'Little' Moves

Big-name Texas architecture firm builds new future in San Antonio

Pearl Bottling Department food hall exterior

Clayton & Little have worked on some of San Antonio's most iconic projects, including the Pearl Bottling Department food hall.

Pearl Bottling Department/Facebook

One very big Texas architecture firm is making a "little" change. Clayton & Little Architects, which is based in San Antonio and Austin, is rebranding as Clayton Korte after 15 years.

The new firm adds Brian Korte as partner after five years working at Clayton & Little. Prior to joining the company, Korte worked at San Antonio-based Lake Flato for 17 years and will remain based in the Alamo City.

During their tenure together, architects Emily Little and Paul Clayton worked on some of the biggest hospitality projects in Central and South Texas, such as the San Antonio's Pearl Bottling Department food hall.

Little, who founded her first firm, Emily Little Architects, in 1983 before joining with Clayton in 2005, is now partner emeritus at the newly minted Clayton Korte. While she will continue to work, Little says she will focus on community-oriented and historically significant projects, calling it a "sheer luxury" to be able to choose her work moving forward.

"It's a real graceful way to have a wonderful career taper," she says.

Along with commercial design, Clayton and Little's high-end residential work has landed on the pages of Interior Design and Architectural Digest, among others. The firm's footprint expanded beyond Texas in recent years to include California wineries, Maryland homes, and even a Hawaiian ranch.

With a new name and new partner based in the Alamo City, it will also be a new direction for the iconic firm, including expanding its San Antonio presence. "San Antonio is one the truly old cities in Texas," says Clayton, who calls Korte "a wizard" before adding: "The projects he does are really special. He drives a lot of business to the firm."

Among Clayton Korte's upcoming projects are Veramendi House, an anticipated hotel and mixed-use development on the River Walk; a Honolulu hotel; and multiple wineries in California, which are also being spearheaded by Korte.

city-news-roundup

Texas Film Icons

San Antonio's Michelle Rodriguez among celebs honored at Texas Film Awards

Photo by Lauren Slusher

Vin Diesel came to support his co-star Michelle Rodriguez at the Texas Film Awards.

The Texas capital is busy with visitors from all over, including San Antonio. In addition to some San Antonians playing sets at South by Southwest, one of San Antonio's own, Michelle Rodriguez was just featured in the Texas Film Awards. Honoring legends of the Texas film industry, the annual fundraising event in Austin inducted new members into the Texas Film Hall of Fame, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the Austin Film Society (AFS), the milestone year for the Texas Film Hall of Fame welcomed new members Michelle Rodriguez, Tim and Karrie League, and Noah Hawley. Before the event, CultureMap caught up with AFS founder and film director Richard Linklater about the anniversary.

Richard Linklater Texas Film Awards Richard LinklaterPhoto by David Brendan Hall

“It’s very cool,” he said, “Forty years is wild. You can’t help but reflect back to year one. We grew with Austin: as Austin has grown, so have we.”

Sharing the impact of AFS grants on stage during the event, Linklater elaborated further on this symbiotic growth.

“The rising tide of Austin lifted our boat, and we grew when we needed to [without] losing our fundamental film freakiness," Linklater said. "Forty years in, I know two things to be true: community is everything. Watching movies together connects us and builds that community. And, the love and appreciation of cinema knows no bounds: if you nurture it, it feeds you back ten fold.”

Linklater is on a recent awards streak, having been honored with a Texas Medal of Arts Award in late February.

Robert Rodriguez and Michelle RodriguezPhoto by Lauren Slusher

He also introduced a surprise guest to the event, Vin Diesel, who co-starred with Rodriguez in the Fast and Furious franchise. Sauntering onto the stage in a black cowboy hat, Diesel shared that he recently discovered his Texan roots and that their Texan identity was one of many things that bind him to Rodriguez as his ride-or-die.

Vin Diesel Texas Film Awards Vin DieselDavid Brendan Hall

Actor and one-time Austinite Elijah Wood presented the award to Tim and Karrie League, founders of the Alamo Drafthouse and Fantastic Fest.

Elijah Wood Tim and Karrie League Texas Film Awards Elijah Wood, Tim and Karrie LeaguePhoto by Lauren Slusher

Wood praised the Leagues for their impact not just on the Austin film industry but the wider film community by redefining what a theater could be, “a place that embraces both first-run studio films, independent and international gems, and the most obscure oddities dug from the archives; a place where you can pair dinner with a movie; where themed screenings create memories beyond the film itself.”

For the final award of the night, Atlanta actress Zazie Beetz and Fargo actor David Rysdahl presented the award to writer and producer Noah Hawley, who is currently working on Fargo and Alien: Earth.

David Rysdahl, Noah Hawley, and Zazie BeetzPhoto by Lauren Slusher

film movies celebrities