Civic Works: Dallas landmarks that rethink Texas design
© Ivan Baan
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https://www.archdaily.com/954865/civic-works-iconic-dallas-landmarks-rethinking-design-in-texas
Dallas is home to a high concentration of buildings by world-renowned architects. With some of the most iconic architecture per square mile in any American city, Dallas features designs by six Pritzker Prize winners, all of which are in close proximity to the burgeoning arts district. From the Norman Foster Opera House to the Thom Mayne Museum of Nature and Science, these projects are symbolic of a greater city-wide design culture.
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© Ivan Baan
Beyond the Arts District, there are numerous projects in Dallas that simultaneously explore the possibilities of public space, programming, and new building methods. The city is full of modern projects and has notable landmarks and examples of historic 21st century architecture. As part of the United States’ largest inland metropolis, Dallas merges with Fort Worth to house works by Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Kahn, and Eero Saarinen.
With a closer look at the city’s emerging architecture, the following collection examines contemporary projects across Dallas and their approach to bourgeois design. Created by architects and firms from around the world, the collection features bold formal movements and thoughtful experiences rooted in the dynamic, expansive character of Dallas.
© Jason O’Rear
While no building can ever depict the inhumane injustices during the Holocaust, it can certainly be a vessel for meaningful representation of the effects, human experiences, and realities in order to ultimately influence impactful societal change. The new Dallas Holocaust & Human Rights Museum, dedicated to teaching the history of the Holocaust and promoting human rights, is located in the West End Historic District in downtown Dallas.
© Casey Dunn
The exquisite scenery and facilities of the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens provide educational and cultural programs for all ages and contribute significantly to the Dallas community. Phase one of their expansion, the new eight hectare adventure garden for children, expands the northern end of the arboretum and revives a previously undeveloped and steeply sloping part of the site.
Courtesy of Foster + Partners
The new Winspear Opera House in Dallas is redefining the essence of an opera house for the 21st century, breaking down barriers to make opera more accessible to a wider audience. In response to the Dallas climate, a generous sun canopy extends over the building, revealing under a fully glazed, 20-foot-high lobby. This creates a direct relationship between inside and outside and increases transparency.
© Ivan Baan
The Dallas Theater Center (DTC) is known for its innovative work, the result of constant experimentation on its leadership, and the makeshift nature of its long-standing home. DTC was housed in the Arts District Theater, a rundown metal shed that freed its resident businesses from the constraints of a fixed stage configuration and the need not to damage expensive interiors. The new theater needed to create the same freedoms created by the makeshift nature of its former home.
© Charles Davis Smith
The Charlotte and Donald Test Pavilion is a 3,700-square-foot, multi-purpose space on “A Tasteful Place” in the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Society. The complex looks out onto a 3.5 hectare garden with fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers. A show kitchen in the pavilion serves as a location for cooking classes, demonstrations, educational programs and special events for adults and children.
© Alan Karchmer
The Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge is an integral part of the urban revitalization effort for the city of Dallas, but it is also the first vehicle bridge that Calatrava built in the United States. His concept of connecting the city’s two river banks by a series of dramatic bridges and boardwalks over a flooded area around a lake aimed to revitalize this underutilized resource in the heart of the city and create a recreational facility as important to Dallas as it is Central Park to New York City.
© Ivan Baan
Museums, fittings for collective social experience and cultural expression, present new ways of interpreting the world. They contain knowledge, retain information and convey ideas; they arouse curiosity, raise awareness and create opportunities for exchange. As instruments of education and social change, museums have the potential to shape our understanding of ourselves and the world in which we live.
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