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.