10 Buildings That Define the Architectural Landscape of Austin

Image via Complex Original

The Main Tower at the University of Texas is the campus’ most iconic building, and for many years it and the Texas Capitol defined the skyline of Austin. Completed in 1937 and designed by Paul Cret, it is the centerpiece of Cret's beaux arts plan for the campus. Locally quarried limestone frames the doors and West Texas marble lines the main staircase. On nights when Longhorns’ teams celebrate big victories, it is lit in orange. 

It is a point of pride for Texans to point out that their capitol building is taller than the nation's in Washington, D.C. Built with limestone from Oak Hill and sunset-red granite from Marble Falls, the Renaissance-revival building has unique features like the rotunda's "whispering gallery" effect. State law protects Capitol-view corridors from 30 vantage points in Austin, ensuring that it has remained a prominent feature of the city. 

For 50 years, the Broken Spoke stands at the southern end of South Lamar as an outpost for country and swing dancers and chicken-fried-steak aficionados. Its wooden porch, dirt parking lot, and neon sign mean it still looks like the remote dance hall it was when it was first built, more than 20 years before the first South by Southwest festival. Now, it's practically in the center of town, but developers of the 704-apartment building that surrounds the honky tonk dared not try to move the beloved landmark, and instead built around it. 

This somewhat controversial downtown-residential tower ("Austonian" was not previously a word, residents argue) is a symbol of the city's population boom. At the time of its construction it was the tallest residential building west of the Mississippi, and heralded a boom in downtown residential construction. It represents the major change that has come to the city over the last decade and furthered the transformation of downtown Austin, from business district to actual neighborhood. 

While not technically buildings, the moonlight towers are some of Austin’s most beloved structures. One of them served as a central party location in Dazed and Confused and they are the namesakes of the Moontower Comedy Festival. Popular in the late 1800s, the towers went up in 1894 and 1895 in Austin, and are now the only remaining moontowers in the country. The 165-feet-tall towers cast light in a 1500-feet radius and were intended to make the streets safer at night—17 of them remain in place and are protected historical landmarks.

The neoclassical-revival Paramount on Congress Avenue is 100 years old, this year. Its brick facade, building-wide lighted marquee, and recessed entrance dominate the stretch of Congress Avenue leading up to the Capitol building. Its ornate interior is the city's most beautiful, featuring intricate murals and carvings. The Paramount serves as a venue for premieres of local and national significance, and for screenings during the city’s many film festivals. The beloved marquee often commemorates important local events. 

Prominently visible from Interstate 35 and a dominant feature of the eastern side of the University's campus, the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library is a rectangular-marble monolith with a smooth, un-ornamented exterior that was completed in 1971. It was the first presidential library to be built in Texas and has some unique attractions, like the animatronic-LBJ robot that tells jokes to visitors. Designed by Gordon Bunshaft, the library's Great Hall is constructed so that viewers look up to see four stories of archives behind glass. 

The Long Center looks out over the southern shore of Lady Bird Lake, and serves as the home of the Austin Symphony Orchestra, Austin Lyric Opera, and Ballet Austin. It opened in 2008 after 10 years of construction, replacing the Palmer Auditorium, the former venue on the site—and the sleek complex pays visual tribute to the past. The Long Center reused 95 percent of Palmer's building materials, including the distinctive green and brown panels, which now decorate the exterior walls of the Long, and the ring-beam exterior structure, repurposed from Palmer's roof support. The terrace hosts barbecue festivals, and provides an exceptional and rare south-of-the-river view of the city. 

The city’s new federal courthouse was designed by Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects and opened in 2012. Located downtown next to Republic Square Park, it was an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act project. The modern, cubic building is constructed from glass and stone, and features an interior stained glass installation by artist Clifford Ross. The courthouse uses a limestone façade, like many of the city’s public buildings, but with a modern twist, exposing the smooth side of the stone rather than its textured face. Its combinations of gravity and light have been heralded as a return to ambitions public construction.

The first skyscraper to begin construction after Sept. 11 broke ground at Fourth and Brazos streets in downtown Austin. Designed by Duda/Paine and HKS, it utilizes a unique blue-glass skin and its crown is often lit with different colors for special occasions. At the time of its completion, it was the tallest building in the city and one of the first glassy towers in the skyline. It serves as the headquarters for the San Antonio-based Frost National Bank and is known by locals for resembling an owl when viewed at an angle, with the pointed crown resembling owl feathers and the Frost Bank logo looking like the eyes.