017 Dallas Bowl
Mixed-Use Block
Location
Dallas, USA
Date
May 2009
Client
Re:Vision
Program
Residential / Office / Cultural / Retail 47.000 m²
Status
Settled
Collaboration
OnOffice / Nitsan Yomtov
Team
João Amaro, João Vieira Costa, Ricardo Guedes, Leon Rost
The Dallas Bowl site is not yet cohered with the urban fabric of downtown Dallas, mainly severed by a series of parking lots. The proposal focuses o 3 fold future urban development: porous densification, green pockets and corridors, and street "pedestrianisation"…
Starting with a "full cake" of the required program, the courtyard is excavated to let in light, create a destination, and foster a sense of community. The block is reoriented towards the cardinal directions, tilted towards the south sun. A blanket of pitched/roof houses is added to the top layer…
The overall strategy of Dallas Bowl is to incorporate the urban, environmental, programmatic, and social aspects of this residential block into a holistic, fully functioning organism, where all elements of the built and natural environment synergize in a symbiotic relationship…
A part of the vast and challenging program, the residential area is still the majority. A combination of Work/Living; Students Residences; Senior Homes; Family housing; along with the farm penthouses type, will generate curious social dynamics, that will hopefully contaminate the rest of the neighbourhood…
Individual units are cross-ventilated, and the courtyard faces the predominant winds to foster a large-scale stack ventilation for the entire block…
The courtyard is for all, habitants and citizens. The crops are distributed by the tenants, sold in local markets, or given to charity…
Although the building is designed as a whole, it can be programmed and even constructed as separate components of the block. The facade reflects the function of what is held within, a contemporary rendition of dynamic classic streetscapes. Built in phases, and the contents can change with demand…
Because south exposure will overheat the block even in winter, (and because of poor views and noise) the vast majority of Dallas Bowl's windows face east-west. Even these are shaded to block out most of the summer sun while letting in the low winter sun…
