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    Building Beatdown

    Dallas architecture expert rebukes LA Times bashing of Perot Museum

    Jonathan Rienstra
    Mar 28, 2013 | 5:41 pm

    In case you missed it — which seems doubtful, because it was in the Los Angeles Times, and you read that every day, right? — architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne said some mean things about the new Perot Museum of Nature and Science.

     

    Hawthorne takes the Perot to task for being a trophy building for architect Thom Mayne and his California firm Morphosis, describing the building as “a largely windowless crypt, a cube lifted dramatically above the streets around it and wrapped in puckered and striated precast concrete panels.”

     

    But Hawthorne is just getting warmed up. He’s moving Perot around the ring, dictating with jab after jab. He throws a right cross and says, “It is a thoroughly cynical piece of work, a building that uses a frenzy of architectural forms to endorse the idea that architecture, in the end, is mere decoration.”

     

     

    Architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne takes the Perot to task for being a trophy building for architect Thom Mayne, describing it as “a largely windowless crypt.”

     
     

    Hawthorne goes on to pick apart the museum piece by piece, working the body when he says, “The building’s apparent radicalism is tacked on, its braggadocio paper-thin.”

     

    He chronicles the plight of those that must park in a lot “squeezed under the long concrete bar of a freeway onramp” before moving on to the lobby.

     

    Here, he sounds like he could almost like the escalator ride with the view of downtown — before he winks and lands a left hook with, “It doesn’t take long, though, to realize that this entry sequence represents a ghettoized architecture, fully sealed off from the exhibits.”

     

    Damn, someone get the Perot Museum directions to the nearest burn center. I’m cherry-picking the worst of the worst, but the whole thing goes on like this, alternating between bashing the Perot and generally shitting on Mayne while also criticizing the lack of cohesion between the exterior and interior.

     

    I’m trying to keep a level head about an architecture critic writing about a building, because that’s his job. And even though I drive by the thing every day on the way to work, I’ve yet to go inside or really explore the building, so it’s hard to disagree with what he says. Also, I know very, very little about architecture, and what I do know mostly has to do with Gothic churches in Europe.

     

    But Hawthorne, you better watch your back. You don’t get to say that kind of stuff about our buildings. Only we can say that kind of stuff about our buildings.

     

    Which is why I asked CultureMap’s architecture expert, UT Arlington architecture professor Kate Holliday — who just got back from speaking at an art deco conference in Havana — what she thought about Hawthorne’s takedown. In her own words:

     
     

    Christopher has some good points, especially in the building’s hostility to its surroundings. It’s yet another siloed, unconnected monolith in a neighborhood that has plenty of them already.

     

    Because Mayne has made a name for himself trading on ideas of ‘combinatory urbanism,’ it’s a particularly egregious mistake to seal the building off from the city so effectively. There’s just no excuse for this, particularly after the good discussions that have happened about the failures of the Arts District buildings to create a dynamic, interactive, rich urban space around themselves.

     

    But I do think he’s too hard on the design of the façade. Given how much attention has been paid recently to the concrete architecture of the ’60s and ’70s and how unloved much of it is, I actually welcome the use of molded, sculptural concrete panels. It’s pure ornament, yes, but I don’t see anything wrong with that at all.

     

    Concrete is a fluid, after all, before it sets, and to see it spread across the surface is joyous in its own way. I do see the argument that it would have been good for that striated, extruded feeling to extend to the interior from a design perspective — but from the perspective of a 10-year-old (a.k.a. my son) no one cares at all. They just love the dinosaur races and the gem room.

     
     

    That’s how you diffuse an architectural bomb right there. And now I have to go to the Perot because I had no idea there was a gem room. From the sound of it, Hawthorne missed it when he was there too.

    Hawthorne seems to enjoy the lobby a bit more than the exterior, but then he realizes that the rest of the interior isn't like the lobby.

    Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas
      
    Photo by Mark Knight Photography
    Hawthorne seems to enjoy the lobby a bit more than the exterior, but then he realizes that the rest of the interior isn't like the lobby.
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    Theater Critic Picks

    From Wilde to 'The Wiz': 8 unmissable July shows in North Texas

    Lindsey Wilson
    Jul 2, 2025 | 10:18 am
    Second Thought Theatre presents Your Wife’s Dead Body
    Photo courtesy of Second Thought Theatre
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    Your instinct during the summer might be to hide out in an air-conditioned theater, and there are plenty of options to do exactly this month. But we would be remiss if we didn't remind you about a North Texas tradition: Shakespeare under the stars. Pack a picnic, bring a blanket, and watch The Bard (and this year Oscar Wilde) at Samuell-Grand Amphitheater with Shakespeare Dallas. Both shows opened in June, but continue through most of July.

    Here are eight shows local shows, listed in order of start date:

    The Importance of Being Earnest
    Shakespeare Dallas, through July 18
    This witty romantic comedy by Oscar Wilde, first performed in 1895, tells the story of two men who assume the identities of a fictional man named Ernest. This leads them to each fall in love and encounter an assortment of comical problems along the way.

    Othello
    Shakespeare Dallas, through July 20
    In this Shakespearean tragedy, Othello is at the peak of his powers: not only Venice's greatest general but also husband to the noble and beautiful Desdemona. But he does not know that in passing over his servant Iago for promotion, he has created a deadly but brilliant enemy. This production is set in an alternate-history version of the 1990s in which the Venetian empire is the predominant political, military, and economic power.

    King Kirby
    American Chronicle Theatre Co., July 4-12
    This is the story of Jack "King of Comics" Kirby. The play follows him from the tough Jewish ghetto of Hell’s Kitchen in New York, to the harrowing battlefields of Normandy during WWII, to tense Senate hearings in the 1950s. Watch as he creates some of the most iconic heroes in pop culture: Captain America, Thor, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Iron Man, the New Gods, and countless others.

    Your Wife’s Dead Body
    Second Thought Theatre, July 9-26
    Written by Second Though Theatre artistic associate Jenny Ledel in her playwriting premiere, the play takes place in the near future, as Jane takes advantage of a new AI technology that would extend her lifespan ... even if she's not around to see it for herself.

    The Wiz
    Broadway at the Bass, July 15-20
    This all-new production of the groundbreaking, Tony Award-winning musical returns “home” in an all-new pre-Broadway tour, the first one in 40 years. The groundbreaking twist on The Wizard of Oz changed the face of Broadway, from its iconic score packed with soul, gospel, rock, and finger-snapping '70s funk to its stirring tale of Dorothy’s journey to find her place in a contemporary world.

    Noises Off
    Mainstage Irving-Las Colinas, July 18-August 2
    This play-within-a-play captures a touring theater troupe’s production of Nothing On in three stages: dress rehearsal, the opening performance, and a performance towards the end of a debilitating run. Playwright Michael Frayn gives a window into the inner workings of theatre behind-the-scenes, progressing from flubbed lines and missed cues in the dress rehearsal to mounting friction between cast members in the final performance.

    Everybody's Talking About Jamie
    Uptown Players, July 18-August 3
    Inspired by true events, this musical tells the inspiring story of Jamie New, a 16-year-old boy from Sheffield who dreams of becoming a drag queen. His loving mom showers him with endless support but it's not all rainbows for Jamie as his deadbeat dad and some ignorant school kids attempt to rain on his sensational aspirations.

    Shucked
    Broadway at the Bass, July 29-August 3
    This Tony Award-winning musical comedy features a book by Tony Award winner Robert Horn, a score by the Grammy Award-winning songwriting team of Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, and direction by Tony Award winner Jack O’Brien. The corn-fed, corn-bred American musical is sure to satisfy an appetite for great musical theater.

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