLUSION because of its
AND HENCE IT Slanted roof
APPEARS ONE and base .
FROM MOST OF
THE ANGLES . Has a diagonal path between
THE DARK ALL for circulation which connects
GLASS EXTERIOR the two buildings .There is no
entrance to the buildings
IS USED TO
from the central lobby.
BLEND THE Entrances to the buildings are
BUILDINGS from the parking below .
TOGETHER
Entrance with a glass-roofed atrium -
A greenhouse type lobby connects the two buildings. The ten foot space between the
two forms the passage between the two lobbies.

The entrance and lobby -

 CONCLUSION
• Pennzoil is distinctive on Houston’s skyline , despite it being shorter than several of its neighbors because it is
slanted on top , sides , and bottom ; because the closeness of color between its bronze tinted glass and bronze
anodized aluminium as well as the severity of its geometry gives it is a starkness unmatched by anything around.
• Despite the efforts to keep costs to a minimum through the design itself, Pennzoil Place was not energy
efficient, and the economy was facing a crisis.
 LE GRAND LOUVRE MUSEUM
• The Louvre Museum is located on the right bank
of the Seine in Paris. The building that houses it
the Palais Du Louvre (until 1682 residence of the
king of France) is one of the largest palaces in the
world and occupies the site erected a fortress of
the thirteenth century.
• Over the years parts of the complex had served
variously as barracks, prison academy,
administrative offices and art school.
• In 1793 the revolutionary convention decided to
use one of the galleries to exhibit royal art
collections to the public so was born the idea of
Louvre museum.
 ISSUES
• One of the early issues faced was how to enter the recognized
museum .The three existing entrances, one on each wing had proven to
non practical.
• The museum was known as “theatre without a backstage” as it had only
10% of the museum’s footage for critical functions such as
administrations, storage, conservation and research
• There were a large number of visitors who had to negotiate its confusing
layout and vast galleries with minimum aids and amenities . Only two
bathrooms and a meagre cafeteria were available to the public.
SOLUTIONS
• Due to the congestion from thousands of visitors Pei redesigned the
Court Napoleon , main Court of the Louvre . Hence a new brand
entrance was provided with central lobby space separated from galleries
which provided a focal point for one’s experience through the museum.
• A new underground system of galleries, storage and preservation
laboratories were proposed. He extended subterranean passage ways
from the proposed underground space to each of the three wings. This
would allow visitors to go directly to any of the museum’s wings without
making the traditional trek through the galleries they have no interest
in.
 CONCEPT
• The idea of a glass pyramid at the center of the court emerged almost as much from Pei
study of classical French design as it did from the need to get a roof high enough to avoid
the subway station effect.
• He was widely inspired by Le Notre a French landscape architect and was in treat the by
his arrangement of plans, pathways and water elements
• The entrance to the museum is the symbolic center around which the three pavilions of the
museums are organized
• The entry should have an appropriate scale. However he refused to build a solid element
that would compete with the presence of the baroque building. By contrast he chose a very
discrete element in comparison to the enormous remodeling that was carried out
underground .
• Each of the pyramids defines the spaces and allows the existing buildings to be viewed
through a transparent surface.
• Back on the surface he flanked the main pyramid on three sides with reflecting tolls that
were pierced by fountains. The effect was to further lighten the form the by making it
appear to float on the water.
• From the central space, three passages would lead to north. East
and south galleries.
• Surrounding the public spaces were an auditorium, shops and
restaurants.
• Embracing all this were two parallel tunnels served by electrical
carts and used for the transport of artworks.
• One level below were the offices, laboratories, storage facilities.
STRUCTURE AND MATERIAL
• It was a basic geometric shape, which would blend with the classical
symmetry of the Louvre and gardens of the Tuileries of the west
• Pyramid structure is made of solid stainless steel. The solid bars were
welded into place and then extended by a network of tension and
compression members.
• It was cladded with glass as Pei hoped be
virtually transparent and intrude only
minimally on the view of existing
architecture and as a bonus the glazed
surface would reflect “the changing moods
of the Parisian skies”
• The faces of the pyramid are covered by
603 pieces of diamonds and 70 triangular
glass panels.
• Each glass panel is let into an aluminium
frame with minimal mullions.
• The underground has a cast concrete
coffered ceiling and limestone walls which
provide support and necessary circulation
space.
CONCLUSION
• The Grand Louvre is the outcome of how the three wings of Louvre might
be modernised ,connected, expanded and integrated transportation system
of Paris.