A new exhibition at Rice University’s School of Architecture explores the changing identity of Houston through photographs of two of the city’s most recognizable landmarks: the Astrodome and Rice Stadium, recently renamed First Community Stadium.
“Houston, Untitled,” featuring photographer Rory Gardiner’s contribution to the Houston Archive Project, is open through Dec. 5 as part of Exhibitions at Rice at William T. Cannady Hall.
The exhibition features 21 photographs taken in February of 2026 that capture the stadiums and surrounding urban landscape without crowds or spectators, instead highlighting architectural details, atmospheric conditions and traces of human activity. The images explore the landmarks as places of collective memory while raising questions about preservation, heritage and Houston’s evolving identity.
Gardiner’s work reflects his experience of Houston as a city whose scale and repetition make its urban form difficult to fully grasp. “From ground level, Houston resists legible form,” he writes in his artist statement, describing photographs that revisit familiar places from unexpected perspectives and reconsider how the city is understood.
“Rather than presenting the stadiums as complete, self-fulfilling icons, Gardiner’s photographs capture them in fleeting fragments, reflecting how ordinary Houstonians encounter these structures in everyday life,” said Igor Marjanović, dean of the School of Architecture, in the exhibition catalog.
The exhibition was designed in collaboration with clovisbaronian, an architecture practice led by assistant professor Georgina Baronian and Sam Clovis with graphic design by Experimental Jetset.
The exhibition is part of the Houston Archive Project, an ongoing Rice initiative documenting the city’s urban and environmental transformation through photography and other visual media.
Exhibitions at Rice is free and open to the public.