Williams Tower hidden cats on Houston building?
Did you know that the Williams Tower in Houston has hidden cats on all four sides of the building?
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Leave our escape room complex and turn around to look north. There, you will see the imposing Williams Tower skyscraper (also known as Transco Tower for longtime Houstonians) in the Uptown Houston District.
If you look at the art deco-inspired building from its corners, you will see secret designs…of giant cats! Just please, don’t try searching for the camouflaged kitties while driving Loop 610!
How to see the Williams Tower hidden cats
Pretty much hidden in plain sight, there are four cats on every corner of the building, only visible when you and the sun are in the right positions. The kitty figures are made up from the building’s angles.
Start examining the corners near the top of the imposing structure, right beneath the famous lighted beacon that illuminates the Galleria-area skies at night in a 360-degree fashion with a 7,000-watt bulb. First, you will notice the cat’s ears, head, neck, body, and then a very long tail.
The Williams Tower hidden cats resemble the famous Kit-Cat Klocks of the past.
Hiding cats on the outside of the third-tallest building (Williams Tower has 64 stories) in Houston (behind Wells Fargo Bank Plaza with 71 floors and JPMorgan Chase Tower with 75 floors) is no easy task. Williams is the tallest building in Houston if you remove downtown Houston from the equation.
Why would Williams Tower have hidden cats?
New York-based John Burgee Architects, with Philip Johnson, designed the stunning Houston skyscraper.
And here is where things become more mysterious. Were the giant feline designs Easter eggs or a meow-accident?
It’s been written that Johnson loved cats and incorporated them into his designs. Is that furry legend true, though?
William Dylan Powell, author of Secret Houston: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure writes, “Johnson’s alleged hidden cat designs seems thin.”
However, the Houston Chronicle’s Craig Hlavaty interviewed Mark Clegg, vice president of corporate communications for Houston-based real estate firm Hines, who says that the cats were no coincidence.
Other Williams Tower facts
At one time, you might have thought you saw King Kong on the building… well, at least in 1985. Back then, a man in a gorilla suit, aided by suction cups, attempted to scale the landmark. Police captured him on the 20th floor.
One more interesting Williams Tower fact before we go. The building is actually considered two buildings stacked on top of each other. Each part has its own elevators, lobbies, and parking garages.