The pre-modern era laid the groundwork for formative principles, with figures like Vitruvius, Brunelleschi, and Palladio leaving an indelible mark on history. The modernist movement, spearheaded by architects such as Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright, emerged as a response to the societal challenges of the early 20th century, in part by breaking free from the constraints of tradition to bring about architecture that promoted social equality and the integration of nature to harmonize human habitation with the environment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Transitioning to contemporary challenges, the post-pandemic era has seen significant shifts such as a workforce that questions the value of traditional office spaces; a generation that feels the threats of inaction on climate change; a society unable to provide for needs as basic as housing and clean water; and a consumer class that expects distinctive experiential engagements. Planners and architects alike will need to make careful decisions on form-based urban design and the stakes have never been higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 20th century was tumultuous in this regard. Influenced by urban visionaries of the time, city planners deployed a strategy, both ambitious and speculative, that fundamentally transformed our cities. A whole vision, hypnotically \u201cforward thinking\u201d as it weaved in the automobile, social hierarchy, and urbanism, was dropped onto unsuspecting communities across the nation. In Dallas, this urban design ethos persists as a messy patchwork of highways, bridges, parking lots, and, most curiously, an extensive pedestrian tunnel system. In downtown Dallas, the resulting edifices can be viewed as an impediment to creating spaces that genuinely encourage the vibrant, meaningful urban life that any city might want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In research for this article, an open-ended question was posed to several North Texas architects, designers, and interior designers on solutions to the contemporary urban issues in Dallas: what to hack and how to do it from the existing form of Dallas architecture? What follows is a series of visual explorations that seek to foster discussion about, rather than concretely solve, some of the deficiencies that keep our urban spaces from becoming society-serving, healthy, activated, and distinctive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many of these images were created using generative artificial intelligence programs such as Midjourney. These models accepted a written prompt and then rendered an image approximate to the verbal description. These free-styling AI models served to accelerate discussions about urban renewal and revitalization in ways that can be very surprising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c2023 population of downtown is estimated to be >15000; Dallas area has an average parking >3 per 1000. What is the future of garages? Instead of reconstruction of the current sites are there any possibilities of an organic way of rethinking the use of the standing forms? Considering parking structures as a collective instead of individual buildings. Forms of garages become urban fabric and formulate unique patterns in the cityscape.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n – Victoria Wong, Designer, Perkins&Will<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n Estimates indicate that over a quarter of the land downtown is allocated to parking lots and parking garages. Today many of these parking structures stay busy. But what might happen in the coming decades as driverless vehicles and ride-sharing services become the norm? Many of these structures may become derelict, having long passed their usefulness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Architects and planners will need to examine how these dreary edifices can be revitalized and converted into mixed-use apartments, incorporating housing, commercial spaces, and lush landscaping. Victoria Wong, designer at Perkins&Will, catalogued a series of downtown parking structures and argues that they should be considered a collective rather than individual buildings. They could form, Wong says, a layer of urban fabric to be repositioned in an organic way akin to the concept of Monok\u016bki, the Devouring Tree, which absorbs part of a fence as it grows. Beyond the potential transformation from sterile, austere facades into softer and greener faces, the garages could be repurposed as urban farms as the demand for their traditional purpose declines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n