Kirby Mears

FIRST LOOK in the NEW MILIEU mailing to Subscribers now! “Ultimately, the greatest houses are the ones where you feel ike you can live in them, and you feel like you can look anywhere and get beautiful light,” Kirby Mears, Houston-based architect of this new Colorado home This residence and its adjacent carriage house—designed by Mears and Susan Weiss, interior designer and founder of Emerson Bailey— represents a layered, expressive approach to design rooted in craftsmanship, history, and personal narrative. See this story “Building a Relationship” in MILIEU Winter 2026 magazine mailing to subscribers now. Subscribe today on MILIEU-MAG.COM Interior Design @emersonbaileycollection Architecture @kirbspace Photography @william.jess.laird Stylist @austindwhittle Written by Christine Rogel #MILIEUWinter2026 #InteriorDesign #Architecture

First pics of a recently completed house three years in the making. Grateful to trusting, patient clients and @kevinspearmandesign and Justin Taghi with @tktbuildinggroup MMA staff @kyle.humphries.design @juliewright__ @global.viewsolutions @ottostumm_mogs @farmhouse.stone @dunganmiller @moss_landscaping @therealdarnart The Living Room provides both north and south light and occupies a central space between public and private outdoor "rooms". #balancedlight #naturallight #architecturalbronze #bronzewindows #bronzedoors #bronzehandrail #inswingcasementwindows #casementwindows #murphymearsarchitects

Martin Puryear's Liberty Liberta show at the Venice Biennale, 2019. The architects Billie Tsien and Tod Williams were the exhibition designers. Martin Puryear's assistants: Jeanne Englert, Rob Horton, Kentaro Takashina, Peter Schreiber, Ori Carlin In order: Tabernacle, 2019 steel, red cedar, American cypress, pine, makore veneer, canvas, printed cotton fabric, glass, stainless steel Cloistered-Redoubt or Cloistered Doubt?, 2019 American hemlock, Eastern white pine, tulip poplar, red cedar Big Phrygian, painted red cedar, 2010-2014 Swallowed Sun (Monstrance and Volute), 2019 Southern yellow pine, steel, polyester, rope Question for anyone who might know the answer: When was the polyester wrapping changed from black to gray? My photos show it gray, but there are photos of it black. #martinpuryear #venicebiennale #biennalearte2019 #matthewmarksgallery #giardinidellabiennale #uspavilion #liberty #libertyliberta #madisonsquareparkconservancy #americanart #billietsien #todwilliams

Architecture Center Houston Phase One was recognized with an AIA design award last week! Come this Thursday, June 22nd, 5:30PM - 7:30PM, 902 Commerce Street for the opening reception and artist talk of: Once and Future Architecture, a site-specific installation of original artwork by AIA Houston's Artisan Of The Year, Patrick Renner @prennerart Jurors Isabel Martinez Abascal @everyversus of LANZA Atelier @lanzaatelier Marlon Blackwell of @marlonblackwellarchitects Carlos Madrid III @pantone804c of SOM @skidmoreowingsmerrill Design team: Kyle Humphries, AIA @kyle.humphries.design Walter D. Murphy, Jr., AIA @wdmurphyjr Sam Brisendine, AIA @sbris Julie Wright, AIA @juliewright__ Mary Lambrakos @lambrakos.studio Jennifer Traina Dorge @jennifertrainadorge ©2023 Hester + Hardaway, Photographers @pablopixo Thank you to AIA Houston @aia_houston Executive Director, Rusty Bienvenue Associate Director, Jennifer Ward Past Presidents of the AIA: David Bucek, FAIA, Stern and Bucek Architects Catherine Callaway, AIA, Kirksey Architecture Derek Webb, AIA, DEK Studio John Clegg, AIA, Page Builder: Harvey Builders @harveybuilders Jeff Hess, Wendy Arias Structural: Wally Ford, Cardno Haynes Whaley Floodproofing: Charles Penland, Walter P. Moore Historic Preservation: Anna Mod @atmod Lighting L'Observatoire International @lobservatoire_intl Hervé Descottes, Nicolas Dufils, Thomas Mnich, Wei Jien Acoustics: Ashton Taylor, SLR Consulting Graphic Design: Craig Minor, Minor Design @minordesign Thanks to the fabricators and suppliers of products including: Perforated ceiling panels: Sparq1200 @sparqhouston Gail Meyer, John Bone Rolling partition, reception desk: George Sacaris @georgesacaris Reception millwork: Deborah Brochstein, Brochsteins, @brochsteins_inc Concrete floor finishing: David Miller @dunganmiller Ceramic tile: La Nova Tile @lanovatile Plumbing fixtures: Elegant Additions @elegant_additions #architecturehouston #design #resilience #preservation #preservationhouston #arquitectura #archittetura #designawards #interiordesign #houstonarchitects #houstonarchitecture #downtownhouston #architecturecenterhouston #murphymearsarchitects #designawards

Reading room (Salle Labrouste) of the Richelieu Wing, Bibliothèque Nationale of France by Henri Labrouste, 1868, 58 Rue de Richelieu, Paris. Nine domes with skylights are supported on slender cast-iron columns. Three large north-facing clerestory windows above the entry provide most of the indirect light. The massive perimeter walls fall outside the grid of steel columns and the outside steel columns have their own masonry bases. A library card is needed to enter the main room. Mine took all of about 3 minutes to get from the desk around the corner from the entry. Labrouste's earlier library in Paris, also featuring exposed iron structural elements is the Romanesque Revival Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève built 1843-1850. #readingroom #richelieuwing #bibiliothequenationale #henrilabrouste #architectureparis #lumiere #library #softlight #ethereal #exposedsteel #castiron #dome #skylights #ecoledesbeauxarts #rationalism #structureinarchitecture #daylight #structurebroughttolight #architetturaparigi #biblioteca #lucenaturale

"It starts with light. Lots of it." is how our Corsica client's son began his high school writing assignment titled: A Perfect Day. This day continues with pickup basketball and meeting new people from all backgrounds over their shared interest in a game. I can't forget the prophetic beginning, because this house designed for his parents faces east. Morning light will fill each of its four bedrooms, three of the four bathrooms, the living room, kitchen, and pool terrace. We're hoping all the days for this house will begin with light. Lots of it. Photos taken mostly just after sunrise this morning. #waitingforwindows #corsica #corse #mhbsteeldoors #houseonahill #roomwithaview #concreteshell #waitingforstone #viewofcapcorse #mediterraneanlight #maisoncorse #murphymearsarchitects

Touring the Calder-Picasso show yesterday, I remembered a letter my sister found earlier this year when we were going through my parents' home, a letter we had not seen before, didn't know existed, that Calder wrote Mom in March 1952, almost 70 years ago, when she was the secretary of the Contemporary Arts Association, now the Contemporary Arts Museum. She had been married all of three months and Calder sent his congratulations. The "lucky guy" was our father, Herbert Mears. "Frank" was Frank Dolejska, a painter and sculptor who organized shows at the CAA in the early days. He made a beautiful sheet metal flower fountain and several metal fish for our family. Anyone's guess as to who the "schoolmarm" was. The letter reads: 4 Mar 52 Dear Ava Jean, The Y object arrived ok. -- and I wrote to Frank last week, to say so. As to the Acrobats -- I don't think they should sway, at least that was not my original concept -- and they might develop a fissure (not atomic) -- and I don't think they should be handled or poked. I'd send back the photos. Or I need a "viewer" to see them? Congratulations on your marriage, and to the lucky guy, as well. Would you please tell M. Jean de Ménil that he is as lax as I, for I sent him a book, and he hasn't read it yet. Cordial greetings to all Houston, even that schoolmarm. Sandy #AlexanderCalder #CalderPicasso #MFAH #FrankDolejska #CAA #CAM #CAMHouston #acrobats #luckyguy #nonatomicfissures #envelopeart #arthistory #funshow #schoolmarm #calderfoundation @calderfoundation #johndemenil #menilcollection #mfahouston

Walking down from the lighthouse a couple of days ago, about a mile from the historic Hotel du Cap, it was hard not to think of Kenneth Silver's book: Making Paradise: Art, Modernity and the Myth of the French Riviera. The pine tree trunks put on a light show when the sun gets low. Photos taken in a 20 minute period a half hour before the 9pm curfew.

A recently installed carved stone handrail in an Entry about to receive plaster. #workinprogress #carvedstone #carvedstonehandrail #spiralstair #designdetails #craftinconstruction #Houstonarchitecture #Texasarchitecture #sambrisendine #murphymearsarchitects #FarmhouseStone #StillwaterBuilders @farmhouse.stone @stillwater_builders

Pics 1 through 7 Mother and Child, a terracotta work by John Biggers, 1951. Pic 8 The Cradle, his drawing that preceded the sculpture by one year. The beautiful new Nancy and Rich Kinder Building by @stevenhollarchitects for @mfahouston provides space for these works to be seen side by side. The Cradle's label: "Recognized by New York's Museum of Modern Art as early as 1943, John Biggers was a new force on the Texas scene in 1950, having recently joined the faculty of Texas Southern University, a historically Black university. The Cradle was featured in the Museum's 25th Annual Houston Artists Exhibition that year, where it was awarded the annual purchase prize and became the first work by an artist of African descent to enter the collection. However, the Museum, like nearly all civic and cultural institutions at the time strictly regulated admission in line with Jim Crow laws, and Biggers was excluded from the exhibition opening. Using this egregious injustice as an example, the director James Chillman forced the board of trustees to fully open the Museum to People of Color." Mr. Biggers and his wife, Hazel brought Mother and Child to our house about 1960. Mom had prepared soup and the four had dinner together. As the years passed, mom increasingly felt the weight of responsibility caring for the work. She didn't trust our house to survive a falling tree, so as the largest hurricanes approached, she'd wrap the sculpture in towels and take it with a painting or two and the family dog to Columbus or Austin. She often said she hoped the sculpture would one day be on display, available for the public to see. Thank you @delima.girl . #mfahouston #johnbiggers #johnbiggersart #houstonart #sculpture #terracottaart #motherslove #mothersembrace #momsknowbest #stronghands #lovingmother #childhood #mothersprotection #cradle #whatmothersfeel #thehumancondition #expressinglove #artisempathy #selflesslove #unconditionallove #survivingracism #amothersarms #contemporaryart #essential #stevenholl #arthouston #mfah #nancyandrichkinderbuilding #stevenhollarchitects #GetModernMFAH @hilary.mears @mearstower

West facing house overlooking Buffalo Bayou. Construction to finish early 2021. Solar collectors will cover the flat roof. A seven car garage is located below grade. Digital model Sam Brisendine. Garden design, entry procession #johnnysteele Builder @stillwater_builders Floor & terrace @farmhouse.stone #murphymearsarchitects

Breakfast nook in a just-finished house in West U., and misc. pics from the weeks before the end of construction. Interiors @marieflaniganinteriors Landscape @herbpickworth Construction Marcellus Barone with #TheSouthamptonGroup Great work by @juliewright__ and @krisamundsen Plaster walls by @segretofinishes Reclaimed Italian ceramic tile from @habitat_stone Texas limestone floors from @alkusaristone Plumbing and hardware @elegantadditionshouston Thermally broken (Swiss made frames) steel French doors by @global.viewsolutions #marieflaniganinteriors #murphymearsarchitects #southlight #steelwindows #kolbewindows #inswingcasement #grandopenings #limestonefloor #plasterwalls #mortarwashedbrick #flatclaytileroof #morninglight #courtyardhouse #houstonarchitecture #residentialdesign