The recently completed South Congress Hotel by Michael Hsu is the latest addition to the studio’s portfolio of work.  Many, such as myself, were excited about the conversion of a parking lot into a street friendly Michael Hsu masterpiece.  Sadly, I have this impression of the hotel—it’s a mess.

This building lacks a clear idea.  The idea could be to pack several functions into one building and allow each function to be it’s own entity.  If this is the idea it fails.  Rather than a clear separation of function, the resulting composition is a blur of materials.

The material palette has most of Austin’s architectural staples. There is raw site cast concrete with it’s smooth form liner face. Raw steel is smattered about ready to patina.  Clear coat pine and terra cotta screening add warmth to the composition.  The gold window frames harken vintage 60’s chic, but come off with dated 80’s faux fanciness.  But herein lies the problem—too many materials.  There is one bright moment in the design—the ceiling lights at the entry. I wish the building could take a cue from this brief moment of restraint and edit the mess to such simplicity.