Lot #981. Innovative Architectural Designs Chess Set by Gerald Hines

Description  Innovative Architectural Designs Chess Set by Gerald Hines    Gerald Hines Offered here is an extremely rare Innovative Architectural Designs Chess set by Gerald Hines. The Gold and Chrome clad and felted metal pieces represent a radical departure in office building and skyscraper design. Featured are notable examples located in Los Angeles, Houston, Paris, Louisville and New York City. For display purposed, he chess pieces are shown on a different chessboard than the magnificent Macassar Ebony storage chest offered here and shown here and in the gallery. Architects and builders are the shapers of skyscapes, stewards of structures that inspire and endure. Each piece in this chess set represents an accomplishment achieved through strategic thinking and the dedication of many. This Chess set, which features pieces finely crafted after worldwide office buildings designed by controversial architect Philip Johnson, was designed by Gerald D. Hines of Houston Texas. The craftsmanship and precision are unmatched. This chess set is one of very few produced. It was presented in recognition of long years of service to valued employees of the Hines Company. The chess pieces each represent some of the most innovative and controversial feats of architecture found throughout the World. The chess pieces are housed in a a Macassar Ebony and Maple chest with individual velvet-lined compartmented drawers to secure and protect piece. The drawer slides into the storage cabinet measuring 19″ square. The chest top serves as the chessboard. Here is the list of the buildings represented. Each of the chess pieces is cocooned in a black velvet draw-string bag. King: Williams Tower, Houston, Texas USA. Completed in 1983. Williams Tower is adjacent to the Galleria. This dramatic 64 story 1.6 million ft.² office Tower is a product of the architectural firm of Philip Johnson and John Burgee. Special features include a soaring 88-foot-high granite arched entry, and an adjacent three-acre park with a 64-foot-high water wall, a helipad and a revolving beacon of light atop the peak roof. Williams Tower is the tallest office building outside of a downtown area in the United States. Its iconic presence makes it a popular Texas landmark. Architect: Philip Johnson and John Burgee   Queen: Figueroa at Wiltshire Los Angeles, California USA Completed in 1990, Figueroa at Wiltshire is a 1,000,000 ft.² tower that rises 52 stories to a in octagonal glass crown establishing a bold architectural presence on the Los Angeles skyline. An expansive open-air Plaza located at ground level features a 36-foot-high fire and water sculpture, entitled “L. A. Prime Matter”, by California artist Eric Orr. Hines initially served as development and property manager for the tower and subsequently acquired it. Architect: Albert C. Martin and Associates   Rook: Bank of America Center. Houston, Texas, USA. Completed in 1983, Bank of America Center is a 56 story 1.25 million ft.² office tower with an adjacent 125-foot-high banking hall. The Neo-Gothic building, designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee, is clad in Napoleon red granite and reflective glass. Its dramatic roofline is a distinct feature of the Houston skyscape. Architect: Johnson/Burgee A0rchitects   Bishop: 53rd At Third, New York, NY, USA. Completed in 1986, 53rd At Third is a 35 story, 600,000 ft.² elliptical office tower nicknamed The Lipstick Building. The tower features a pedestrian Plaza surrounded by a ring of two-story granite columns that separate the Manhattan streetscape from the building’s 30-foot-high lobby. Architect: John Burgee architects with Philip Johnson.   Knight: Tour EDF Paris, France. Completed in May 2001, Tour EDF is a 40 story, 65,000 m² (700,000 ft.²) office rower in the La Defense business district just outside, Paris. The architectural firm of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners designed the striking tower with a façade clad in alternating bands of stainless steel and lightly reflective glass panels. A special design feature is the conical shape sculpted up to level 26 in the building’s base. Architect: Pei Cobb Freed & Partners   Pawn: AEGON Center, Louisville, KY, USA Completed in 1993, AEGON Center is a 630,000 ft.² tower. The building serves as the headquarters for the third largest insurance company in the US. The carved granite surfaces of AEGON Center ascend 35 stories to a dramatically lit Romanesque dome, establishing a strong identity and a commanding silhouette as Kentucky’s tallest tower. AEGON Center includes a half-acre Plaza, paved in patterned granite and featuring decorative lamps, plants, flowering trees, and fountains. Architect: John Berge architects with Philip Johnson as design consultant.   Some Background. The following information was excerpted from Wikipedia. Gerald Douglas Hines (August 15, 1925 – August 23, 2020)] was an American real estate developer based in Houston. He was the founder and chairman of Hines, a privately held real estate firm with its headquarters in that city. At the time of his death, the company had assets in 25 countries. Shortly after moving to Houston in 1948, Hines formed an engineering partnership and started a fledgling real estate business on the side. He established Gerald D. Hines Interests in 1957; its early projects included warehouses and small office buildings. Edgar L. Muller was his architectural engineer in the early years in an office Hines built on Richmond Avenue. His first large-scale commercial development came in 1967 when Shell Oil Company hired Hines to construct a new downtown Houston headquarters. The Galleria, Pennzoil Place, Transco Tower (now Williams Tower), and more than 900 developments would follow. The firm proceeded to branch out into Europe after the fall of communism there in 1989. It consequently completed projects in Spain, Italy, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Hines also served as chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas from 1981 to 1983. Philip Cortelyou Johnson (July 8, 1906 – January 25, 2005) was an American architect who designed modern and postmodern architecture. Among his best-known designs are his modernist Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut; the postmodern 550 Madison Avenue in New York City, designed for AT&T; 190 South La Salle Street in Chicago; IDS Tower in downtown Minneapolis; the Sculpture Garden of New York City’s Museum of Modern Art; and the Pre-Columbian Pavilion at Dumbarton Oaks. His January 2005 obituary in The New York Times described his works as being “widely considered among the architectural masterpieces of the 20th century”. In 1930, Johnson became the first director of the architecture department of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. There he arranged for visits by Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier and negotiated the first American commission for Mies van der Rohe, after he fled Nazi Germany. In 1932, he organized with Henry-Russell Hitchcock the first exhibition dedicated to modern architecture at the Museum of Modern Art, which gave name to the subsequent movement known as International Style. In 1934, Johnson resigned his position at the museum. In 1978, he was awarded an American Institute of Architects Gold Medal. In 1979, he was the first recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. Today his skyscrapers are prominent features in the skylines of New York, Houston, Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Madrid, and other cities.