Head in the Clouds

A good rain shower blows through, shrouding the upper levels of the buildings in fog.

Storage Space

So, where does a fine hotel in Downtown store all of its excess and seasonal outdoor furniture?

Why, underneath the massive air conditioning unit across the street, that's where!

Post Modern Brutalism Planters

These post modern planters are elevated on concrete pillars. Are they true Brutalism? Well, that's tough to say, but they sure hurt my eyes when I look at them...

These planters are located at the intersection of Pacific and St. Paul.

Code Compliance

What you don't see is the massive chain and lock on the door.

Retro Elevator

The deco elevator doors at 1600 Pacific. The building is empty and currently being rezoned, but there is still an available entrance which will get you down into the pedestrian tunnels.

The purple accent wall is even more odd looking in person.

Gothic Beauty

1501 Main Street (viewed from Akard)

This gothic gem was built in 1928 and sits at 1501 Main Street.

Pedestrians Keep Off

A well worn reminder for pedestrians who might want to actually stand on the McKinney Trolley tracks while waiting to cross the street.

Dallas Park Space

Yes, Dallas has parks within it's downtown region.

Of course, outside of the new Klyde Warren Park, which spans Woodall Rodgers Freeway, most of them seem to look like these little, uninviting, patches of green like the one pictured above.

Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge

The Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge is one of three bridges designed by Santiago Calatrava for the Dallas area. It spans the Trinity River and connects the Woodall Rogers Freeway with Singleton Boulevard in West Dallas. Currently it is the only one of the three built.

Driving over the bridge towards Downtown Dallas

If you're a fan of Calatrava's work, then you'll love the bridge. If you really don't care one way or the other about architects, then you'll just wonder why this bridge, in this design, in the place in Dallas, and why it is seemingly going nowhere.

Look, up in the sky!
It's a bird! It's a plane!
No, it's a mass of cables reaching 400 feet into the sky!

I know, the whole idea behind this blog was to show Dallas from a pedestrian's point of view, since there are so many things you may miss if you're driving. Still, the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge is one of the new icons of Dallas and deserves a little feature.

The view from the West side. The power lines spoil some of the view.

The best views of the bridge are from the West end of town. You hardly see it once you're in downtown given how most of the buildings hide it from sight.

Fire Hydrant

Just a close up of the top of a fire hydrant. I just happened to like how the paint was peeling off of this particular one.

No More Parking Here

Looks like someone didn't want to pay the extra 25 cents. Whoops...

Downtown Map

There is a great 3-D map of downtown at the Thanksgiving Square DART rail station.

Of course, it needs to be updated given some of the more recent construction in downtown, but that doesn't make it any less interesting.

Waiting to Cross

You've got to respect a man in suspenders.

I caught this shot waiting to cross Ross Ave. in front of the Fairmont Hotel.

Personally, I like how he's standing straight up and everything else in the picture is leaning at an angle.

Panoramic Mural

The mural in the entrance to the DMA in panoramic view. More information on the mural on The Gift of Life post.

The Greyhound bus included as a bonus item.

Museum Tower and DMA

The Museum Tower sits quietly in the background, debating if there will be enough sun today for it to shoot its solar death ray down at the DMA.

Sadly, there will probably be enough sun for it.

Trolley Stop Ahead

The McKinney Avenue Trolley terminus on St. Paul.

The Klyde Warren Park extension is due to be completed the end of September, 2013. Once that is complete they'll connect the two termini up on Federal Street to form the St. Paul loop.

Big Red Wall

 

The Edwards Manufacturing Company building is one of the old buildings in the West End.

The building sits at the North East corner of Corbin and Market streets and is currently vacant.

Brick Brutalism

Among some of Dallas' "finer" bits of architecture, include this modern loft condominium built in 2000 in a red brick variant of of post-modern brutalist style.

More information can be found at www.1999mckinney.com.

Klein Bros Cement

The Klein Bros. have been in the concrete business for over 100 years here in the Dallas area. It's nice to see some of their older work still standing.

JFK on Art

Quote on the wall at the Dallas Museum of Art for the Hotel Texas exhibit.

We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth... In free society art is not a weapon and it does not belong to the spheres of polemic and ideology. Artists are not engineers of the soul. It may be different elsewhere. But democratic society--in it, the highest duty of the writer, the composer, the artist is to remain true to himself and to let the chips fall where they may. In serving his vision of the truth, the artist best serves his nation. And the nation which disdains the mission of art invites the fate of Robert Frost's hired man, the fate of having 'nothing to look backward to with pride, and nothing to look forward to with hope.'

-President John F Kennedy, Amherst College, October 26, 1963

The Big Eye

New York may be the Big Apple, but it seems Dallas is getting a big eye.

More to come as I find out what it's for (other than art).

Walking Downtown

Dallas is certainly trying to improve the pedestrian factor to the downtown area. While there's always been the usual groups of people walking to a lunch destination there are slowly growing numbers of "tourists" (I call them that as they are not dressed like they just came from behind a desk) going beyond the 1-2 block radius for the tourist attractions.

A woman is reflected in the side of
the Fairmont Hotel as she
walks down Ackard Street.

Modern Facade

The new office space at 1999 McKinney has a nice, modern finish to it. It's all formed metal, giving it a nice industrial feel. Of course, so does the exposed brick on the back of the building.

The modern courtyard, parking, and entrance area.

The not-so-modern, original brick of the building on the side.

Luxury Apartments

Dallas has a slew of new luxury apartments cropping up in the Uptown area.

1900 McKinney Luxury Apartments

Looking up at the W Hotel

A view up the South side of the W to a gorgeous summer sky.

Underground Archeology

At the tail end of one of the tunnels is some "urban archeology" decorating the entrance by the escalators. Whoever did the design had a good sense of humor as everything is made to look like fossils made from found materials. Of course, given that the building above is boarded up and vacant, the fossils seem even more appropriate. The whole area should be lit up, but it's not, giving the dark area a slightly eerie feel.

The area is accessible from the escalators in the boarded up building at roughly 1500 Pacific Ave across from Thanksgiving Square. The other way would be from the entrance in Thanksgiving Square and head towards the yellow, yes, bright yellow, bricks.

The flash washes out just how dark this area is.
You can see the spot lights in the ceiling are all off.

The "artsy" fossil with metal bone spiral

A metal "snake"

McKinney Trolley Rails

Where the McKinney Trolley rails merge into one track for the brief trip down North St. Paul Street to the end of the line/reverse at Ross.

The Sylvan Avenue Mural

Part of the retaining wall beneath the Belmont Hotel at Sylvan and Commerce has a mural painted by local artists.

The current mural was designed and painted by Dallas muralist Carlos Donjuan and his associates, Sour Grapes and took less than 24 hours to complete.

Harwood 609 Jazz Club

The Harwood 609 Jazz Club, has no jazz, and is not a club, but is just a bar in the bottom of a parking garage.

It's no wonder it's closed.

Storms Rolling In

Watching the storms roll in from the West towards the W Hotel and Victory Plaza.

House of Blues

The back of the House of Blues, and Dick's Last Resort, located on the North side Woodall Rogers from the West End, and just South of the Victory Plaza area.

The Big Red Sculpture

Ave, by Mark di Suvero, at the Sothern entrance to the DMA.

Dallas Skyline - Victory Park Area View

The view of downtown Dallas from the Victory Park Area.

Shot from about midway between the Perot Museum of Nature and Science and the House of Blues.

The John Fitzgerald Kennedy Memorial

Dallas certainly got a bad rap back in November 22, 1963. So, in order to help boost the city's image and show the world that Dallas really does like Democrats (sorry, had to get a little political humor in here), the JFK Memorial was erected in 1970.

The memorial was designed by architect Philip Johnson to be a cenotaph, or open tomb, intended to symbolize Kenndy's spirit. Its precast concrete walls stand 30 feet high and encase a 50 foot by 50 foot area. In the center is a marble slab carved with "John Fitzgerald Kennedy" and embossed in gold.

Outside, on the North side of the plaza, is a square, granite memorial marker engraved with:

The joy and excitement of John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s life belonged to all men. So did the pain and sorrow of his death. When he died on November 22, 1963, shock and agony touched human conscience throughout the world. In Dallas, Texas, there was a special sorrow. The young President died in Dallas. The death bullets were fired 200 yards west of this site. This memorial, designed by Philip Johnson, was erected by the people of Dallas. Thousands of citizens contributed support, money and effort. It is not a memorial to the pain and sorrow of death, but stands as a permanent tribute to the joy and excitement of one man’s life. John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s life.

A view of the memorial and "Old Red", the Dallas County Courthouse.

A view of the inside of the cenotaph.

The "memorial stone"

Another view of the inside, showing just how much of the skyline is hidden.

Close up of one of the round "Lego" decorations.

Of course, as with any architecture in Dallas, there is always bound to be some criticism. The architectural critic, Witold Rybczynski, felt that the design did not do justice to the memory of JFK, and likened the precast concrete walls to "mammoth Lego blocks."

Visit it and decide for yourself if it is a fitting tribute, or just some giant Lego blocks slapped together. No matter what, it's sure to elicit some sort of an emotion from you.

Elvis Statue

Down in Dallas' West End there is proof that Elvis has left the building. After all, he's standing right outside of it.

The West End

Come for the History, Stay for the Fun!
Or at least, that's what the official saying is for the Dallas West End. While it's a popular place in the evenings for dinner and drinks, it was all but dead over lunchtime when I was there. Of course, it doesn't help that the area really is all but dead compared to the quirky shopping and entertainment area I remember back when I first moved to the region.

Don't get me wrong, it's not a complaint. The historical buildings are all still standing and either in use or in renovation for future use. It's certainly worth walking around and seeing some of what Dallas once looked like.

At the corner of Lamar and McKinney.

There was once a quirky shopping mall and miniature golf course in the
building on the left. Then there was Planet Hollywood.
Then there was little to nothing left.

There was once movies and an unusual antique store in here.

Dallas Alley. It's pretty at night when the neon is on.

There's plenty of information about the history of the West End, as well as a current list of restaurants and shops, at the official Dallas West End site.