Weekend Plans - NYE Edition

1. Head down to Victory Park for Dallas' version of a Times Square NYE. You will need a wristband, which are available at the AAC Box Office.

2. Still looking for a dinner reservation for tonight? Head over to OpenTable to make online reservations. The Architect and I will be staying close to home and dining at Mercury Grill.

3. Hotel ZaZa is having a roaring 20s themed party with the Bubble and Babes bash.

4. Grapevine Bar has their annual NYE boozefest complete with food, drinks, and an after party at a local hotel.

5. The Quarter Bar is having a prom themed NYE party so dust off that tiara!

Top Dallas Restaurants of 2009

From around the web here are local food critics top picks for the best restaurants of 2009.

Dallas Observer's City of Ate blog picks here.

Pegasus News' top tastes of 2009 here.

D Magazine has the best restaurant interiors of 2009 here.

Vote Quadrille for The Homies on Apartment Therapy!

My little blog has been nominated for The Homies on Apartment Therapy.

You can vote for the blog here. Nominations and first round voting close December 29 at 5pm EST so get to it!

Top 10 architecture of 2009

In this week between Christmas and New Year's I will be linking to various top 10 lists of things of interest.

First up is Architecture:

1. LA Times Top 10 Architecture Moments of 2009: Coming at No. 2 is the Wyly Theater.

2. ArchNewsNow has the ten best architecture books of 2009.

3. The AIA has the top 10 green projects of 2009.

Winterbells

A cute little game. It has bunnies, snow, and did I say bunnies?

Play it here.

Snow!!!

Only in Texas would it be 70 degrees one day and snowing the next. While it is only a dusting, it is more than we usually get here in Dallas.

Stay warm and Happy Holidays!

Quadrille's got a new face...

So what do you think of the cleaner look of the blog? I have to give a shout out to The Architect who used his mad Photoshop skills to create my new header.

Programming notes - there will be no weekend suggestions due to the Christmas holiday. However, I hope to post more during the break on all things architecture and design.

Stay tuned.

Weekend Plans

1. Saturday head out to McKinney, TX to the The Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary for their Holiday Trail of Lights. There will be carolers, lights, and displays all along the dinosaur trail.

2. Get cozy at the Library Bar and work your way through their specialty holiday cocktails.

3. Go see A Christmas Carol at what may be the only Frank Lloyd Wright Building in Dallas - the Kalita Humphreys Theater.

Midlake makes Rolling Stone's Top 100 Songs of the Decade

Midlake's song "Roscoe" aka "Stonecutters" off of The Trials of Van Occupanther came in at number 90 on the list. Seriously, they got beat by the other Texas native Kelly Clarkson (No. 18 - Since U Been Gone)?

See the full list here.

Speaking of Midlake - their new album "The Courage of Others" drops February 2, 2010. I am excited but also concerned at the same time. It will be hard to top The Trials of Van Occupanther. I can listen to that album everyday and not get tired of it.

Weekend Plans

Need an excuse not to go to your office Christmas party?

Excuse No. 1: I need to support my community and those in need by bidding on art created by local artists at Art Conspiracy. In addition to picking up some awesome art, there will be live music, video installations and adult beverages.

Excuse No. 2: I am going to fight colon cancer by drinking myself silly at the Santa Cause Pub Crawl. Alcohol kills all germs!

Excuse No. 3: I need to stay home, load up on carbohydrates, and rest up for the White Rock Marathon.

Must have iPhone apps for architects and architecture fans

Two new iPhone apps for architects and those who love them.

1. Worldwide Architectural Guide from Makayama: Tells you about the building and the architect, shows two images for each project, website and address, and a detailed map with walking or driving directions. Google Street Views where available. Projects can also be browsed by categories 'cities' or 'architects'. The app contains projects from 165 different architects, in 270 cities worldwide. It has more than 1000 pictures from buildings.

2. FanGuide Tours: This app provides you with guided tours of architecturally significant buildings complete with audio and video files. There are currently three tours: 1) L.A. Modern, 2) Chicago Loop, and 3) Oak Park Prairie School. They will soon be adding Palm Springs Modern and Chicago River.

Weekend Plans

1. On Saturday Good Records will be having a holiday party complete with Santa, live holiday music, and milk and cookies. If you bring a toy for Toys for Tots and a canned good for the North Texas Food Bank you will receive 15% off your purchase.

2. Also on Saturday down at Southside on Lamar is the Dallas Flea. The market will feature Texas based designers and businesses such as Uptown Country Home, Stella Dallas, Haven, House of MacGregor, and Again & Again.

3. Sunday is the Fair Park Holiday at the newly renovated Esplanade fountains. There will be ornament making, free admission to all Fair Park museums, a performance by the Dallas Wind Symphony Quintet, and the official City of Dallas tree-lighting ceremony. This will also be the debut of the “Bellagio-style” Esplanade Fountain, with 272 jets that shoot water as high as 100 feet. Be sure to also check out the new bronze art deco sculptures CounterTenor and Contralto flanking the sides of the fountains.

Ugliest buildings in Dallas?

In the wake of the demise of Reunion Arena, DMN columnist Jacquielynn Floyd weighs in on what she believes to be the ugliest buildings in Dallas. I have no disagreements with her list.

My picks for ugliest architecture in Dallas:

1. The Phoenix Apartment Complex on Mockingbird Ln. next to Mockingbird Station. The murals made it even uglier.

2. The World Trade Center on Stemmons Frwy. Partially because it is brown and ugly, partially because I took the bar exam there.

3. All of Parkland Hospital. Talk about 50+ years of mismatched architecture.

4. JP Morgan Chase Tower - aka the one with the hole in it.

5. Dallas Convention Center - those metal arches on top of the building look like giant purse handles. Do they serve a purpose or are they "decorative?"

Re:Vision Dallas - Design Selected

As alluded to in the post below, the design for Re:Vision Dallas has been announced.

From the press release I received:

“Forwarding Dallas” has been chosen as the winning design for a sustainable urban block to be built in Dallas. The challenge, to transform a vacant inner-city block behind City Hall into a carbon-neutral community, drew hundreds of entries from top architecture firms and city planners in 14 countries worldwide."

"Forwarding Dallas is the product of a collaboration between Portuguese-based architectural firms Atelier Data and Moov, and will run “off the grid,” acting as a working model of sustainability for cities around the globe. Ground breaking is scheduled for early 2011."

A whole bunch of randomness

Things I have been reading over the last few weeks, that y'all should also be reading:

1. Last week was the debut of KERA's Living with the Trinity documentary about the history of the Trinity River and how it shaped Dallas. KERA's NPR station also had week long series of interviews about the Trinity River project and what we could learn from similar projects elsewhere.

2. What does the 5th Cir. decision against the Army Corps of Engineers and the levee breaches after Hurricane Katrina mean for the Trinity River project? Some opinions here, here, and here.

3. A round house that may or may not be attributable to architect Bruce Goff, lost its round entrance last week.

4. Urban Re:Vision picked the design for the Dallas project.

Weekend Plans - Anti-Black Friday Edition

For those of you not getting up at the crack of dawn to nab that animatronic hamster, flat screen tv, or new pair of shoes, I suggest the following:

1. The Nutcracker as a burlesque show - should be interesting, in a scary way.

2. Sunday head over to Lee Park for a Christmas tree and general park holiday lighting.

3. Sunday it will also apparently be snowing in Allen.

I should be back this weekend with a flurry of blog posts. Unfortunately, work has been all encompassing the last few weeks.

Weekend Plans

For those not going to see New Moon this weekend, here are my top picks:

1. City Lights Celebration - head downtown Friday night for the unveiling of the Neiman Marcus window displays, Christmas lights and stroll through the new Main Street Garden. You can even grab cocktails in Pegasus Plaza.

2. Get a jump on your Christmas Shopping at the Chi Omega Christmas Market at the Dallas Convention Center or the Etsy Dallas Jingle Bash at Sons of Hermann Hall.

3. Still in the Halloween spirit? Bodies...The Exhibition is for you. Exhibit is at the old West End Marketplace.

The Shroud of Statler Unveiled

Unfair Park has pictures of the wall covering/shroud/drape for the old Statler Hilton which is across the street from the new Main Street Garden that opens tonight.

Pretty lame shroud if you ask me.

See the pictures here.

I hope to venture down to the Main Street Garden in the next few weeks to check things out.

Weekend Plans

1. Taste at Lee Park - local Dallas restaurants will be setting up shop Friday evening at Lee Park. In addition to tasting food, there will be live music and entertainment.

2. More architecture to look at this weekend at the Lakewood Home Festival.

3. And yet another ultra lounge is opening in Dallas. Deux Lounge opens this weekend in Mockingbird Station, complete with acrobats!

Re:Vision Dallas to announce the winner.

According to Unfair Park Re:Vision Dallas is set to announce by the end of the week the winning design for the proposed sustainable, mixed-use development in downtown Dallas.

I am not really excited about this project at all. I can't imagine any of the three proposed projects ever being built in Dallas. I wonder if any of the architecture firms did any research into Dallas, the site and the people who live here. From the looks of the designs it appears they did not.

Read about it here.

A Critique of the Woodall Rodgers' Park Pavillion and Restaurant

Some people have some strong feelings about the Tom Phifer designed pavilion and restaurant that will be located at the Woodall Rodgers Deck Park. Read Jim Schutze's critique (rant) here.

I have not closely studied the drawings of the proposed pavilion and restaurant, but Schutze does have a few valid points. When it is 100+ degrees in August people are not going to sit outside unless there is some shade structures and trees. If I worked downtown, I am not going to troop my suit clad self down to the park unless there is somewhere shaded to sit and enjoy my lunch. However, the pictures are just renderings and a lot will likely change between now and when construction actually starts. Also, there is a landscape architect on the project, which may or may not have had a hand in the conceptional drawings. So there is hope we will get some shade trees.

The comments to the post are also quite entertaining.

New NPR all music station goes live in Dallas

I am an NPR news junkie, but even I can get tired of listening to new and politics all day. Well KERA's all new music station 91.7 KXT comes to the rescue. They play an eclectic mix of genres ranging from indie pop to alt-country and lots of local acts. Bands I have heard: Rhett Miller, Imogen Heap, The Smiths, Morrissey, Telegraph Canyon, and on and on. You will also be able to hear NPR shows such as World Cafe and Thistle & Shamrock on the new station.

Oh, and since they are an NPR station that means limited commercial interruptions.

Check out the website here.

Weekend Plans

1. The Architect and I will be going to the Dallas AIA Homes Tour this weekend and you should too. Ticket info and list of homes here.

2. Grab your gin and juice and head to Wish for the Snoop Dogg After Party.

3. If you are not into rap or houses, there is always the Dallas Video Fest at the Angelika Theater in Mockingbird Station.

Dallas AIA Homes Tour this weekend

Don't forget to get your tickets for the AIA Homes Tour this weekend. You can purchase tickets on the day of the tour or pick them up at the Dallas Center for Architecture.

List of homes and ticket info here. I will also be tweeting from the tour this weekend. You can follow me on Twitter at @foursquaresperinch.

Weekend Plans- Halloween Edition

1. Be on the lookout for Otis, the ghost of the historic pump house where the Sammons Center for the Arts will be hosting a panel discussion about the paranormal. Reading from Macbeth, songs from Wicked and fortune tellers will also be featured. Info here.

2. Listen to eerie ghost stories at the Tales from the Crypt at the Bath House Cultural Center.

3. If ghosts and creepy stories are not your thing, head over to Grapevine, TX for the Hallo-Wine Trail wine tasting.

More images from the new Perot Museum of Nature and Science

In a slide show delivered to Dallas City Hall, we get to take a peek at more images of the Morphosis designed Perot Museum of Nature and Science. I usually like Morphosis' work, but I can't say I am really a fan of the new museum.

See the slide show here.

Winners of The Chain of Eco-Homes Competition Announced

About a week ago FreeGreen announced the winners of the Chain of Eco-Homes Competition. I am pleased to announce that The Architect took 3rd place! His winning entry is "Linear Villa", which you see to your left.

If you like what you see here and are interested in a modern home, The Architect's website is now live. Go here for details.

Weekend Plans

Work has been crazy this week, so here are some quick picks for the weekend:

1. Star Wars in Concert at Jerryworld, erm the New Cowboys Stadium.

2. Taste of Greenville this Saturday.

3. A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Rem Koolhaus designed Wyly Theater - opening night this Saturday.

4. Deep Ellum Zombie Crawl on Sunday.

A good way to start the week...

Last night the Architect and I traveled outside the bubble to see some Irish guys play at this place called the Cowboys Stadium in this little town called Arlington. Ok, nothing about the previous sentence was just some guys in a so-called stadium in a little town. Yes, I was at the U2 concert at the gargantuan Cowboys Stadium in the sprawling suburb of Arlington. It. Was. Awesome.

Some really grainy pics from the concert below:

This is the claw/spaceship/stage. Word has it U2 had to pay 2 million dollars to Jerry to raise the jumbotron so the stage could fit inside the stadium.










Shots of the band doing what they do best.




























































The screen in the center descended down. Kinda looks like a rainbow pineapple.












Larry playing the bongos during a dance version "I'll Go Crazy if I Don't Go Crazy Tonight."


























Oh, look the Zoo TV Baby from the Zoo TV Tour!













Bono had a light up jacket and a swinging lighted microphone. Trippy.












UPDATE: Hal Samples was at the concert last night and has a fabulous slide show here. Hey, Hal - any chance any of those pictures will be for sale?

No tweeting from the Austin AIA Homes Tour.

I would like to give a hearty thank you to Delta Airlines (aka Doesn't Ever Leave The Airport) for failing to load my bag on my flight back from Montgomery via Atlanta. As a result of Delta's failure to ensure my bag made it back to Dallas, I will be unable to catch my early morning flight on Southwest Airlines to Austin in order to meet the Architect and friends for the Austin AIA Homes Tour.

So now I get to spend all day tomorrow sitting at my home in Dallas waiting for my bag instead of engaging in snarky tweeting about the homes I would be looking at in Austin. Unfortunately, the Architect has not discovered the world of Twitter.

Weekend Plans

The Architect and I are heading down to Austin this weekend for the Austin AIA Homes Tour, but here is what I would be doing if I was staying in Big D:

1. Only a few more weeks until Halloween, get your scream on at a local haunted house. Pegasus News has their top picks and how to get discounted admission here.

2. Wilco is playing this Friday at the Palladium Ballroom. Neil Finn's (Crowded House) son Liam Finn is the opener. This will be one of those rare times that you will want to get there early to see the opener.

3. Two home tours on Saturday: Old Oak Cliff Fall Homes Tour and Taste of Swiss.

I will be tweeting during the Austin AIA Homes tour. I am @4squaresperinch.

Continental Bridge to become living pedestrian bridge

The Continental Bridge is the bridge over the Trinity that will be right next to the yet to be finished Santiago Calatrava designed, Margaret Hunt Hill bridge. An anonymous donor gave 10 million dollars to transform the Continental Bridge into a pedestrian "Living Bridge." The donation was made in honor of Trinity Trust Foundation Chair, Mary McDermott Cook.

There hasn't been too much of an explanation about what a "Living Bridge" will look like. Here's hoping it will look something like the "The High Line" park in New York City.

Dallas Performing Arts Center Grand Opening Week

Starting Monday, October 12, 2009 the Dallas Performing Arts Center will be kicking off their Grand Opening with a week full of festivities - many of them free.

Here's a short synopsis of what will be going on:

October 12 - 8-9am: Dedication ceremony.

October 15 - 4pm: Architecture forum with Rem Koolhaas.

October 16 - 10:30am: Architecture forum with Sir Norman Foster.

October 16 - 4pm: Jazz musician David Sanborn.

October 18 - Spotlight Sunday: All of the Arts District will be on display with tours of the new buildings, arts, music and dance performances. Ends with an evening fireworks show.

More information about the festivities here.

LIFE Magazine now available on Google Books

Google now has the entire catalog of LIFE magazine available through Google Books.

Of course I had to go searching for MCM related articles. Here is what I found:

Charles and Ray Eames' home from the September 11, 1950 issue.

Back in June 1961 you could by an Eichler for $26,800!

MCM House Porn - House designs commissioned by LIFE.

Article about Julius Shulman's photos of Neutra's Kaufmann House.

Oh, and my own personal tie-in to LIFE magazine - in the March 10, 1952 issue, my grandfather was mentioned in an article about the longest murder trial in Texas history - at that time. He was the defense attorney. You can read the article here.

iPhone Apps

Some cool and usable iPhone apps:

Sherwin Williams Color Snap and Benjamin Moore Color Capture: Ever been somewhere and see a color you love and want that color to use in your own home? These apps will allow you to use a picture and then it will suggest a color that matches it and also provide coordinating and contrasting colors.

myPantone: The entire Pantone color library on your phone. It will let you create custom color palettes and share them online.

iHandy Level: Need to see if that picture you hung is straight? This free app will tell you.

Craigsphone: Craigslist for your iPhone. This would be useful for spending a day hitting garage sales and estate sales.

SwedeShop: Allows you to create lists and record bin numbers and aisle locations for items you want to purchase at IKEA. It also will tabulate your total cost so there is no sticker shock at the register.

Epicurious: At the store and don't know what to cook for dinner? This app lets you search through all of epicurious.com's food and drink recipies. It will also let you create shopping lists and give you step by step cooking instructions.

WhatTheFont: Out and about and see a sign with a font that you would like to use? Take a picture and this app will tell you what font it is.

Weekend Plans

1. Dogtoberfest - Head on down to The Gingermanfor an afternoon of live music, German beers, raffle, food, games, beer tastings, and more. Proceeds benefit the Greyhound Adoption League of Dallas.

2. Cattle Baron's Ball - put on your best pair of jeans, boots, and a cowboy hat and drive over to Kaufman for the 36th annual gala benefitting the American Cancer Society.

3. If festivals are more your thing there is a Lebanese Food Festival in Lewisville and an Irish Festival in Grapevine.

The Statler Hilton Hotel mentioned on Mad Men

Anyone catch the passing reference about the Statler Hilton Hotel on this Sunday's Mad Men? It was the scene where Conrad Hilton (the hotelier who that blond chick is related to) tells Don Draper that he wants him to handle the advertising for his hotels, such as the Waldorf Astoria and the Statler.

So now that the Statler has been mentioned on a critically acclaimed show, will someone do something to save it? Instead of putting a big shroud/t-shirt/sheet over it?

More about the Statler Hotel and its endangered status here.

Weekend Plans

1. The State Fair of Texas opens this weekend - get your fill of fried everything and say hello to Big Tex. Don't forget to go to the pig races and check out the butter sculptures.

2. Bridging the Trinity with Santiago Calatrava - Friday night party on the Continental Bridge with Santiago Calatrava, Mayor Tom Leppert, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson and other Dallas movers and shakers as Dallas celebrates the building of Calatrava's Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. Let me know how it is, 150 bucks to drink wine on a bridge is a bit steep for me. Back in high school, we kids used to go drink under a Trinity River bridge for free.

3. All About Uptown Festival - you mean there is more to Uptown than shirt guys and 30,000 millionaires? Apparently, there is. Info here.

Meet my new friend George...

George, as in George Nelson. This past Saturday the Architect and I went to the new MCM furniture store Form on N. Henderson. Sitting there was this beautiful George Nelson for Herman Miller credenza. Five minutes later it was mine.

Some history on George Nelson here.

Do stop by Form - it is on N. Henderson near the Slip Inn and right next to The Pearl Cup espresso bar. We were privileged to be the first sale for the owner, Buddy Hradecky. He has only been open for about 2 weeks, so stop on in and welcome him and his beautiful wares to the neighborhood. Also, the area where Form is located has been completely transformed. Lots of new local shops, bars and restaurants are popping up on this end of Henderson. The Architect and I will definitely be stopping down here more often.

Model for the Perot Museum of Nature and Science Unveiled

Today Mayor Tom Leppert unveiled a model of the future home of the Natural History and Science Musuem - soon to be the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. The building is designed by the the 2005 Pritzker Prize winning architect Thom Mayne and will be located in Victory Park.

Check out the photos here.

Weekend Plans - Festival Edition

1. Oktoberfest is this weekend in Addison - all the beer, brats, and kraut you can eat.

2. Grapefest is this weekend in Grapevine - wine, wine, and more wine.

3. Plano Balloon Festival - go see some hot air balloons and also see the celtic rock band, The Killdares.

Bonus event: If you are not in the festival mood, take the newly opened DART Green Line down to Deep Ellum for the Deep Ellum Gallery Walk on Saturday night.

The Chain of Eco-Homes Competition

The Chain of Eco-Homes Competition is an architecture competition to build a eco-friendly and sustainable home in the city of Greensburg, Kansas. Greensburg was literally wiped off the face of the map after a tornado ripped through the town in 2007. The city has chosen to rebuild the city using eco-friendly and sustainable methods.

The Architect submitted a competition entry last week - he is competition entry number 061 - "Linear Villa." In addition to a jury reviewing the projects and picking the winner, the competition is allowing the public to cast their own vote for their favorite projects.

Check out all the projects here and be sure to vote for your favorite - No. 061!

P.S. - The projects are not listed in numerical order.

Weekend Plans

1. The Dallas Art Dealers Assoc. (DADA) gallery walk is this Saturday. Map and info here.

2. Sunday, bring your pooch and head to the F is for Frank Studio where you can get you pooch's picture taken, pick up some custom dog tags and treat your favorite canine to a puppy sundae. Proceeds benefit the NorCal Boxer Rescue. Info here.

3. West Village Sidewalk Sale - this weekend the trendy stores at WV will be having massive sales to clear out merchandise and make way for Fall - which may or may not occur sometime in November or December.

Upcoming homes tours

It is the fall homes tour season. Mark these down on your calendars:

1. Austin AIA Homes Tour - October 10-11, 2009

2. Dallas AIA Homes Tour - November 7-8, 2009

Salim Nourallah in SPACE

Some music for your ears this morning - Salim Nourallah at Hal Samples' weekly music show collaboration with the Dallas Observer's DC9 at Night blog.

Dallas Urban Lab

The UT Austin School of Architecture for the last two years has this program called Dallas Urban Lab, where architecture students have been conceptualizing our fair city. First they were focused on West Dallas, now they are looking at ways to link Victory Park, the Design District, and the future Trinity River Park together.

Check out the progress here.

Lake Highlands Town Center on hold

I suspected that something was up since I hadn't seen much movement on the site in the last month or so. Now comes the official word that Phase 1 of the Lake Highlands Town Center won't be opening until 2012.

So what is the Lake Highlands Town Center? LHTC is supposed to be a mixed-use development similar to Mockingbird Station. The site is located at the corner of Walnut Hill and Skillman. Prescott Realty knocked down some unkempt apartments to make way for this future development. The developer has promised shops, upscale apartments/lofts, office space, and zero-lot line townhomes. Additionally there is promise of a DART station as well. You can view renderings of LHTC here.

What concerns me is that Prescott Realty has never disclosed who the anchor tenants are. Does that mean they don't have any lined up yet? Most people who live in Lake Highlands have expressed (me included) that they would like a supermarket along the lines of Sprouts, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's; NOT a Walmart. The other things people want are restaurants - which is sorely lacking in Lake Highlands. Anyone who has tried to go to Mi Cocina or Picasso's on Saturday night knows what I am talking about. Prescott Realty has never disclosed whether anyone has signed a lease to set up shop in the development.

Another disconcerting thing is that Prescott Realty has said that they need $70 million in financing to begin Phase One construction - money they don't have at the moment. So, until they get the money, nothing is going to get built. While I was not a fan of the rundown housing that bordered my sub-division, I am also not enamored of having a huge swath of vacant land either. Now understand my issue with the old apartments was not that poor people lived there - my issue with it was that the owners of that housing did not maintain the apartments and they were clearly in disrepair. Now, we may end up with a large naked plot of land to stare at for the foreseeable future. A lot prime for a Wally-World type store. That just makes my inner Howard Roark go crazy.

Read the whole article about LHTC here.

Lake Highlands Town Center site here.

Tap, tap, tap...is this thing on?

Yes, this thing is still on. The reason for the lack of posts last week was due to a horrendous cold I have had for the last week. Today is the first day, I actually have some energy. So I am going to blast y'all with multiple posts today to make up for last week. Enjoy!

Weekend Plans

1. Dallas Museum of Art has free admission all weekend. This is the last weekend to see their Summer Spotlight Exhibit.

2. Remember the Candleroom? Yes, it is still kicking around. Head on over to support your four legged friends by drinking margaritas. Proceeds support Paws in the City.

3. Go shopping this weekend at Fashion Industry Gallery for the FIG Finale sale.

David Garza sings Leonard Cohen

The NPR blog, All Songs Considered, has Irving born David Garza singing Leonard Cohen's "Dance Me to the End of Love." Song was recorded at this years SXSW music festival.

Listen and watch the video here.

What I have been reading lately

I am on the road this week for work, but here is what I have been reading up on:

1. The Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation announced that Thomas Phifer and Partners will be the architects for The Park's restaurant and performance pavilion. Phifer used to work with Richard Meier, who designed the Rachofsky House in Dallas. More info here.

2. One of the finalists of the Re:Vision Dallas competition (turning a parking lot into a sustainable mixed-use development) is on the shortlist to exhibit its competition entry at the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona, Spain this November. Still trying to figure out if I should be proud of that or embarassed. Read about it here.

3. The Disney Streets and the people who live there - home to some beautiful MCMs - are still duking it out over whether there should be a conservation overlay. Read about the nastiness here.

Weekend Plans

1. Pour some sugar on me: Def Leppard, Poison, and Cheap Trick at Starplex, erm Superpages.com Center Friday night. Ticket info here.

2. The last late night block party at the DMA is this Friday.

3. Put your greek letters on had head on down to Lee Harvey's Saturday for their beer pong competition.

Calatrava Bridge Update

Today the Trinity River Trust launched its new website to stir up interest in the Santiago Calatrava designed Margaret Ray Hunt Bridge over the Trinity. If you have 150 bucks to spare, you can go party on September 25th with Gubernatorial candidate Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, Mayor Tom Leppert, and Santiago Calatrava.

Oh and if you have a severe case of insomnia, you can watch this You Tube video of the steel for the bridge winding its way through Dallas to the building site.

Home Renovation Pt. 1 Results

Part one of the living room home renovation is done. Part one involved replacing the old floors with stained concrete floors in the living room, dining room, hallway and bathroom. See the before here. The renovation is about 98% done. We need to put back the baseboards and paint them. Our goal is December because we be having a kick ass Christmas party! The picture to the left is of the living room. More pictures of the floors below.



The view from the dining room.


















Here we had the old tile floor removed, applied a skim coat of concrete and stained the floors to match the hallway and the floor. We skim coated the bathroom so the tile grout lines would not show through the stained floor.

The next project will be the floor to almost ceiling bookshelf behind the sofa. Stay tuned!

Rhett Miller on CNN

Old 97s frontman and former Dallasite, Rhett Miller, was on CNN earlier this week talking about his new solo album and playing a track off his new album, Rhett Miller.

Watch the interview and hear the song "Need to Know Where I Stand" here.

Weekend Plans

The Architect and I have been in Florida this week, but for those stuck in Dallas here are my suggestions:

1. 5 x 7 Opening Reception at the Dunn and Brown Contemporary: The tenth annual event, 5 x 7 On The Road: Dallas, benefits Arthouse’s free exhibitions and educational programs. The art is on 5 x 7 canvases. You don't know who the artist is until to purchase the piece you like. Each piece is 100 bucks.

2. Indulge in your inner geek at the Dallas Comic Con.

3. Mad Men Season 3 premieres on Sunday: head down to the Angelika Theater for a free screening and $7.50 classic cocktails.

Death of the McMansion?

Yes. No. Maybe. Treehugger has corralled the various opinions here.

Teco Art Pottery On Sale

On Saturday I stopped by the Aneita Fern store near the Galleria to browse around and ended up coming home with this lovely orange vase from Teco Pottery.

From the Teco website:

Teco (an abbreviation of TErra COtta) art pottery was originally produced from 1899 through 1920 by the American Terra Cotta and Ceramics Company, located in Terra Cotta, Illinois. W. D. Gates, a lawyer by training, founded the company in order to capitalize on the need for architectural terra cotta used in constructing fire-proof buildings following the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

I have always loved these pieces but didn't want to shell out $100+ for a piece. Well good news, Aneita Fern currently has the entire collection for 50% off! If you can't find a color you like there, you can also find them on sale at the PrairieMod blog's store here.

Weekend Plans

1. Friday head down to the Sons of Hermann Hall for Art Consipracy's fundraiser SEED. There will be live music and an auction of artist designed lanterns. Money raised goes towards operational costs for the annual Art Conspiracy auction.

2. On Saturday head downtown to Swirll where they will be pairing sushi with sparkling wine.

3. Sunday go to House of Blues to see crooner Chris Isaak. Request his cover of "Solitary Man."

A hodge podge of stuff today...

I thought about individual posts on these subjects, but let's face it, it is Monday and I am feeling a bit lazy. So in no particular order, things I have been reading up on today:

1. For those of you who live in a historical district and looking for economical ways to landscape your lawn, AstroTurf/fake grass is verboten.

2. The steel has arrived on what some have said is Dallas' bridge to nowhere, aka the Calatrava Bridge. You know what that means? It's time to party!

3. The winner of the Shroud of Statler Hotel competition to be announced sometime this week, with postings of all the submissions to be released by August 17th.

4. A conservation district for the Disney Streets may or may not be in the works. These streets are a host to a bevy of MCM homes.

5. Some opinions on the future Dallas Convention Center Hotel. DMN architecture critique and interview with 5G Studio Collaborative, which designed the hotel here.

and finally,

6. The contractor has been selected for the Woodall Rodgers Deck Park. Groundbreaking ceremony scheduled for September 14.

H/T to DO's Unfair Park and D Magazine's FrontBurner blogs.

And the winner is...

Congratulations to Kristin, who is the winner of the mini Alvar Aalto bowl from All Modern!

Kristin - to claim your prize you will need to email me your mailing address to quadrilleblog [at] gmail [dot] com.

Thanks to all who entered!

Let's do some demo!

That was said in my best Ty Pennington voice of course. The Architect and I are finally getting around to some home remodeling. The first stage is refinishing the living and dining room floors and hallway. We decided to rip up the carpet and nasty laminate flooring and do stained concrete floors.

Pictures of the progress so far:

The Night Before Demo:



Living room - everything that is blonde flooring is going, going, gone.



The dining room - blonde laminate be gone!



Don't get me started on my hatred for white berber carpet.

Day 1: Flooring and carpet removal



Remember a few years ago when the government asked Americans to stockpile plastic sheeting and duct tape in case of a chemical attack? That's what the house kind of feels like now.

Day 2: Patching and prepping the floor



It doesn't look like much, but the workers smoothed out the step and patched all the holes from the old carpet tacks that were on the floor before the previous owners laid the laminate flooring. Tomorrow the contractor will be staining with sealant to follow on Friday. So far the process has been incredibly smooth with no hang ups at all. I can't wait to see how the furniture looks on the new floors.

Don't forget, only a few more days to enter to win the Aalto vase (or bowl as some have said) from All Modern.

Weekend Plans

1. This is the last weekend to catch Merry Wives of Windsor, TX and Taming of the Shrew at the Shakespeare Festival of Dallas.

2. Dive-In Movie Night at the Fairmont Hotel: Guests can watch the featured film while lounging in the pool or while sipping a cocktail and eating dinner on the patio.

3. Pop on over to the Craighead Green Gallery for the New Texas Talent 2009: From over 600 submissions they whittled it down to about 50 artists. The exhibit opens on Saturday.

The Language of Things: Understanding the World of Desirable Objects

Go here to read a review of Deyan Sudjic’s new book, The Language of Things: Understanding The World Of Desirable Objects, and how good design perseveres in the Internet based world we live in.

H/T to FrontBurner.

Don't forget to comment here to win an Aalto vase from All Modern!

I apologize for the radio silence this week. Work has been crazy. Tune in next week for progress on renovations to the Quadrille MCM abode.

Who is liable when a building fails to meet LEED certification?

Interesting article discussing where the liability should lie when a building fails to meet LEED certification. There has not been a court case on this yet, so it will be interesting to see how the law shakes out.

Read the article here.

H/T to Jeston Green.

Don't forget to comment here to be entered to win an Aalto vase from All Modern!

Win an Alvar Aalto vase for your home from All Modern

I have partnered up with All Modern to giveaway this beautiful mini Alvar Aalto bowl in ultramarine blue.

So who is All Modern? All Modern has a fantastic selection of modern furniture and home accessories from many leading designers. Part of CSN Stores, All Modern is just one of over 260 retail sites that offer a diverse array of products from Herman Miller’s popular Aeron Chair to cookware by Rachael Ray.

How to enter: Anyone in the United States or Canada is eligible to enter. Just comment on this post to enter. A winner will be selected via Random.org.

Deadline to enter is Friday, July 31st at 12 midnight CST. Winner will be announced in a separate post the following Monday.

Weekend Plans

1. Taste of the Mansion - thru the end of the summer enjoy a three-course dinner for $49.00 either in the restaurant or out on the patio.

2. Late Night Summer Block Party in the Arts District - Free admission to the Nasher and Crow Collection, DMA is 10 bucks or less.

3. BubbleQue at Cork - Champagne and sparkling wine pairings with barbecue at Cork in West Village.

Art Conspiracy Fundraiser - August 7

On August 7, 2009 at Sons of Hermann Hall Art Conspiracy will be hosting a fundraiser to raise case to cover operating costs for their annual art auction that raises money for a local charity in Dallas. The Architect and I went to Art Conspiracy last year and walked away with some gorgeous art for the abode.

The fundraiser called SEED will consist of an auction of lanterns made from coffee tins and designed by local Dallas artists. Additionally, there will be live music from local Dallas bands.

More info here.

The Great Hotel Coverup

For those who love MCM architecture, you are probably familiar with the old Statler Hilton in Downtown Dallas. It has been vacant for years and has been listed on the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Most Endangered Historic Places.

Come October, the Main Street Garden will be opening across the street from the Statler. The powers that be don't want people to gaze upon a vacant hotel, so they have devised an architectural competition to design a scrim, shroud, sheet, shrink-wrap to cover the Statler Hotel. Unfortunately, the competition is only open to AIA members. But if you are an AIA member and want to submit a design, go here for info on the competition.

Lots of pictures of the Statler here on Flickr.

H/T to Unfair Park.

Weekend Plans

1. July at Patrizios is dollar bellini month. Get there early to snag a table outside.

2. Indie Shop Soiree at House of Blues - sip cocktails and listen to DJ spun tunes while shopping the wares of local indie designers.

3. Celebrate Bastille Day at the Hotel St. Germain. All sorts of French food to feast on and champers to toast to "viva la revolucion!"

SOL - Solutions Orientated Living in Austin - new sustainable housing development

I think we have all seen this song and dance before. Small modern development, add a dash of sustainability, tout affordability, houses under 2,000 square feet, etc. Look, I really want to buy into this idea, I really do. But call me jaded, I have been wanting something like this in Dallas for years and it hasn't happened. Sorry, Urban Reserve doesn't do it for me. Maybe us Dallasites haven't reached the tipping point yet for this to work. So SOL, prove me wrong.

Anyways, the houses do look pretty cool and if they accomplish everything they say they want to do on the website, Austin might be setting up a usable model for future developments.

Check out the SOL development here.

H/T to Apartment Therapy.

Posting will be sporadic this week. I am in San Juan, PR for work - really it is not as exciting as it sounds. Back to regularly scheduled programming next week.

Death of Pre-Fab Architecture?

So say the peeps at Build LLC. Read their top 10 reasons why they are declaring modern pre-fab architecture dead here.

Weekend Plans - 4th of July Edition

1. Head out of the bubble to Addison on Friday night for their annual Kaboom Town. Get there early to stake out a plot of grass at Addison Circle.

2. Go see Taming of the Shrew at the Shakespeare Festival of Dallas. If you have a membership, they will double the amount of people you can bring in. They also will time intermission to coincide with when Fair Park and Lakewood shoot of their fireworks, so it's two events for the price of one!

3. The W Hotel has a 4th of July special. For 179/night this weekend, you get access to Ghostbar and tab at Wet (their pool), and be in a prime location to watch the fireworks.

Members of Vampire Weekend and Ra Ra Riot form Discovery

Rotsam Batmanglij of Vampire Weekend and Wes Miles of Ra Ra Riot have partnered up to create the band Discovery. Their album "LP' drops on July 7, but you can listen to the whole album on their website here. You can download the first song off the album, "Orange Shirt" here.

The album reminds me a lot of Sterolab and The Postal Service. Good Stuff. I am completely in love with their album cover, its made of squares!

Austin MCM designed by first black graduate of UT up for sale

The Austin-American Statesman has a nice story about a renovated MCM designed by UT Austin's first black architecture school graduate, John S. Chase, Jr.

Read about it here.

It can be yours for $488,000.oo here.

H/T to PrairieMod.

House of Representatives to vote on American Clean Energy and Security Act Friday

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is seeking help on passing the American Clean Energy and Security Act. Within this bill, is the Retrofit for Energy and Environmental Performance Programm (REEP). REEP provides financial incentives through state block grants to help homeowners and businesses save money on energy upgrades, including weatherization or window repair. It also provides additional incentives for owners of older and historic properties to make these upgrades while keeping with the historic character of the homes, buildings, and neghborhoods.

You can send an email directly to your representative asking he/she to vote yes to the bill here.

Or, pass the word on to your friends to encourage their representatives to vote yes here.

Hard Rock Cafe returns to Big D

While it seems like everyone is vacating Victory Park these days; at least one thing is actually coming to Victory Park - the return of the Hard Rock Cafe. As you recall, the old Hard Rock Cafe on McKinney closed about two years or so ago and the site demolished to make way for a CVS.

Come July 15, 2009 the Hard Rock Cafe returns landing in Victory Plaza. Read all about it on the Dallas Observer blog here.

ModKnobs

Check out these super cool door knobs at ModKnobs. I now want to replace all the knobs in my house with these; especially the Pivot Knob - in orange. The knobs are made of vulcanized rubber with a textured edge for easy gripping.

Weekend Plans

1. Late Night Summer Block Party in the Arts District - stroll through the DMA, Crow Collection, and the Nasher where there will be live music, food, and free movies.

2. Artania - Think Cirque de Soleil but with horses.

3. DFW Summer Balloon Classic - head outside the bubble to Midlothian to see balloons and stay for the lighting of the balloons Saturday night.

94.5 The Edge 20th Reunion

Remember way back when The Edge radio station used to play music and was 94.5 on the radio dial and not 102.1? Remember Brian "The Butler"and the Adventure Club with Josh and Kevin? The Tales from The Edge CDs? Edgefest when it had decent bands?

Well, here is your chance to relive the good ol days. The old crew of 94.5 is having a reunion party on July 3rd at the Lakewood Theater. Tickets are $9.45. More info, pictures, and memories here.

Weekend Plans

1. Saturday head on over to Lake Highlands for the first ever Lake Highlands/White Rock Farmers Market. Open from 8am - 1pm. Info here.

2. Dallas City Arts Festival is this weekend in the Arts District. Food, wine, and arts. Also free admission to the DMA and Nasher Sculpture Center all weekend long.

3. Head over to the 'Cliff for the Speed Bump Art Tour. You can tour 11 art galleries in the Bishop Arts area of Oak Cliff. Info and map here.

The return of Trees to Deep Ellum

The old Trees concert venue in Deep Ellum always had a special place in my heart. My first trip to Deep Ellum was to Trees to see a concert by The Nixons. As many know Trees closed down awhile back. Well it looks like it is set to re-open late this Summer now that the City of Dallas had given them their special use permit.

More info here at Unfair Park.

Herman Miller and DWR to reissue Eames chair with dowel legs

Starting September 1 DWR will be the exclusive retailer of the Herman Miller re-issue of the Eames molded arm chair (DAW - $499) and side chair (DSW - $399) with the wood dowel legs. You can pre-order your chairs starting in August. Grassroots Modern has got all the pretty pictures here.

H/T to Grassroots Modern.

Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum...

Tomorrow the Sigel's Elite on Fitzhugh in Uptown will be having a rum tasting. When you arrive you receive a passport which entitles you to 12 tastings of your choice. Turn in your passport to be entered into a drawing for a door prize at the end of the evening. The Architect and I have gone to their scotch and tequila tastings in the past and have had a great time. The distributors are usually pretty knowledgable and there is a lot of free swag to pick up as well.

The tasting is from 6-8pm on Wednesday, June 3. Info here.

Todd Camplin

Yesterday the Architect and I ventured downtown to the D Art Slam at the F.I.G. Gallery. At the art show we saw the work of Todd Camplin and walked away with one of his pen and ink drawings. The drawings he had at the show were abstractions of words repeated over the page. The drawing we picked up was huge - 50x38. We are not quite sure where we are going to put it just yet.

We left the drawing with the artist for the remainder of the show, so if you want go check Todd out and the other talented local artists in out midst.

Information on D Art Slam here.

Information on Todd Camplin and the drawing we purchased here.

Urban Revision Dallas Winners

Well the kids at Urban Revision have announced the winners of the competition to design a sustainable mixed use development in Downtown Dallas. I am a bit underwhelmed and extremely disappointed that no Dallas firms or architects made the cut. The designs seem a bit over the top and I can't really see them being executed in our city.

You can check out the finalists and form your own opinions here.

If you want my unedited opinion, you are going to have to buy me a bottle of wine, to find out.

Weekend Plans

1. D Art Slam at F.I.G. - Support independent artists in Dallas and peruse among a well-curated collection of artists at the F.I.G. Gallery. Ticket info here.

2. Swag for Wag - Head down to the White Rock Dog park to pick up free dog treats and Dog Fancy magazine while letting the pooch run around and sniff other dog's rear ends. From 9am-1pm at the White Rock Dog Park.

3. Garage Sale: Highland Park Style - Head over to 5431 W. University Blvd. where you can scavenge for designer duds and vintage furniture. Sale starts at 10am.

Bueller...Bueller...Bueller...

Remember the scene in Ferris Bueller's Day Off where his buddy Cameron pushes his dad's Ferarri out a window? The home used as Cameron's house in the movie is up for sale in Chicago. Check it out here.

Photo: A. James Speyer/Sotheby's

Tip of the hat to Apartment Therapy.

Weekend Plans - Memorial Day Edition

1. Artfest - head on down to Grand Ave. and peruse art from many local artists. You can also bring the pooches!

2. Dallas Wine Trail Weekend - Times Ten Cellars will be hosting local Dallas wineries for a wine tasting.

3. Sunset Movie Night at the Hotel Palomar - All summer long you can catch an outdoor movie in the courtyard of the Hotel Palomar while sipping on cocktails and noshing on munchies from Central 214.

Design Firm Name Generator

Looking to start your own design firm or architecture firm but don't know what to call it?
Check out the Breadline Design Naming Machine. I think the Architect should name his future firm Red Lemur Media.

Just kidding!

Frank Lloyd Wright Legos

The kids over at PrairieMod have the scoop on Lego's decision to issue kits of Wright's Fallingwater and the Guggenheim Museum.

Get the scoop here.

Indulge in your inner American Psycho...

With a modern custom made axe from Best Made Co. The axe even comes in its own felt lined box. So put a suit on, cue up Genesis' Sussudio, and get to chopping some wood. Axe shown is the "Canuck Clipper."

DC9 in Space on Wednesday Nights

The Dallas Observer music blog, DC9 at Night has partnered with photographer Hal Samples' Space Studio to present DC9 in Space. Every Wednesday a different band will perform at Space. One week later you will be able to view a video of the performance.

This week San Francisco based Tartufi will be performing. After that you will have show up to see who will be playing.

Elvis Perkins in Dearland In-Store Performance at Good Records

On Tuesday (5/12) at 7:30pm head on down to Good Records for an in-store performance by Elvis Perkins. There will be giveaways of free tickets too. If that is not enough to get you down to lower Greenville, I am sure these two words will: FREE BEER!

Listen to his interview on NPR here.

The i-house

Apparently to be cool and modern when launching a new product you must put "i-" in front of your product. As annoying as that is, there are some interesting design ideas from Clayton Homes' new modern pre-fab homes. Clayton Homes is backed by financier Warren Buffett. Their schtick is that they can build a modern green pre-fab home for under $100,000.00.

Check out the website, take a tour of the homes, and create your own home here.

BTW, kudos to the Syracuse Airport for having free wi-fi. Now you only need a Starbucks and somewhere where I can buy a magazine . Or you could have at least posted a sign before security saying there was no amenities at the gates except for two vending machines. Yeah, I'm not bitter about wasting a week in upstate NY at all.

Weekend Plans

1. Fill up the car and head up the Tollway to Taste of Addison this weekend. Friday night, local boy's the Old 97s will be rocking out.

2. Interested in art this Friday? Head on over to Off the Grid where 17 artists debut new works at the historic Dallas and Power Light Substation. Portion of the proceeds benefit the Dallas Children's Advocacy Center. Info here.

3. In between running errands and drinking cocktails, don't forget to vote this Saturday. Unless you have been under a rock for the last few months, the biggest issue on this ballot is the referendum on the Convention Center hotel. In case you still haven't figured out where you stand check out D magazine's Front Burner blog, Dallas Observer's Unfair Park Blog, and the Dallas Morning News for a multitude of information.

Fredericksburg, TX Pt. 2: Wineries

During our 4 day stay in Fredericksburg, TX, the Architect and I hit six wineries in and around the town.

Here are the wineries we checked out:

1. Pedernales Cellars - Stonewall, TX: This is one of the newer wineries in the Hill Country. They opened their doors in December 2008. I really enjoyed their whites, especially the viognier. However, I wish they had served the red wines at the proper temperature. Now that I have a wine fridge, when wine is not slightly chilled it tastes like I am drinking bathwater. Not a way to get me to buy the wine.

2. Grape Creek Vineyard: This place had the slickest operation out of the ones we visited. Upon entering there are two different areas where to taste wine - Black Label (higher end price points) and White Label. Being the oeneophiles we are we tasted both lines. We picked up the up the Cab Sav/Syrah and the Cabernet Trois. Their ports were also wonderful.

3. Woodrose Winery, Stonewall, TX: This has the best way to taste wines. You enter into the winery where you are greeted by an adorable chocolate lab named Lola. Then you grab a seat on the back deck set in a grove of trees where they bring the tasting to you.

4. Torre di Pietra: I did not like any of the wines I tasted here. I did not think they were bad wines, just not my taste. But I did like their blanco port and walked away with a bottle.

5. Rancho Ponte Vineyard: This was by far my favorite winery. We walked away with their Max's Merlot, Triple M Blend, and the Renegade Port. This is definitely a place I would order from in the future.

6. Fredericksburg Winery: Located in downtown, this is a no-frills operation, but produces some great wines. The tasting is also free!

Some tips for your winery tours:

1. Go here for a downloadable map of all the wineries in the Hill Country.

2. Make sure you get a "passport" for the Texas Department of Agriculture at the first winery you go to. Get four stamps in your passport then go online to redeem the passport for free stuff.

3. While most of the wineries have a tasting fee, if you buy at least one bottle the tasting fee is usually waived.

4. If you go in the Spring and Summer, pack a small cooler in your card with some ice to keep your new bottles cool while you visit other wineries.

5. In between wineries be sure to drink plenty of water to keep you hydrated and so you don't get "wine fatigue." Nothing is worse than going to a great winery and being so sick of tasting wine that everything else ceases to taste good.