It seems like far too often I come to appreciate people only after they die. Today I read that architect Philip Johnson had died, and until I read his obituary, I had no idea that he designed my two favorite skyscrapers in Houston, the Republic Bank building (now called the Bank of America building), and the Transco Tower (now called the Williams Tower). The Transco Tower is notable not only for its beauty but also for the fact that it was built a few miles from downtown, so it towers above everything else near it. My other favorite is ChevronTexaco Heritage Plaza or what I always called the Texaco building, which looks like an ordinary glass skyscraper with an Aztec temple planted on top.