Odds and Ends

Some things I have been reading about on the interwebs:

1. Price Tower in Bartlesville,OK has been nominated to be an UNESCO World Heritage site. Next weekend Price Tower will be hosting multiple events to celebrate the nomination and discuss the history and significance of Price Tower. You can read about my trip to Price Tower here and here.

2. LEED v. U2's The Edge. The Edge is developing a community of homes (called Leaves in the Wind) in Malibu that has many architects, homeowners and environmentalists questioning whether the project is truly green. While the project may "check the box" on all the required elements needed to obtain LEED status, some are saying this project does not follow the spirit of what LEED is about. Make your own judgments here.

3. The next architecturally significant building to get the Lego treatment will be Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House. Now I just need to convince the Architect that a Lego house should qualify as an acceptable piece of art to be displayed in the house.

4. The folks over at The Park have a new video of what the park should like upon completion.

5. Apparently, The Simpsons took a few jabs at our Arts District and Jerryworld in a recent episode.

6. Second Shelters has a sneak peek into what is happening at the Statler Hotel now that it is under new ownership.

Architectural Petting Zoo

Last month, Chicago Tribune journalist and architecture critic, Blair Kamin spoke at the Dallas Architecture Forum about his new book Terror and Wonder: Architecture in a Tumultuous Age. While Kamin was here he took some time to travel around our fair city - most notably the Dallas Arts District and the future Woodall Rodgers deck park.

Kamin reflected on his experience in Dallas and what he thinks of our newly expanded Arts District on his Cityscapes blog. The quote that simultaneously made me laugh and wince was this:

"Is it a good idea to organize arts buildings in such a clear and concentrated fashion? Or does the more mixed-up Chicago way make better sense? I ask because, despite its impressive architectural firepower, the Dallas Arts District can be an exceedingly dull place. There are no bookstores, few restaurants outside those in the museums, and not a lot of street life, at least when there are no performances going on. Even some of the architects who’ve designed buildings here privately refer to the district as an architectural petting zoo — long on imported brand-name bling and short on homegrown-urban vitality."

OUCH. That kinda hurt Blair. But there is some truth to your ruminations. Dallas is struggling to bring people back to the downtown core. On an average day when there isn't a show or Savor Dallas happening, the arts district and elsewhere in downtown is pretty dead.

But don't count us out yet. We are just getting started. Call me an optimist, but I think we have got somethings in the pipeline to start bringing the people back downtown. Like that deck park. If we can get the law school off the ground and the Statler Hilton is renovated, there will be some more people interested in hanging around after the work day is done and contributing to a live/work culture.

Nothing is perfect. I question the need for another high rise tower catering to the uber rich. I am concerned about the dead zone known as Victory Park. I question the lack of public transportation near the arts district and the dwindling available parking.

Rome wasn't built in a day and I'm sure Chicago's bustling downtown city wasn't either. So cut Dallas a little slack and give us a little time to grow and nurture what we've got.

But I do have to agree that the architectural petting zoo comment was pretty funny.

Slideshow of the interior of the Statler Hotel

Want a sneak peek into the hopefully soon to be renovated Statler Hotel?

Check out the slide show at Unfair Park. Pictures of the interior start at slide 7.

Statler Hotel has a new owner!

I have written a few times (here, here, and here ) about the Statler Hotel and its travails. News today from Dallas Observer and Unfair Park's Fingers of Fury, Robert Wilonsky is that the Statler Hotel has a new owner. Its former Hong Kong based owner has sold the hotel to local developers Ricci Dallas Investments for $13.1 million dollars. According to Unfair Park, the owners plan on cleaning it up and getting with local preservationists to discuss its future renovation.

I have always been a fan of this building and all the MCM goodness it has to offer. If the folks at Ricci Dallas Investments can get the renovation off the ground it will be a boon to downtown, the future UNT Law School, and a nice bookend to the Main Street Garden.

Read more about the sale here, here and here.

Potential buyer for the Statler HIlton?

According to Unfair Park it looks like Plano, TX based LIG Assets Inc. is putting together an offer to buy the Statler Hilton from its Hong Kong owners. LIG says they plan on turning it into a mixed use development with an "adult arcade." Whatever that means.

Read more about it here.

The Statler Hotel and a would be suitor, Mr. Chiu

D magazine has a nice short article on Richard Chiu - a developer who was apparently interested in buying the Statler Hotel and possible restoring it to its former glory. Mr. Chiu is the president of Warwick International, which owns the Melrose Hotel. There is an interesting twist to this story, Mr. Chiu had already been an owner of the Statler before.

Read the article here.

What would a renovation of the Statler Hilton look like?

I've talked about the Statler Hilton Hotel before here and here. The Statler Hilton, also known as the Dallas Grand Hotel is a MCM hotel that borders the newly opened Main Street Gardens. Robert Wilonsky on the Dallas Observer's Unfair Park has followed the story of the Statler and the attempts to reopen the hotel or convert it to lofts, apartments, etc. As part of the marketing for Main Street Gardens, Merriman Associates created this nice video about what a potential renovation of the Statler could look like.

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.

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.

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.