Dallas is home to a mixture of architectural styles that includes post-modern, Beaux Arts, Gothic Revival, and Romanesque.
Over 7.5 million people live in the so-called Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, a large urban area that extends into areas covering 11 different counties.
The city was only incorporated on February 2, 1856, and the city exploded in the second half of the 19th century and early 20th century.
Dallas offers a great mix of historic landmark buildings and modern structures, making it one of the most fascinating cities in the country if you enjoy architecture.
Here are top 10 best famous buildings in Dallas for your reference:
Fountain Place
Fountain Place is a 60-story skyscraper in downtown Dallas, Texas. Standing at a structural height of 720 ft (220 m), it is the fifth-tallest building in Dallas, and the 15th-tallest in Texas.
The building was designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, Henry N. Cobb, Harry Weese Associates, and WZMH Architects, and was completed in 1986.
The building was named for the array of 172 dancing fountains in the plaza at its base with a fully automated water show as the centerpiece. WET collaborated with the firm of I. M. Pei as well as landscape architects Dan Kiley and Peter Ker Walker to create the waterscape of Fountain Place in Dallas, Texas. The project showed the first use of WET's patented open-jointed paving in a fountain where shots of water appear from the openings in the plaza's surface.
The building was designed as a large, multi-faceted prism. Its various slanted sides cause the building to have a completely different profile from all directions.
Reunion Tower
Reunion Tower is a 561 ft (171 m) observation tower in Dallas, Texas, United States and one of the city's most recognizable landmarks. The tower is located at 300 Reunion Boulevard in the Reunion district of downtown Dallas, which is named after the mid-nineteenth century commune La Reunion. A free-standing structure until the construction of an addition to the Hyatt Regency Dallas and surrounding complex in 1998, the tower is the city's 15th tallest occupiable structure. It was designed by architectural firm Welton Becket & Associates.
The tower contains three floors with circular floor plans on top of four shafts of poured-in-place concrete. A central cylindrical shaft houses both stairs and mechanical equipment. Three rectangular shafts, featuring elevators, rise parallel to the central shaft. Each shaft's outfacing wall is made up of glass panels, providing tourists views of the city during the 68-second elevator ride to the top. The top three floors are encased in an open-air sphere, which is a geodesic dome formed with aluminum struts. Every one of the struts' 260 intersections is covered by aluminum circles with lights in the center.
Thanks-Giving Square
Thanks-Giving Square is a private park and public facility anchoring the Thanksgiving Commercial Center district of downtown Dallas, Texas, United States. The complex consists of three components: a landscaped garden and non-denominational chapel building, a major section of the underground pedestrian network, and the Bullington Truck Terminal. Thanks-Giving Square was supposed to be the first of five traffic-relieving structures in the heart of Dallas.
It was anticipated that 350 trucks each day could be taken off the streets above ground if truck traffic was transferred underground. In 1972, as part of the city’s bond program, $6.5 million was issued for the project, and by 1977, construction was complete.
Dallas County Courthouse
The Dallas County Courthouse, built in 1892 of red sandstone with rusticated marble accents, is a historic government building located at 100 South Houston Street in Dallas, Texas. Also known as the Old Red Courthouse, it became the Old Red Museum, a local history museum, in 2007. It was designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style of architecture by architect Max A. Orlopp, Jr. of the Little Rock, Arkansas based firm Orlopp & Kusener. In 1966 it was replaced by a newer courthouse building nearby.
Orlopp & Kushner’s architect, Max A. Orlopp, Jr. created the building in the Richardsonian Romanesque style. A new courthouse was constructed nearby in 1966 and it eventually superseded the older one.
It was entered on the National Register of Historic Places on December 12, 1976. The structure had renovations between 2005 and 2007.
Perot Museum of Nature and Science
The Perot Museum of Nature and Science is a natural history and science museum in Dallas, Texas in Victory Park. The museum was named in honor of Margot and Ross Perot. The current chief executive officer of the museum is Dr. Linda Abraham-Silver.
Designed by Thom Mayne of Morphosis Architects, the building was conceived as a large cube floating over a landscaped plinth.
The stone roof, which features a landscape of drought-tolerant greenery, was inspired by Dallas surroundings. The plinth was landscaped with a 1-acre rolling green roof comprising rock and native drought-resistant grasses that reflects Texas' indigenous landscape and demonstrates a living system that will evolve naturally. Building on the museum's commitment to resource conservation, the new building has a rainwater collection system that captures run-off water from the roof and parking lot, satisfying 74% of the museum's non-potable water needs and 100% of its irrigation needs.
The building is characterized by a continuous flow escalator, measuring 54 feet (16 m) in length and housed within a 150-foot (46 m) glass casing that extends diagonally outside the building cube. The building also prioritizes sustainability by utilizing LED lighting, off-grid energy generation technology, and solar-powered water heating. To enhance energy efficiency, the atrium and other spaces within the building benefit from natural sunlight via strategically placed skylights.
Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center
The Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center is a concert hall located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas (USA). Ranked one of the world's greatest orchestra halls, it was designed by architect I.M. Pei and acoustician Russell Johnson's Artec Consultants, Inc. The structural engineers for this project was Leslie E. Robertson Associates, and opened in September 1989.
The center is named for Morton Meyerson, former president of Electronic Data Systems and former chairman and CEO of Perot Systems, who led the 10-year effort by the Dallas Symphony Association to create a home for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. The new concert center was named in his honor in 1986 at the request of H. Ross Perot, who made a $10 million contribution to the building fund for the naming rights. It is the permanent home of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the Dallas Symphony Chorus, as well as the primary performing venue of the Dallas Wind Symphony as well as several other Dallas-based musical organizations. The Meyerson Symphony Center is owned by the City of Dallas and operated by the Dallas Symphony Association.
Bank of America Plaza (Dallas)
Bank of America Plaza is a 72-story, 280.7 m (921 ft) skyscraper located in the Main Street District in the city's downtown core in Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the tallest skyscraper in the city, the 3rd tallest in Texas and the 45th tallest in the United States. It contains 1,900,000 sq ft (180,000 m2) of office space.
With 72-story towers, a 600-room hotel, and a parking garage. Original designs for the tower were capped with stepped pyramid crowns and were initially intended to be clad in a silver glazing with gold accent band curtain wall. In order to gain FAA approval to build the tower, the stepped pyramid was removed. Another design change altered the curtain wall materials, which were replaced with blue glazing and gray marble accent bands.
The hotel site remains a surface parking lot, and the site of the second 72-story tower was purchased by the City of Dallas after a 2006 bond election. The surface parking lot was converted into Belo Garden Park.
Chase Tower (Dallas)
Dallas Chase Tower is a 225 m (738 ft), 55-story postmodern skyscraper at 2200 Ross Avenue in the City Center District of downtown Dallas, Texas. Although it is the fourth tallest skyscraper in the city, if one were to exclude antennas and spires, it would be the third. It is also the 12th tallest building in Texas. The building was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and was completed in 1987. The building also formerly housed the Dallas Petroleum Club, a business and social club located on the 39th and 40th floors.
This building is known for its unique architecture which includes a curved glass top and a 6-story hole in the center of the building near the top and is nicknamed the "Keyhole Building" by some people.
Dallas Heritage Village
This area was the first city park in Dallas, established in 1876. In the late 19th century, the area around City Park developed into The Cedars, an exclusive community that became home to many prominent figures in the local business and commercial communities.
This was the site of the city’s first zoo, and concerts were held every week in a bandstand quite similar to the one still in use today.
There are greenhouses, a pond, a pump house, a fountain, and a big pavilion depicted on maps from the turn of the century. In the daytime, visitors could stroll through the greenhouses.
Majestic Theatre, Dallas
The Majestic Theatre is a performing arts theater in the City Center District of Downtown Dallas. It is the last remnant of Theater Row, the city's historic entertainment center on Elm Street, and is a contributing property in the Harwood Street Historic District. The structure is a Dallas Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Located in the Harwood Street Historic District, this building is the lone survivor of the city’s former theater district on Elm Street. The original trellises, urns, balustrades, and Corinthian columns of the auditorium were restored together with the building’s facade.
The large interior decorative embellishments were redone with 23 karat gold leaf. Since there needed to be more room for the orchestra, seating was reduced to 1,570 and new ones were built. The Majestic is now frequently used for concerts, dancing performances, national pageants, and theater.
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