Big Dome, Bigger Dreams

Visions for Harris County Domed Stadium

Architecture Center Houston is proud to announce its upcoming exhibition, Big Dome, Bigger Dreams: Visions for Harris County Domed Stadium, opening Thursday, October 22, 5:30-7:30pm.

What happens to a wonder when the world moves on?

It started as an audacious idea. Create the world’s first fully enclosed and air-conditioned sports stadium in a city known for punishing heat and humidity.

Turning that idea into reality required vision, experimentation, and persistence. Architects and engineers turned that idea into reality through vision, experimentation, and persistence, pushing past existing limits to create a structure unlike anything the world had seen. Its revolutionary roof, animated scoreboard, and newly developed “indoor grass” called AstroTurf helped redefine architecture, engineering, and entertainment.

The Astrodome also redefined what a stadium could mean to a city.

During its life, the Astrodome became more than a building. Mickey Mantle played beneath its roof. Billie Jean King made history there. Presidents, performers, and daredevils filled its seats. Decades later, thousands sought refuge there after Hurricane Katrina.

Today, the Astrodome stands silent.

Come explore the ambition, innovation, and cultural moments that made the Dome an icon. Then decide for yourself: What should come next?

Big Dome, Bigger Dreams: Visions for Harris County Domed Stadium

The event is free and open to the community.

Image credit: Harris County Domed Stadium, October 15, 1963. Courtesy of George Kirksey Papers. Special Collection, University of Houston Libraries.