The Rice School of Architecture is pleased to announce Houston, Untitled, an exhibition featuring the photographic work of Australian photographer Rory Gardiner, on view from September 25 through December 5, 2026. Presented as part of the Houston Archive Project, the exhibition brings together a series of photographs examining two of Houston’s defining landmarks: the Astrodome and Rice Stadium.
Known for his subdued photographs of architecture and the built environment, Gardiner approaches Houston through the material qualities of its buildings and streetscapes, interstitial landscapes, and traces of human activity. His images are often unpopulated, yet empty seats, circulation routes, playing fields, parking lots, and idle construction materials register the presence of collective life. The Astrodome and Rice Stadium emerge through fragments, oblique views, and shifting atmospheric conditions, situated within a city that is continually rebuilt and transformed. Taken together, these images raise urgent questions about preservation, heritage, adaptation, and the changing identity of Houston.
Houston, Untitled
Houston Archive Project: Rory Gardiner
September 25–December 5, 2026
September 25, 5–7 pm, opening
Location: Exhibitions at Rice, Cannady Hall, Rice School of Architecture
Admission: Free and open to the public
Gallery Hours: Monday–Saturday, 11 am–5 pm; closed Sundays
Houston Archive Project
An ongoing initiative of the Rice School of Architecture, the Houston Archive Project aims to generate and collect a visual repository of Houston imagery, focusing on the urban and environmental transformation of what is today one of the largest—and fastest growing—metropolitan areas in the United States. Published in our annual publication Sphere, this evolving set of viewpoints asks, What urban conditions call for our attention today? Which sites, temporal events, and shifting climates demand to be a part of Houston’s public record? Embracing these questions, the Houston Archive Project serves as a form of preservation of the city’s ever-changing environment and an augur of larger, planetary futures that are yet to come.
Exhibitions at Rice
As the curatorial program of the Rice School of Architecture, Exhibitions at Rice uses the lens of design research to look at the world differently. Mobilizing a full spectrum of architectural representation—including drawing, imaging, making, and prototyping—this program weaves together scholarly inquiry, visual experimentation, and public engagement. Across all scales, from objects to buildings, cities, and the planet, Exhibitions at Rice engages the discipline of architecture as a cultural practice with a civic mandate, creating new discourses for both local and global audiences.