Museum Tower v. Nasher Sculpture Center

D Magazine's cover article in its new issue is about the problems that the 40 story mirrored Museum Tower is causing for its neighbor, the Nasher Sculpture Center.  The story details how the original Museum Tower doubled in size, could be a risky investment for city taxpayers and how its mirrored facade is harming the Nasher Sculpture Center and its other neighbors.

Read the article here, and Frontburner here, here, and here for additional tidbits that didn't make it into the article.

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.

Woodall Rodgers Park Update

Last week the folks at The Park announced they received another 9 million in private donations. This leaves only 17 million left in private donations to gather before completion. Last Thursday, The Architect and I went to hear Blair Kamin speak at the Dallas Architecture Forum. We had the privilege to speak to Blair before the lecture where he expressed his excitement about The Park. During the lecture he stated that The Park was one of the best uses of stimulus funds he had seen. He also paraleled the project of The Park with the WPA projects done in the 1930s.

Read the entire press release on The Park here.

Learn more about the Dallas Architecture Forum and upcoming lectures here.

Architectural Webcams in Dallas

Bored one night and looking for something do on the internet? Want a mid-work break?

Check out the webcams for two of Dallas' architectural projects:

1. You can watch the construction of the Calatrava Bridge (aka, Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge or bridge to nowhere) here.

2. Or you can check in on the Woodall Rodgers Deck Park progress and the traffic scene here.

Woodall Rodgers Deck Park Video

The Park from kristin gray on Vimeo.

Here is a video rendering of what the Woodall Rodgers Deck Park will potentially look like upon completion. You can also view a live web cam of the construction here.

H/T to Unfair Park.

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.

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.

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.

Woodall Rodgers Freeway Deck Plaza to benefit from federal stimulus funds

From the press release that popped up in my inbox today:

"The Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation will receive $16.7 million in federal stimulus funds toward constructing a deck plaza over the Woodall Rodgers Freeway in downtown Dallas. The Woodall Rodgers deck plaza is a “shovel-ready” transportation enhancement project that will create approximately 1,000 immediate jobs and will stimulate additional economic development and job growth in the future...."

"The additional stimulus funding is expected to accelerate the deck construction which is slated for late summer or early fall 2009."

Your tax dollars at work!

More about the project here.