Dallas City Hall – The Edgiest Building in the City!
Dallas City Hall The Edgiest Building in the City!
In a cityscape jam-packed with high-rise buildings locked in eternal competition with each other in a race for the skies, the avant-garde architectural design of the modest seven-floor Dallas City Hall building manages command the eye by virtue of its very non-conformity. Yet another testament to the genius of architect I.M Pei, whose creations are characterized by its daring design and angular model, the fifth seat of Dallas' municipal government is located at 1500 Marilla in the city's downtown. Opened in 1978, the earth-toned building looks like a regular rectangle from above, but in actuality (or in side view) takes the form of a right triangle being anchored on a single point, to slope outwards in a 34 degree angle for seven stories in dramatic cantilevered fashion, each floor being 9 and feet wider than the one below.
This modernist civic building was one of the series of developments implemented by Mayor Erik Jonsson, in a bid to re-invent the negative image of Dallas that plagued the city after the assassination of President Kennedy took place there. However, the apparent precariousness of the top-heavy structure alarmed the Mayor so much that Pei was compelled to affix three cylindrical supports at the corners to reassure him. These are actually completely unnecessary as the foundation and basement car park of the building are much wider than its deceptively small ground floor. The redundant pillars find utility in housing stairwells within them.
The north and south facades of the building are liberally plated with glass, allowing an abundance of natural illumination and magnificent city views without subjecting its dwellers to the harsh Dallas sun and storms. Originally, no walls were mounted within the floor and workers were given cubicles and work stations, allowing them unrestricted views out both glass exteriors of the building. The grandiose nature of the design is today best seen in its second floor; dubbed the "Great Court", it encompasses an uninterrupted floor length of 250 feet while a vaulted ceiling rises a 100 feet overhead. A state-of-the-art Conference Center is a recent addition to the premises.
An additional six acres of space create a plaza which acts as a "buffer zone" around his structure. This Park Plaza is two city blocks long and one block wide, featuring a large reflecting pool decorated by large floating sculptures created by Marta Pan.
On the whole, some feel that such wide open spaces and cutting-edge modernist design is somewhat wasted on a municipal building when it would have made even more fanfare as a gallery or a theater.
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