Short and Tall

Posted by Twelvebit (Victoria, United States) on 21 September 2007 in Architecture.

There is a park in downtown Houston that I stumbled across while taking photos of all the tall buildings. I didn't stop to take in the history, but my guess is that the old buildings around the park, like this church, are part of the original settlement.

However, I discovered something else, far more interesting, in the midst of posting this photo. The building in the background shows up in several of the photos I took that day. Something about it felt familiar to me but I couldn't place it. I kept thinking it reminded me of something, perhaps, in a science fiction movie. The closest association I could make was The Chronicles of Riddick.

Looking at the photo this morning I realized that the design at the top of this building is of an owl --a highly abstracted one to be sure, but an owl nonetheless. At the top you see his two eyes near the top of his "head." Underneath, his plump body, then, spread out and down, left and right, his wings, with his tail feathers extended at the very bottom. I took a quick look on the internet and the closest match I could find is this.

From my preliminary look on the internet this morning I'd place this symbol in the category of "hunting owl." I'd say the design of this owl has what looks, at first glance anyway, to be a Native American influence. Certainly the bottom half of the bird, from the outstretched wings downward, has a Native American symbolic flavor to it. I'll have to explore this symbol a little further --when I have more time.

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