not just chairs

Houston museum's new exhibit showcases 150 years of modern design

It’s an exciting time to be an architecture and design geek in Houston! For the past 25 years, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Houston chapter of the American Institute of Architects have collaborated to collect architect-designed furniture, accessories, textiles, and ephemera, most of which are actual prototypes of famous designs — no replicas allowed.

Those efforts have culminated in the museum's newest exhibition, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston presents 150 Years of Design: The AIA Houston Collection. With items dating from 1880 to contemporary times, this visual timeline of design history is not to be missed — excellent, then, that it will be on display through August 2025 (don’t forget that the museum is free on Thursdays). It’s worth noting that this is the only collection of its kind in the US, according to press materials.

Photo by Emily Cotton

The collection features pieces such as this stunning “Executive Desk Prototype” by Sally Walsh.

At a press preview led by the museum’s Department of Decorative Arts, Craft, and Design curator Cindi Strauss and AIA Houston’s executive director Rusty Bienvenue, the duo explained that each piece of the 65-item collection was specifically chosen by recipients of the annual AIA-H “Lifetime Achievement Award,” which is now being referred to as their “Annual Honoree” as not to imply that the recipient has nothing left to contribute to their respective fields — how modern.

How does it work? Architecture and Design fellows annually nominate a significant contributing member of the Houston design community, who is then tasked with curating their own “wish list” of architect-designed pieces of historical significance that also align with the design interests and aesthetic of AIA’s “Annual Honoree.”

Once the object(s) have been decided, MFAH and AIA-H set out to acquire said pieces for the collection. Strauss says that depending on budget and availability, “Some years it’s one acquisition. Some years it’s three.”

Motioning to the multiple selections of seating on display, Strauss jokingly adds: “My job is to make sure we don’t have a collection of just chairs!”

While architects have been known to design anything from fire screens to teapots — both of which are featured — chairs are certainty a favorite, due to their structural nature. Make sure to follow the evolution of the cantilevered chair in particular, as it’s well documented in the collection, especially Gerrit Rietveld’s pine “Zig-Zag”chair from 1940. “We could not be prouder of this collection,” says Strauss.

Previously, the collection has been funded by a $5,000 contribution from funds raised during the AIA’s Annual Sandcastle Competition (taking place September 21-22), as well as member donations given during the AIA’s annual holiday party, which is hosted by MFAH. That changed recently.

“Seed money comes from our [AIA] general budget with the bulk of the dollars raised through member contributions,” says Bienvenue. To date, over $750,000 has been donated to the cause.

While everything in the exhibit is decidedly noteworthy, the CultureMap pick of the show has to be the “Executive Desk Prototype” by Sally Walsh. One of only three in existence, it’s one of the first examples of a continuous weld in tubular steel, showing no seams or structural breaks — a truly remarkable display of structure as design. Maple, glass, and burled ash perfectly compliment the chrome base. It truly must be seen to be properly appreciated.

Perhaps the best anecdote from the collection belongs to the uniquely design-fluid vase by Alvar Aalto, which was originally a press gift from the manufacturer while making its debut on September 21st, 1937. The vase left such an impression with the press that most of the vases were unceremoniously hurled from the windows of their train — which is why there are so few of the original vases left today. Rude.

An interesting addition to the exhibition is the inclusion of interviews from former award winners on the items they chose, as well as why they were chosen, told in their own voices. Access to these interviews is given via a QR code on display with applicable pieces.

This year, the AIA’s Annual Honoree is none other than Houston darling Lauren Rottet of Rotett Studio. We can’t wait to see what contribution(s) she will make to this incredible collection.

View the entire collection on the MFAH website.

museums museum of fine arts mfah aia houston design

gold pony club

Inside the creation of the rodeo cook-off’s most over-the-top tent

Courtesy of Cotton Holdings

The Gold Pony is the ultra-private VIP lounge behind the stage.

The Cotton Q Club is arguably the glitziest and most exclusive tent at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s annual World's Championship Bar-B-Que Contest. Hosting nearly 800 invited guests-per-night, the 5,000-square-foot space includes a 50-foot bar, a new pop-up martini bar by Sophie Cocktail & Terrace Bar called “The Stirrup,” the ultra-exclusive “Gold Pony Club,” and a full stage for private concerts. This season, county music acts include Gabby Barrett, Sammy Kershaw, Josh Turner and Braxton Keith.

Aside from the obvious, what sets the club apart from the rest is the sheer magnitude of its operation. Once inside, guests are encapsulated by velvet-draped ceilings illuminated by crystal chandeliers, three-layer tartan-topped carpeting, richly-colored wooden-paneled walls, plus thousands of red roses swathed acrobatically throughout.

To coincide with the year of the horse, five enormous ponies made entirely of red roses have been suspended from the ceilings. The second additions this year hang on either side of the bar in The Gold Pony, the club’s even more exclusive VIP area. The kinetic artworks were created by Houston artist Sneha Merchant —all for a three day fête. This begs the question: how do they do it?

Cotton Holdings and its subsidiaries are well positioned to carry out the entire project themselves — so they do. Never bothered or besmirched by the possibility of running into issues with rental companies, everything at The Cotton Q Club is procured, purchased, and stored in-house. As one would expect from a company that provides disaster relief around the world.

“There is a lot of love and care put into this because we’re not in a hotel, we’re not in someone’s home,” Cotton Holdings chief marketing officer Zinat Ahmed tells CultureMap. “So for us to be able to create this entire infrastructure under a tent — down to the walls and chandeliers — it is much more than throwing a party. It’s about the details that make people feel that they are at a hotel, they are in an extravagant room, they are at The Polo Bar.”

Ahmed notes that a lot of the company’s culture is mixed into the tent, such as what Cotton does as a disaster relief company (including providing food by Cotton Culinary).

“Cotton Logistics puts up tents during a natural disaster. Seeing the Cotton team, whether it’s cleaning or moving things around, welcoming everyone, that’s part of our Cotton GDS — we restore communities after natural disasters. Our synergies in different parts of our day-to-day are here,” she says.

Ahmed’s team has complete creative control over the interior aesthetics of the club. Always sourcing anything that cannot be made in-house to local vendors is something she feels is important. Nothing is rented, not even the furniture or accessories.

“Every single thing, unless it was done by a local vendor, was done in-house: design, signage, execution — even the embroidery,” she explains

Everything is checked over during the summer months so there won’t be any surprises when the cook-off comes back around. Every item is organized, labeled, and stored either in Cotton’s warehouses, Conex boxes, or in special climate-controlled safes — down to the matchboxes.

“We are always prepared and ready to go,” explains Ahmed. “It’s not chaotic at all because we’re used to it — it’s a normal day at Cotton.”

When asked for her favorite parts of the tent this year, Ahmed readily answered that it has to be the five rose ponies in the main area of the club. Secondly, the two commissioned works by Sneha Merchant. Sprinkled in diamond dust, one is a female mallard wrapped in a boa, champagne flute in hand, while the other is a smartly-suited jackalope complete with cowboy hat and martini.

Both pieces are lit by antique sconces Ahmed sourced from Round Top, while the taxidermy Zebra heads are on loan from the Columbus, Texas ranch of Cotton Holdings’ Chairman Pete Bell.

“Every detail, down to the swatches of velvet has been thought of with a lot of love and care,” says Ahmed. “You use that mindset with something like this. So, if you have a mindset like before you deploy to a hurricane, you can do it for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.”

Courtesy of Cotton Holdings

The Gold Pony is the ultra-private VIP lounge behind the stage.

houston livestock show and rodeo home-design cotton holdings