Art of Photography & Design - Devon Tower

4710 Lillian Street Houston, Texas 77007 713.862.6343

Photography: Š Joe Aker - Aker Imaging Houston Design Architect: Pickard Chilton Architect of Record: Kendall / Heaton Associates

Design Architect: Pickard Chilton Architect of Record: Kendall / Heaton Associates Interior Architect: Gensler Photography: © Joe Aker - Aker Imaging © 2014 Aker Imaging – Houston, Texas

All rights reserved.

Graphic Design : William Herrera / Aker Imaging No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written consent by the publisher.

CONTENTS

Introduction Glass Rotunda

5 8–16

Exterior & Landscaped Plazas

18–24

Tower’s Presence on the Skyline

26–32

Photographer’s Notes

34

Introduction

Devon Energy Center, Oklahoma City.

Design Architect: Pickard Chilton Architect of Record: Kendall / Heaton Associates Photography: Š Joe Aker - Aker Imaging

Devon Energy Center Devon’s new headquarters serves as a focal point for the company and for Oklahoma City.

Civic-scaled spaces characterize this headquarters that brings Devon’s local workforce together in a single state-of-the-art facility. A six-story glass rotunda, with balconies and a glass roof, is the entrance and connecting hub for the entire complex, and provides dramatic space for special events. The five-story podium houses the conference and training centers and employee amenities. The indoor Galleria has dining areas overlooking the new park and landscaped plazas that are key elements in the overall site strategy.

The tower’s height and unique three-sided footprint make it visible throughout the city. The uppermost portion of the tower tapers slightly to enhance it’s proportions and to produce an elegant, soaring form in the skyline. At the tower’s top, each face is chamfered to create a trianglular form to reflect the sky and offer a sublty changing presence on the skyline.

The highly articulated mullion system integrates solar shading and night lighting, and adds richness and texture to the exterior.

Photography: © Joe Aker - Aker Imaging Houston Design Architect: Pickard Chilton Architect of Record: Kendall / Heaton Associates

5

Images: Ware Jackson Chambers Lee Law Firm

7

Glass Rotunda

A six-story glass rotunda, with balconies and a glass roof, is the entrance and connecting hub for the entire complex, and provides dramatic space for special events.

8

10

11

12

13

14

17

Exterior and Landscaped Plazas

The highly articulated mullion system integrates solar shading and night lighting, and adds richness and texture to the exterior.

18

19

21

22

25

Tower’s Presence on the Skyline

At the tower’s top, each face is chamfered to create a trianglular form to reflect the sky and offer a sublty changing presence on the skyline.

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

Photographer’s Notes

Joe Aker is an internationally recognized architectural photographer and artist. His architectural photography has appeared in all the major architectural magazines and he has photographed projects for major architects and developers such as Hines, Transwestern, DMJM, Rotett Studio, Cesar Pelli, Robert Stern, HOK, Gensler, Kirksey, Pickard Chilton and Duda Paine.

He was recognized as Artist of the Year by the Houston AIA chapter in 2007. He grew up in Oklahoma City and has degrees in Marketing and Economics from Central State University in Edmond, Oklahoma and a degree in Photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York.

He opened his own photography studio in 1978 and continues to operate it today as Aker Imaging. A major part of this operation is Aker Imaging Lab. AI Lab is recognized as one of the premier photographic and digital labs in Texas with many photographers and artists as clients.

In 2005, Joe began to exhibit again his own fine art work in galleries and museums. He has had two solo shows at the Deborah Colton Gallery in Houston and a solo show of his landscape photography in Galveston at the Buchanan Gallery. In the summer of 2011, he had a solo show at Frank Picture Gallery at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica, California. His most recent commission was to produce and install 4 large (12’ x 14’) permanent sculptural works for a new education building in The Woodlands. His work has appeared in numerous museum group shows and is now in the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston as well as many private and corporate collections.

34

Joe Aker z Imaging 4710 Lillian Street Houston, Texas 77007 713.862.6343 www.akerimaging.com © 2014 AKER IMAGING All rights reserved.