Downtown Depot: Elise King
In this week's Downtown Depot, Austin heads across I-35 to talk with Baylor assistant professor in interior design about her vision for Waco and her love of architecture.
Photo of Elise King and her husband by Kathryn Krueger Photography for the Wacoan
"The ALICO is amazing for the time it was built--almost a self-sustaining building, powered by the natural springs below...It's not just the architectural style, which is beautiful, but the thought and engineering that went into it."
"When we came to Waco, we made a concerted effort to find things we loved in Austin in Waco, and that is the walkability...and a sense of community."
"I think the Riverfront Development is crucial. It's a project that is really a lynchpin for Waco. It would bring about a sense of place for people to come and play and work and be together as a community."
"We don't want to be an Austin or Dallas--we won't fit into another city's mold. They say most cities have a city memory of about twenty-five years. I think Waco is interesting, because it's almost a compounding memory--it stretches past that."
"Waco is a unique town that's been slow growing, and it's been a long time coming. But my hope is that that's a good thing. Maybe, in the past, we weren't quite ready for it, but that all of that has come together. We'll have something that will be able to serve the town and reflect its history."
"What I would love is a greater ability to find out, on a broader scale, what Wacoans want. Not just Baylor students, not just faculty, not just downtown residents. I'm thinking of the people who've lived here for 30-40 years. We have new people coming in and deciding what Waco needs, but we need to think about what can we do to engage them in downtown."
Per her LinkedIn profile, Elise King "received her first tool kit at age six, and she's been building things ever since." From the Houston area, she attended Baylor University for her undergrad, graduating magna cum laude with a BS in Interior Design. During this time, she interned at Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater in Pennsylvania. She then moved on to the University of Texas at Austin where she would get both her MA in Architectural History and her MID (Master of Interior Design). She has since racked up countless hours of experience in architectural history and research. During her time as an assistant professor, King has been responsible for a "parklet" on Austin Avenue in October of 2014 which she created with her students. With an eye for beauty in the old, King is a dreamer.