Houston is, of course, home to NASA, a champion of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. And this month, the Space City furthers its standing as an innovation hub, playing host to the For Inspiration & Recognition of Technology (FIRST) Championship. The technology and robotics competition takes place among more than 40,000 K-12 students, from 40-plus countries around the world, on April 19-22. Started by Dean Kamen — the kooky innovator behind, among other inventions, the Segway and Coca-Cola’s new space-age soda-fountain machines — in 1989 in an effort to increase the number of young people who pursued careers in the science-related fields, the FIRST competitions take place year-round, culminating in a scholarship awarding championship every April. At the Houston event — which is open to the public and includes activities and competitions at the George R. Brown, the Toyota Center and Minute Maid Park — teams of aspiring engineers work together to create and show off their robots, which then compete in games of varying degrees of coordination and skill. Prizes are distributed based on categories like creativity and safety. Participants also mingle with hundreds of execs from companies like Google, Boeing, General Electric and — naturally — NASA.
Purple Pros
Hot interior designer Nina Magon and her Bellaire clients go bold, mixing daring color into a mod, Italianate, black-and-white stunner.
Houstonian Nina Magon, principal of Contour Interior Design, has been anointed by Popsugar as “the design industry’s next it girl,” and Oprah’s décor guru Nate Berkus has declared, “Nina is a design force to be reckoned with!” And Magon’s latest glam masterpiece in an enormous 7,000-square-foot contemporary Italianate villa in Bellaire is a perfect example of what all the buzz is about. The homeowners, who are the parents of two small children, “wanted modern, but not cold modern,” explains Magon, 37. “I went for a mod-Italian-European feel.”
The grand exterior of the home — a massive, white two-story estate with soaring arches and classic Italian molding around the roof — boasts a side entrance, evoking the sublime country garden tradition of villas, but with a modern twist: An iron gate opens to a leafy courtyard, featuring a long, sparkling swimming pool and a hot tub. A relaxing stroll through through this private walled sanctuary leads to the main door.
Once inside, the vibe immediately shifts from serene to spectacular, with a vast open space flooded with natural light. Chic and unique statements abound in the family room on one side, and the living area on the other. Flooring throughout the first floor is gray porcelain with a gloss finish, which Magon selected “because it is low maintenance,” and, along with the white walls, creates the perfect backdrop for the furnishings, art and vibrant pops of color.
While in the rest of the home the ceilings are 10 feet, in the living room there is a 22-foot ceiling that dramatically rises to the top of the second floor. A set of spherical, metal-mesh light fixtures sourced from Moooi dangle over two sleek dark-gray sofas from Ligne Roset — “So comfortable that it feels like you’re sitting on foam,” says the designer. Against this backdrop appear stunning accents like a geometric-patterned cowhide rug with swaths of bright blue and gray, created by Texan Kyle Bunting. And a fireplace encased in a large onyx slab “changes from monochromatic brown and beige when the lights are off, to a cool blue when the lights are on,” explains Magon. A compelling painting by Houston-based conceptual artist René Garza — also a Houston CityBook fashion stylist — hangs on a wall next to the fireplace; a white square seems to be melting into a rich, royal blue background.
There is a seamless flow into the family room, where there’s a luscious custom gray leather sofa and two cozy gray swivel chairs, designed by Magon in the shape of a cupcake that’s been halfway hollowed-out. Each chair sports colorful pillows by Christian Lacroix, and between them is a small table crafted from reclaimed wood, on which a whimsical metal lamp in the shape of a primitive figure looks ready to break into a tribal dance. A hand-knotted Tibetan rug in a swirling pattern of blue, pink and brown grounds the space. “I like to use different textures together because that creates more interest and a sense of the unexpected,” says the designer.
Magon’s mixed-material motif spills over into the dining room, for which she designed a wooden table that seats eight, with a concrete top finished with a gray patina. There is also a more intimate dining space in a small alcove with a custom dark-gray-upholstered banquette, built to perfectly fit into a curved wall. Here, a round café table is the inverse of the dining table, with a metal base and a wood top. Behind the banquette, there’s a colorful panel of dream-like wallpaper from Casa Mance, with white and subtle shades of blue running together in an otherworldly fog.
While most of the downstairs is open-concept, there are doors that lead to a separate media room. “When I first walked into the room there was an echo,” recalls Magon. So soundproofing material was installed over the walls, and Magon had the inspiration to cover that with gray silk, laid out in different geometric shapes, thus transforming something utilitarian into a cool design element. There’s a big sectional sofa from Poliform in, of course, gray, and an oversized purple ottoman by Roche Bobois doubles as a coffee table. Underneath lies a silk and wool rug sourced from Surya, which blends gray, black, white and purple. The room includes a built-in bar, making it the ultimate sophisticated chill-out space.
But if a prize were given for the most unconventional room in this unconventional home, it would go to the upstairs master suite, which bucks the tradition of using a soothing palate in the bedroom. Referring to the homeowners, Magon says, “He likes pops of color and she likes black and white.” So when it came to their bedroom, Magon went with the lady’s choice, selecting wallpaper in a wild black-and-white splatter-paint design and framing the fireplace in hexagon-shaped black tile. On either side of the bed hangs a black metal pendant with multiple dangling glass strands.
The overall look is a little edgy, totally dynamic and completely unique. Small wonder that one of Magon’s favorite quotes is by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: “Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.”
After the Super Bowl, some wonder when the next major pro sports event will hit Houston. Behold the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship at the River Oaks Country Club April 8-16. “It is truly an event like no other,” says Tournament Director Bronwyn Greer of the surprisingly under-the-radar, largely volunteer-staffed event that’s taken place, in various guises, for more than 80 years. She touts its intimate nature, as its two courts hold a total of only 4,000 fans. “You’re close enough to hear the players talk to each other on the court, and you can literally see their sweat.”
In the past, the event, now the only Association of Tennis Professionals clay-court tourney in North America, has attracted such icons as John McEnroe. Top U.S. pros Jack Sock, Sam Querrey and Steve Johnson are among those expected to vie for the more than half-million-dollar prize purse this year. Twins Bob and Mike Bryan of California, the winningest duo in tennis, will compete in the doubles category. And the Americans will join other players from around the world. The Swedish Björn Borg and the Swiss Roger Federer have both appeared previously, and, since the tournament joined the ATP World Tour in 2008, pros from 52 countries have participated. It was broadcast to nearly 150 countries last year.
The tournament also has a tradition of hosting rising stars. “It’s always intriguing to see who will be the next Rafael Nadal,” Greer says. This year 19-year-old American pros Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe will compete.
But it’s the established pros, such as 2013 champ John Isner, who appreciate the event most. “I personally love this tournament because it has so much history,” Isner says. “It’s run so well, and Houstonians really support it.”
Above: Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, who competed in the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship at River Oaks Country Club in 2016, will return this year. More tourney details can be found at mensclaycourt.com.