July 2020 | Eyesore

Commentary on architectural blunders in monthly serial.

Behold: the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in downtown Dallas, Texas — if you can even call this inchoate mash-up of low-rise crapola, parking lots, and freeway ramps a downtown. The building was designed by Eyesore of the Month All-time Champeen, Thom Mayne (countless humdingers over the years). This one is solidly in the tradition of museum-as-battle-fortification. Note the impregnable blank walls with gunport slits. At street level you get the alluring glimpse into the mysterious chamber of underground parking. The actual entrance up those pharaonic flights of stairs brings to mind the tombs in the Valley of the Kings — a ritual passage into the afterworld. And what the fuck is that tilted glass box atop the podium level? Do you find it odd, as I do, that this building appears to represent the antithesis of nature? Note how lively the street is! Below is a shot that reveals the building’s actual surroundings.