FOUNDER'S PLAZA

30" x 42" Watercolour Analytic

UTASOA | Program: Urban Development

Dallas, Texas | Steven Quevedo | Fall 2010

“Planning should be comprehensive. Even though a grand urban design could only be realized in bits

and pieces, and over a long period of years, still we should always know where we are going.

Each bit and piece should be understandable by reference to the great plan of which it is a part.
--George Kessler

In 1909, Kessler proposed boulevards, parks, plazas, and gateways for the city of Dallas, which would give the city some of the elegance and refinement of Paris and London. Removing all railroad tracks on downtown streets and consolidating freight and passenger traffic in one central location would pose as the “centerpiece of a civic gateway.” Understanding the transformation of the city through Kessler’s work became a study in the urban renewal of Founder’s Plaza. The Founder’s Plaza, located in the West End district, ideally represents the location for the first trading post marking the culmination of the city by John Neely Bryan. Opposite from the liberating Art’s District, the Founder’s Plaza fails to respond to the immense cultural revitalization Dallas is currently facing.

Plan, Section, and Facade Studies

Overlapping Fields

Figure-Ground

Civic Monuments

Centers

Transportation

Shifting of City Grid

Defragmentation

City Grid

Superimposition of 1888, 1921, 1925, and 2010 Maps

Stitching the Urban Fabric
In 1914, Kessler proposed that a major shift in the city grid be executed. Crooked narrow streets around small city blocks were deemed uninviting. As the city blocks expanded northeast, they became elongated and tailored well towards the growth of businesses. This shift in the grid became a vital element in the mapping analysis of Dallas. Furthermore, the transportation line was seen as a dictum, symbolizing a carved impression in the earth as it was the first paved marks in Dallas. Civic and historical monuments such as the JFK memorial and the Old Red Courthouse became anchoring points for Founder’s Plaza. The circulation, city grid shift, overlapping fields, slot conditions through civic centers, and figure-ground studies would be apparent in the reformation of the new plaza. Furthermore, the urban fabric from the proposed park would continue into the design of the building.

Proposed Scheme of Founder's Plaza