Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern

Carlos Cruz-Diez at the Cistern

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Carlos Cruz-Diez at the Cistern:  Spatial Chromointerference
On view through April 7, 2019

Buffalo Bayou Partnership (BBP) commissioned famed Franco-Venezuelan artist Carlos Cruz-Diez (b. 1923, Caracas) to create a site-specific work for the Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern. This dazzling projection of continuously moving chromatic modules on the Cistern’s columns, walls and cubes floating in the shallow pool of water on the reservoir’s floor invites visitors to become an essential component of the artwork.

Tickets must be purchased in advance. Tickets can be reserved up to 60 days in advance.

Times:

• Thursdays and Fridays at 1:30pm, 2:30pm, 3:30pm, 4:30pm and 5:30pm
• Saturdays and Sundays at 10:30am, 11:30am, 12:30pm, 1:30pm, 2:30pm, 3:30pm, 4:30pm and 5:30pm

Cost:

• $10 / adult
• $8 / seniors (65+), youth (9-17) and students (18+ with valid ID)
• Free on Thursdays, but reservations are still required.

Major underwriting provided by Leslie and Brad Bucher. Free Thursdays sponsored by John R. Eckel, Jr. Foundation.  Additional support provided by Judy and Scott Nyquist and Sicardi | Ayers | Bacino.

Purchase Tickets

Interested in a private tour? Complete this form and email back to mguenther@buffalobayou.org.

Cistern History Tours

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Learn about the architecture of this unique space and the history of Houston’s water system.

• Duration:  30 minutes
• Times:  
  • Thursdays and Fridays at 1pm, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm and 5pm
  • Saturdays and Sundays at 10am, 11am, 12pm, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm and 5pm
• Cost:  $5 per person (no children under the age of 9 permitted) for a 30-minute, guided tour.
• Free on Thursdays, but reservations are still required.
• Tickets can be reserved up to 60 days in advance.
• Parking:  A number of parking options are available around Buffalo Bayou Park.

Purchase Tickets

• No children under the age of 9.
• Photography is allowed, however no tripods or stands (except on Photography Tours).
• Animals are not permitted.
• No eating, drinking, or gum-chewing in the Cistern.
• No smoking allowed.
• Strollers, roller skates, inline skates, and bicycles are not permitted.
• Littering is prohibited. Please use trash receptacles upon entry.
• All bags must be secured while in the Cistern.
• No sitting, standing, or climbing on the railing, stairways, or ladders.
• No running or excessive noise.
• All visitors must comply with instructions or requests from the Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern Attendants and staff and must be respectful of others.
• Destroying public property is prohibited by Title 19, Chapter 191 of the Government Code of Texas.

PLEASE NOTE:

• All payments are final and not refundable.
• Please allow approximately 30 minutes for parking/check-in.
• The Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern is a dim space with no windows. The environment may be challenging for some. If you experience any difficulties, please proceed directly to the nearest exit.
• Full participation in the tour requires walking a distance of one quarter mile in 25 minutes. If you prefer a stationary or seated tour, please notify the Cistern Attendant upon arrival.

The Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern is a former drinking water reservoir built in 1926 for the City of Houston. As one of the city’s early underground reservoirs, it supported the municipal water system’s goals of fire suppression (water pressure) and drinking water storage. After operating for decades, an irreparable leak was discovered and after a few years, the reservoir was decommissioned in 2007.

In 2010, the City of Houston was sourcing vendors to demolish the Cistern. At the same time, Buffalo Bayou Partnership was developing the $58 million Buffalo Bayou Park project and “discovered” the site. Recognizing the historical and architectural significance of the highly unusual space, Buffalo Bayou Partnership with the City of Houston worked to take over development and maintenance of the space.

BBP restored and repurposed the Cistern into a magnificent public space to house an ambitious program of changing art installations. Houston-based architecture and engineering firm Page was charged with designing a ground-level entry structure to help transition visitors from the outside into the Cistern and making improvements to the shelf on the perimeter of the space to create a six-foot-wide, ADA compliant walkway with guardrails. In May 2016, Buffalo Bayou Partnership opened the Cistern to the public.

Fulfilling the organization’s goal of presenting globally significant art installations in the Cistern, Buffalo Bayou Partnership partnered with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston to present Rain:  Magdalena Fernández at the Houston Cistern from December 2016 to June 2017.  This inaugural installation featured influential Venezuelan artist Magdalena Fernández’s abstract video projection 2iPM009 from the MFAH’s permanent collection.  This exhibition garnered widespread attention, with vast media coverage and over 34,000 visitors from 13 countries as far afield as Norway and China.

• 87,500 square feet or the size of 1.5 football fields
• 221– 25-foot tall, slender concrete columns span the space
• Holds 15 million gallons of water when functioning at capacity
• 8-inch thick concrete roof and tapered concrete walls range from 8 inches at the top to 18 inches at the bottom
• 17-second echo
• SWA Landscape Architect Kevin Shanley first called the reservoir “the Cistern” because it reminded him of the ancient Roman cisterns under Istanbul

Book a private, 30-minute art or history Cistern tour for a unique group outing!

• Tours are offered Wednesdays between 10am-4pm.
• Price varies.
• Fill out the Private Cistern Tour Request Form to book a private tour and email to Justin Bogart.

Download Private Tour Request Form