Architecture magazine’s July 1, 2002 issue ran a prominent feature examining architect Mark Wamble’s ’83 downtown Houston projects with Bricker + Cannady Architects.

“We were very pleased, and frankly, very surprised,” said Wamble, who had been in contact with the magazine for several years. “We find Houston as a city to be pretty crazy, but it’s an inspiring place because of that.”

The article examined Wamble’s designs at Jones Plaza, the Linkwood Community Center, and the Oak Forest Pool House.

While Houston is a city that can test the metal urban planners and designers, partly because of the city’s lack of zoning ordinances, Wamble says there is a sense of order in the city.

“We were interested in what makes this place tick,” he said. “There are things that order the city but not in a coherent way. That’s what makes Houston a challenging city (to design in).”

According to the magazine, “In all three projects, the architects’ goal was to cultivate a public sphere in the kind of suburban context that has vitiated urban vitality from cities. Success necessitated designs that were many things to many constituencies.”

By all accounts, Wamble and his partners were successful in their goal.

Currently, Wamble is the principal of Interloop, a Houston firm he leads with partner Dawn Finley. He also spends time teaching at Rice and the University of Michigan.

In addition, Wamble remains proud of being an Aggie graduate. Over the summer, a group of incoming architecture graduate students from A&M, led by professor David Woodcock, visited Interloop and spent time visiting several sites in Houston, including the ones featured in architecture.

“I was really impressed by the students who came. They were very articulate and interested in Architecture,” he said. They seemed to be the type of students that make a school great.”

The Architecture magazine article, sans photographs, can be accessed online at Architecture Magazine Website.