http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/...403882.php

The Aggies are amateurs. Try designing a school's tower to look like an owl ...

The UT alumni magazine refutes this rumor. Although it could just be propaganda.

http://alcalde.texasexes.org/2012/01/legendary-ut/

(04-15-2014 01:05 PM)Papered Owl Wrote:  http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/...403882.php

The Aggies are amateurs. Try designing a school's tower to look like an owl ...

(04-15-2014 08:38 PM)Baconator Wrote:  The UT alumni magazine refutes this rumor. Although it could just be propaganda.

http://alcalde.texasexes.org/2012/01/legendary-ut/

An Alcalde comment adds a new dimension ... Austin's Frost Bank Building:

Quote:Harrison Bequette
JANUARY 26, 2012 AT 1:14 PM

I always thought the owl myth applied to the Frost bank building downtown… If you look at it from the side, it too has two owl-like eyes and a beak made from the jutting edges on the corners. In fact, its kind of light blue and it looks WAY more like an owl in my opinion. The story I always heard was the Rice architects of THAT building built the skyscraper to mock the tower: a huge owl across from our finest landmark.

I would be interested to hear if that story is true…

So here's a story that busts both tales of Rice design involvement: http://www.austindaze.com/2013/02/13/rep...nd-an-owl/, concluding:

Quote: The 307-foot UT tower was designed by Paul Philippe Cret and the Frost Bank Tower was designed by Duda/Paine Architects, LLP and HKS, Inc., none of which had Rice propaganda agendas.

... or do any of the many Parliament archies know more accurately of Rice involvement in the tower facade designs of these buildings?