A house of worship is a daunting project for any firm or person to take on. Its significance in the lives of its congregants, and the community at large, is no small thing. It’s a structure touched by the divine. Its materials, and even the air within, are consecrated- if not by ritual then by the spirit brought to it in the thoughts, words, and feelings of all those who gather within. The structures themselves are largely formed through the traditions of the religions practiced within them, and tradition guides so much of what we expect from religion itself because it maintains the link to its beginnings. The tradition and the buildings are, by extension, a link to the divine.
However, while practices and rites often remain the same, architecture has always been the method that religions have taken on to push beyond tradition and to create something that inspires awe and wonder. Each ancient religious structure throughout time was once the best available method of architecture of its time. Modern architecture is no exception, but even modern can find itself out of step with current tastes and less than impressive. This was the conundrum that Trinity Dallas, a non-denominational Christian church founded in 1995, found itself in when they acquired a new campus in Highland Park. The campus had been an Episcopalian church that was built in the 1960’s,
and it was largely a time capsule that felt stale and dated. It was not the dynamic space that Trinity Dallas hoped it would become.
The building needed a renovation, and Trinity Dallas contracted local firm DSGN Associates to help give the space a new life. Beth Brant, Associate Principal, Architect, and Director of Sustainability with the firm, noted that “(The
campus) had not been changed at all. It had some renovations in the fellowship hall that looked kind of from the Eighties, but most of it was exactly as it was in the Sixties.” The solution was simple- the building had been modern at one time, so the renovation would focus on highlighting what made it a modern. “In the main sanctuary everything-all the wood that you see-was stained avocado green, so we had that stain removed and went back with a white pickled
Conduit Gallery
Craighead Green Gallery
Cris Worley Fine Arts
Erin Cluley Gallery
Galleri Urbane
Holly Johnson Gallery
James Harris Gallery
Keijsers Koning
Laura Rathe Fine Art
Meliksetian | Briggs
PDNB Gallery
Pencil on Paper Gallery
RO2 Art
Valley House Gallery & Sculpture Garden
finish. It’s kind of like a white stain, and we did one coat of that. Everything else in the sanctuary was kind of dark. It was the dark avocado green, dark beiges, so we painted everything white to brighten up the space, and then we added the vertical acoustical flat fins all along underneath the soffits on the sides of the sanctuary.”
The pews, chairs, and baptismal font are all original, and each received some light refurbishment to bring them into
a more contemporary context, but the long rays-of-lightshaped light fixtures extending from the ceiling were added to help further update the space. The altar section at the head of the church is a very simple wall of brick, which made it easy to update. “It was originally a beige brick, and (the clients) really wanted it to be a different color and they wanted to paint it with a latex, but we encouraged them to look at a mineral-based paint, which is more like a stain. The mineral-based paint we picked is used on his-
toric buildings and allows the building to breathe.” The new color, and the addition of a large projection screen at the center, make this focal point of each Sunday have a more modern feel with effortlessly versatile function.
The organ positioned in the choir loft above the back of the sanctuary is original to the building as well, but Brant
pointed out that the organ actually predates the building.
“It came from overseas and is a very unique organ. The man who played the organ when the church was first built still comes over and plays it.” Joining the organ in the loft is a large crucifix sculpture that was a part of the church when it was Episcopalian. It was moved from its original position to maintain the non-denominational focus of the
space, but is still easily viewed upon exiting the sanctuary. On the outside of the sanctuary the original brick color was left on the exposed ends, but the roof was replaced with a new metal, which gives the building a much sleeker, symmetrical appearance.
Brant said that DSGN Associates’ thought process and Trinity Dallas’ hopes for the structure were to “really to open it up, both visually and lighten it up aesthetically, so that people from the neighborhood would feel welcome to come in.” Glass was put in along the Douglas Avenue-fac-
ing side of the building to help give it a more open feel. A café was added to the fellowship hall so that there’s plenty of time prior to services for everyone to come together and be together. Perhaps the most modern addition to the campus is the dog park, which is always open to everyone in the neighborhood. “They have things going on all the time. The main goal of the church is just to bring in and invite the neighbors and make this more of a community space, both in feel and in function.”
// DSGN Associates
Engage Educate Experience Enjoy
The Dallas Architecture Forum is for everyone who wants to experience inspired design. The Forum presents an award-winning Lecture Series that brings outstanding architects,interior designers, landscape architects and urban planners from around the world, as well as Symposia, Receptions at architecturally significant residences, and Panel Discussions on issues impacting North Texas.
OPEN UNIVERSITY
by Todd Camplin
North Texas has been a rising star for art museums, art collections, and MFA programs, and also boasts a local art fair. Grants to local artists have come from the Nasher and the DMA. The critical failure holding the region back was that our globally relevant institutions were not willing to show the emerging artists of North Texas. Dallas Contemporary has filled this gap with its DC NTX Graduate Student Program Exhibition. Funded for five years, this sustaining annual show will help the region launch our artists onto the global stage.
Curated by Director and Chief Curator of White Columns, Matthew Higgs, “Open University” features some of the graduating MFA artists from North Texas grad schools. In his selection of artists, Higgs “gravitated towards work that spoke quietly, but confidently to the artists’ respective ambitions and intentions.” So, Higgs wasn’t attempting to push through a theme. His curation found a subtle attitude the artists were conveying while maintaining individualistic voices.
One voice is Abigail Rainey, who is completing an MFA from Texas Women’s University. She exhibits the work titled Morning Line. A stretched material that looks to be stained over the years with food, maybe coffee. I get the feeling this was draped over a table, and I can imagine conversations embedded in this object. Rainey helps us see the extraordinary in this ordinary object.
Down the rabbit hole is where you might find your-
self when encountering SMU Taylor Cleveland’s work. SuperPOD0043: An American Painting might look like a straightforward depiction of the former president Bush painting a Miro-style work. However, the creation of the work is like the symbolism found in the Jan Van Eyck painting Arnolfini Wedding Portrait. He used a military computer-turned-AI image generator. Cleveland then commissioned a Chinese painter to render the image in traditional oil. The painting was displayed on West-
/ abigail raineymorning lines
27x21x1.5” image credit brienna williams.
painting
78 ½ x 27 x 29 inches
ern artist Joe Grande’s easel. SMU houses the Bush presidential library and a large Spanish art collection in the Meadows. Cleveland’s symbolism is not just in the image, but also in the making of the image.
UNT graduate student Veronica Ibargüengoitia creates an incredibly timely piece about separation and othering people. Titled Otherness, the artist presents to the audience a barrier of eggshells surrounding a wood structure with pillows inside. You have to walk
on the eggshells just to get to the center of the space. Crushing and cracking on your way to the middle. You then feel separated from the others in the room by the wood structure resembling bars. Ibargüengoitia created a subtle allusion to migration through visual and audio experiences.
Another UNT graduate student, Narong Tintamusik, gives us a world of food littered with plastic. Tintamusik says the work is dystopian. However, after hearing how
much plastic is inside the average person from a Science Friday episode, I am positive Tintamusik’s dystopia is now. This large work titled Digester hangs and resembles the shape of meat but has all the signs of artificial materials.
Lisa Clayton at UTA created unmistakably textile objects shaped like vulvas. She picks up the torch from generations of feminist artists to bring attention to the need for body autonomy. I am reminded of Judy Chicago’s Dinner Party. Where her plates on the table were vulva
shapes. Whereas Chicago was expressionistic, Clayton simplified the form.
Sharmeen Uqaili from SMU work reminds me of the Pattern and Decoration Movmenet. Geometric patterns dance across her work which features highly detailed painted lines and forms. You could get lost in her paintings and sculpture. Her suspended object over a mirror titled Imagine That was extraordinary. Uqaili’s work makes you linger and look closer.
With thirteen artists in the show, I couldn’t write about them all. The show also features works by Austin Lewis from TCU, Pablo Alonso Cruz Rubio from UNT, Katherine Pinkhan from TWU, Elijah Ruhala from TCU, Sharmeen Uqaili from SMU, Narong Tintamusik from UNT, and Vajihe Zamaniderkani from UTD. Abby Bryant from TCU was picked for a fellowship in curation. Open University will be on display at the Dallas Contemporary through March 9th.
Get Inspired
Nature& Nurture:
The
by J. Clairborne Bowdon
Perkins & Will Singing Hills Recreation Center
When we climb to higher ground it’s with the hope of seeing further, of expanding our vision, and understanding our surroundings. The Singing Hills Recreation Center in South Dallas is perched just above the landscape on its own hill. This gives the center a view to the north that stretches across the Trinity River to the skyline of downtown Dallas and beyond. The city of Dallas commissioned the architecture firm Perkins & Will to design the new facility, and Ron Stelmarksi, a principal with the firm, said of it that “It’s one of our smaller projects, more humble than the majority of our commissions, but as an architect you
want to do something for the community.” Stelmarski’s enthusiasm and pride at the results of his and Perkins & Will’s work was evident throughout our conversation, and with good reason.
The center is a far cry in every way from the original building. The original was built in 1973, and it was located in the valley below the hills in a flood plain. Stelmarski remarked “It was pretty opaque. Not what you’d want in the building.” The largely concrete and windowless squat, bunker-like structure was built of concrete and offered
25,000 square feet of space. The new facility is practically its exact opposite, and not just because of the care, thought, and expertise applied by Perkins & Will in its conception. The community was very much involved in what it would be. Perhaps the most obvious request that the firm incorporated was that it be “glassy.”
The exterior walls of the entire structure are an almost uninterrupted band of floor-to-ceiling windows that allow
light and nature to be as much a part of it as its components. Indeed, the shape of the building itself, specifically the double-height entry hall, is meant to mimic the undulating topography of the site. At 230,000 square feet (practically ten times the size of the original) it is not a small building, but Perkins & Will ensured that it would not feel overwhelming in its size by burrowing into the hillside to tuck part of the structure into the ground. The NCAAsized gymnasium is a double-height space like the mod-
estly towering entry, but you’d never know it because it’s placed below the grade of the building and still offers a full view to the north through its bank of windows. Should the need arise another gym could be added to this portion of the building.
The achievement of the center is not simply in its aesthetics or the amenities it offers the community, but also the
participation and incorporation of multiple public and private entities that make it an incredible center of life for the area. Stelmarksi pointed out that it could have easily, normally would have, been just a building by itself. Instead, it’s also a stop on the DART rail line, which increases the accessibility to the center and makes it a safe and easy location for members of the community to walk to or park to take the train. “Before the DART rail it could
take members of the community, many of which do not have cars, over two hours to reach downtown. Now they can travel to Union station in 25 to 30 minutes.” The UNT Dallas campus is the last stop on the Blue Line, so its student body can also take advantage of everything the center offers, but the campus also connects to the center via the Runyon Creek Trail. The trail continues northward to connect to the Five Mile Creek Trail, which one day will
connect with the ambitious Loop Dallas trail system that, once completed, will extend from the Trinity River Basin to just north of Royal Lane.
The center was opened in 2020 and completed in 2021 (Stelmarski noted the building was built in three phases from the east to the west as the funding became available), and it was immediately hailed by The Dallas Morn-
ing News’ architecture critic Marc Lamster as “the best new building in Dallas.” Since then it has also received the AIA Dallas Honor Award, the Design Excellence Honor Award from the Phil Freelon Professional Design Awards, and was part of the Athletic Business Facilities of Merit showcase. As recently as this year Stelmarski was invited to speak about the building at THE PLATFORM Architecture Festival that works in conjunction with the Venice Biennale. Perkins & Will, the only American architecture firm out of the one hundred plus in attendance, were
surprised by the invitation, but the mission statement of the festival, also known as “The New Together,” reveals that they and the project were a natural choice.
The festival is described as “an active platform (for) all those projects that are children of a new time, generous and capable of indicating the change we are now experiencing and the solutions that can accompany this transition…the projects seek to interpret (the) desires in our lives by involving all the spaces in which communities
(large and small) can find themselves.” Stelmarski described the center as a “social infrastructure” as well as “an overlap of so many cultural points.” The building was designed with the goal of it being an intergenerational space with a senior center on the west end that has a separate entrance so that elder members of the community can have their own space if they choose, but it’s easily accessible to all and has been everything it was intended to be and more. As Stelmarski said “(The center) did not anticipate how many family reunions and wakes would
be held there. Weeknights and weekends the commercial kitchen is packed. They’ve had food drives. It was a COVID-19 site. That’s life-giving and we’re happy to hear it. That’s the strength of the structure, not as an object.” The center is currently a one of its kind building for Dallas that hopefully will one day be a first of its kind building for Dallas.
// perkins+will
cravings
// milo baughman’s design genius shines in the ripple chaise lounge. this timeless piece, originally conceived in 1966 available: thayergoggin
// dalù is a re-edition of the luminaire from the sixties designed by vico magistretti available. artemide
// found II side table no.1 limited edition, collection centers around the power of the medium available: goodcolony
your modern calendar
Modern
events and activities make for fun around the Metroplex.
TATIANA BILBAO
Dallas Architecture Forum
WALKING TOURS
Ad Ex
OPEN UNIVERSITY
Dallas Contemporary
HAEGUE YANG
Nasher Sculpture Center
THE KEIR COLLECTION OF ISLAMIC ART GALLERY
TIFFANY CHUNG: RISE INTO THE ATMOSPHERE
FRIDA: BEYOND THE MYTH
Dallas Museum Of Art
MOUNTAIN JADE WITH LAM TUNG PANG
Crow Museum Of Asian Art
RE/FRAMED
The Amon Carter Museum of American Art
A ROOM HUNG WITH THOUGHTS + ROBERT PETERSON
Green family Art Foundation
THE WILSON HOUSE
Preservation Dallas
modern art galleries
Modern art, exhibits, around the Metroplex.
ROBERT JESSUP + LANCE LETSCHER + MATTHEW WHITENACK
Conduit Gallery
RANDY TWADDLE + DAVID AYLSWORTH
Holly Johnson Gallery
TOM JUDD
J. Peeler Howell Fine Art
RICHARD REZAC
James Harris Gallery
DONALD MARTINY + ARDEN BENDLER BROWNING
Galleri Urbane
FORREST BESS + BERT L. LONG JR + CHRIS MARTIN + THOMAS NOZKOWSKI
