The University of Texas at Arlington announces the establishment of the new David Dillon Center for Texas Architecture, an initiative of the School of Architecture that will honor the legacy of the longtime architecture critic for The Dallas Morning News.
The center will support the research of faculty and students as they investigate how the region and its architecture have changed across the past several decades. It also will promote public dialogue about architecture and urbanism in North Texas and beyond.
Kate Holliday, an architectural historian and assistant professor of architecture, has been named director of the new center, which will formally debut with “Architecture Criticism Today,” the inaugural David Dillon Symposium scheduled April 26-27 at the Dallas Museum of Art and the Nasher Sculpture Center. The symposium is open to the public, but seating is limited.
Dillon, who died in 2010, kept his meticulous notes, manuscripts and recorded interviews about Texas architecture and architectural journalism itself. He wrote more than 1,000 pieces about architecture for The Dallas Morning News and authored several books, including “Cowboys Stadium: Architecture, Art, Entertainment in the Twenty-First Century,” “Dallas Architecture: 1936-86,” and “The Architecture of O'Neil Ford: Celebrating Place.”
Colleagues credited Dillon with helping shape civic debate on issues across North Texas, from underdevelopment in South Dallas to sprawl in the northern suburbs, famously questioning in a 1980 D Magazine cover story: “Why Is Dallas Architecture So Bad?”. BD+C
Related Stories
| May 25, 2011
Low Impact Development: Managing Stormwater Runoff
Earn 1.0 AIA/CES HSW/SD learning units by studying this article and successfully passing the online exam.
| May 25, 2011
Register today for BD+C’s June 8th webinar on restoration and reconstruction projects
Based on new and award-winning building projects, this webinar presents our “expert faculty” to examine the key issues affecting project owners, designers and contractors in case studies ranging from gut renovations and adaptive reuses to restorations and retrofits.
| May 25, 2011
Hotel offers water beds on a grand scale
A semi-submerged resort hotel is the newest project from Giancarlo Zema, a Rome-based architect known for his organic maritime designs. The hotel spans one kilometer and has both land and sea portions.
| May 25, 2011
Smithsonian building $45 million green lab
Thanks to a $45 million federal appropriation to the Smithsonian Institution, the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Md., has broken ground on what is expected to be one of the most energy-efficient laboratories in the country. The 69,000-sf lab is targeting LEED Gold and is expected to use 37% less energy and emit 37% less carbon dioxide than a similar building.
| May 25, 2011
World’s tallest building now available in smaller size
Emaar Properties teamed up with LEGO to create a miniature version of the Burj Khalifa as part of the LEGO Architecture series. Currently, the LEGO Burj Khalifa is available only in Dubai, but come June 1, 2011, it will be available worldwide.