As promised, here is a little photo trip of Friday’s events at the Grand Opening of the AT&T Performing Arts Center. It began with another oh-so-convenient ride on the DART (though it’s getting quite pricey…surely the Green line didn’t cost that much) and the short walk to the Arts District where we were once again greeted by the towering Wyly Theatre and the welcoming Winspear Opera House. If the Wyly was industrial and raw, the Winspear was classy and refined in its design. Lord (as he was knighted in 1990 by the Queen) Norman Foster gave a superb urbanism lecture at 10AM. I wish every suburbanite could have heard. It was a good “coming back to Jesus” talk about how people naturally flock to urban areas and the way many American cities have grown too attached to the automobile (ahem, Houston – it is the leader).

Here I snapped a sneak peak at the world-famous architect. You can see more of his notable works here.

Basically, the opera house is showcased as a giant (and bright glossy red) ovular extrusion surrounded by a transparent atrium. Even further, a light (in visual weight) white canopy shades the entire space, inside and out, creating a bright and friendly public pedestrian zone. It is truly the gem and heart of the Arts District.

The beautiful red glass that gives the venue its distinct look is what makes it stand out from all across the city. There are even areas where LED text is illuminated from behind, displaying current events and wayfinding graphics.

Inside you find a very simple yet polished, functional theater. There are a whopping 4 balconies above the orchestra section and each are clad in a striking gold texture. One aspect I found disappointing was the seemingly missing chandelier that was previously hailed as the cherry-on-top feature. In its place were a number of recessed lights, probably fifty, each growing brighter and then dim as if they were stars in the sky. Oh well, I thought, what I came for was the lecture anyway…

But wait. Just as the lecture was completed and the house lights grew brighter, the star of the show took over as those very recessed lights produced long glass tubes of light, elongating and lowering into the theater. There were quite a many gasps and gazes upward as everyone froze to see this spectacular grand finale. As you can see, the chandelier smartly complimented the space.

After a lunch break, we came back for the final lecture: Joshua Prince-Ramus of REX in New York. His talk featured an explanation of the Wyly Theatre with all its bells and whistles. There are so many hidden features of the project. Whenever you get a chance to visit Dallas, you must take a look – or book tickets for an event. The venue will be just as rewarding to view as the show.

He continued with presentations on REX’s current and upcoming projects, all very interesting.

After his lecture, all the shades in the glazing surrounding the theater were raised, to engulf the place with light and views to downtown as a reminder of it’s one of the features to wow future patrons at its upcoming events.

We spent the weekend in Wichita, Kansas for a family member’s wedding. I was thoroughly impressed with the city. There was quite a bit to do and see, but maybe most exciting was how apparent the season of Fall had come. Any chance Dallas will get to see such vivid natural color?

The Grand Opening of the AT&T Performing Arts Center was this past week, full of free (and not-so-free) performances, facility tours and lectures. Obviously, the highlight for me was the Architecture Forum Lectures made by the designers. I could probably be compared to a 13-year old girl going to see Justin Timberlake, I was so excited. These guys are big. Superstars in the design world. And here they were, in Dallas of all places, giving lectures to the public on design and urbanism. Thursday 15 October featured world renown architect, Rem Koolhaas of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture, OMA. He spoke in the newly constructed Dee & Charles Wyly Theatre, or as the cheif designer, Joshua Prince-Ramus calls it, the theater machine (more on him later).

The Wyly Theatre is extremely innovative as far as theater design goes. You can read more here, but basically, what is commonly referred to as the back-of-house, front-of-house areas were made instead the top-of-house, bottom-of-house spaces – making for a very unique, vertically organized creation. To enter the lobby or pre-function area, you walk down a ramp to the sub-grade entrance. There you are greeted already by the green accent color that is executed creatively throughout. Then, you enter the ground-level auditorium either by elevator or stairs. It is a very versatile space, able to transform in as little as four hours to various stage/spectator configurations and was just what the client needed.

Here’s my creeper shot of Joshua Prince-Ramus outside.

Rem Koolhaas.

The graphics and wayfinding were outstanding. Here you can see a portion of the level marker and the restrooms graphic beyond. In typical Koolhaas/OMA style, the hallway between the lobby and the restrooms was completely green – floor, walls and ceiling. Awesome.

The lecture was pretty fantastic and we were able to snoop around and tour the venue afterward. Then, Geoff, who came up for the events, pointed out what looked to be Bjarke Ingles, of BIG in Copenhagen standing in the crowd after the lecture was completed. We both looked carefully, and decided that this would be too good to be true, and he surely wouldn’t come all that way just for this, right? Anyway, we wandered upstairs to the roof-top balcony (not pictured) and other areas. One time we thought we saw Ingles again in passing. Was this really him? It sure looked like him. Finally we found the real jem, the green balcony on the 8th floor. There is a gathering area inside, stark white and elegant, with the balcony beyond. It features great views of downtown, green astroturf flooring and green plastic mesh wall and ceiling covering. A really fun space. And that’s where they were. Both Rem Koolhaas and Bjarke Ingles in conversation. We were able to introduce ourselves to Bjarke, explaining how we were able to visit his office, etc. A bit of an awkward conversation but I left the theater on cloud 9.

Bjarke Ingles on the left, Rem Koolhaas at center-right.

Ignoring the grammatical issues of the title, it’s a quote that I remembered most from someone at the fair. The Texas State Fair, to be specific. “The biggest fair in the land.”

This is something that pretty much every Texan knows about, or should know about. I unfortunately did not, growing up in Houston. But it is a pretty big deal up here in the north end of the state. For four whole weeks, “Fair Park” in East Dallas is a hoppin’ mass of people and excitement en route to all things Texan. It offers a rodeo, livestock show, music festival, antiques shopping, crazy food tasting booths, full-fledged carnival, shows, gardens, car show, walking trails, petting zoos, … you name it. Basically a micro-world expo. Living in Deep Ellum, we are but a stone’s throw away and we can often hear the concerts kicking off or the fireworks’ bursts each night. Finally we had the opportunity to walk over and enjoy it for ourselves. We didn’t stay too long, but long enough to get the vibe.

There are all sorts of unique foods to sample (read: pay for and try). From salt water taffy to just about every kind of fried food you could imagine (fried chicken, fried cheese, fried butter, fried oreos, fried fish…) and of course funnel cakes, it took us a while to decide just what to get.

Later, we grabbed a seat inside the nearby expo hall to watch the famed pig races. These guys put on quite a show, and the pigs did nicely themselves. First they brought out this HUGE pig (an understatement), with a small carriage behind. Inside the carriage was the newest member to their swine family: a three-week old piglet.

And then they were off. Four Pigs, one lap around and an oreo on a silver platter awaiting the fastest. Sounds good to me. These little guys gave it their all. And to top it off, they had fun names like Sarah Jessica Porker, Lindsay Loham and Dolly Porkton.

On the last of the few races, they humored us by having this pudgy guy as the fourth competitor. His name was Forrest Grunt. He set his own pace for that final race: a slow trot.

Afterward, we walked around the carnival area, in awe by the sights and sounds around us. Bright colorful lights, fluffy stuffed animals for the winning, people laughing and a crisp night air.

Lastly, we waited a bit in line to right the most famous ride: the Texas Star ferris wheel. 220 feet in the sky we perched in our little cabin, riding around amazed by what we could see. Very much worth it. Until next year, Texas State Fair.

On Saturday T and I went to the Dallas Zoo! We had a blast. We walked to the new Fair Park DART Station and rode into the West End, transferred to the Red Line and took it down to the Zoo Station. Yay public transit. On the way, there was this small family who were going to surprise their children about taking them to the zoo. The kids were probably 6 and 3 years old and were told to listen to the announcer when we neared our final stop.

“The next stop…Dallas Zoo Station…”

The mother asked the kids, “What did she say?”

The six-year old girl repeated, “Dallas Zoo Station” without realizing what that meant.

But not a moment later, the three-year old boy jumped up with big eyes and yelled, “THE ZOO!!!”

Probably the funniest little kid ever. Anyway, the weather was pretty much perfect (a little drizzle near the end) and cool which meant that all the animals were out and about; “to see and to be seen.” The zoo itself was really great. We had heard rumors that the Ft. Worth Zoo was actually better and nicer, but we thought to go ahead and try out the Dallas Zoo first, and we were certainly not disappointed.

The photographic conditions were not the best. I was using my little Canon PowerShot, so the speed wasn’t quite was was necessary to keep up with these active critters. Plus, taking photos through not-so-crystal-clear-glass or through fencing took its toll. But that won’t stop me from trying. Here are a few of the sights and creatures we experienced:

And this little guy wasn’t actually part of any exhibit. He was just hanging out on his MASSIVE and intricate web.

We’ve had FISH for quite some time now. T purchased him back in February I think for her student teaching classroom and he has moved with us ever since. He now has a simple modern glass bowl-house and is situated in a prominent location on our bookshelf where he can see the whole loft.

Sometimes I think about how bored he must get. I mean its just glass, water and food twice a week (and the weekly bowl cleaning – which is definitely a nearly-traumatic event for him). But it is incredible how he comes alive when you get close. He knows. FISH seems to have the personality of a dog. And as we do not plan on having an actual dog as a pet for some time, FISH is the perfect substitute. Here’s to you.