Brent Brown

Design for Living in Southern Dallas

There's Great Hope for Central Dallas Ministries' eMagazine

Larry James, president and CEO of Central Dallas Ministries, sent out an e-mail this morning directing folks to the second issue of CDM's online magazine, which is more or less a compendium of videos, all of them worth a peek. Among the contributions is the story of the great Brent Brown, the UT ... More >>

Block Friday, or: Imagining a New Design for Living in Downtown Dallas

Those interested in the future of downtown Dallas may wanna carve out some time on Friday -- like, all day Friday. Because from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., City Hall will play host to a daylong "design charrette" during which city officials; architect Brent Brown, founder of bcWORKSHOP; and folks from S ... More >>

Touring 508 Park Ave., But Is It Love in Vain?

Photos by Dan FinnellThe third-floor recording studio at 508 Park Avenue in which Robert Johnson recordedAt this late date you're surely aware of the plight of 508 Park Avenue, the site of the makeshift studio in which Robert Johnson, Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys and perhaps even Charlie Parker ... More >>

Revising Re:Vision Dallas, Yet Another Look at What Might Have Been Behind City Hall

PIKL Studio's Commonwealth, among the honorable mentions in the Re:Vision Dallas competitionA Friend of Unfair Park points out that I'm not the only one collecting Re:Vision Dallas cast-offs. So too is the ArchDaily blog, which, earlier this week, posted PIKL Studio's Commonwealth development for th ... More >>

Even If They Don't Build the Entangled Bank, Well, Maybe It'll Still Win a Big Award

​Is what you see above the future of Dallas? Don't know. Hard to say. But, as we've said often in recent months, John Greenan (executive director of Central Dallas Community Development Corporation) and Brent Brown (founder of bcWORKSHOP) are determined to turn a parking lot behind Dallas City Hal ... More >>

Are the Plans To Build A Green, Sustainable Building of Tomorrow Smack in the Heart of Downtown Dallas Some Pipedream or A Reality?

​Is what you see above the future of Dallas? Don't know. Hard to say. But, as we've said often in recent months, John Greenan (executive director of Central Dallas Community Development Corporation) and Brent Brown (founder of bcWORKSHOP) are determined to turn a parking lot behind Dallas City Hal ... More >>

Why Can't a Nonprofit Do a Downtown Project Cheaper Than a For-Profit Developer?

Brandon ThibodeauxJohn Greenan, founder and executive director of nonprofit Central Dallas Community Development Corp., a subsidiary of Larry James' Central Dallas Ministries​In the paper version of Unfair Park this week I took a longer look at Re:Vision Dallas -- you know, that self-sustaining de ... More >>

Brent Brown, Who Rebuilt Congo Street, Will Head Dallas CityDesign Studio in City Hall

Brandon ThibodeauxBrent Brown​Couple of weeks back we debuted the Dallas Urban Design Studio, a Trinity Trust-funded endeavor that'll get its own office in Dallas City Hall in order to "elevate the design consciousness and culture of Dallas, while working to balance social, economic, environmental ... More >>

It's Official: The Trinty Trust Gives $2 Million to Set Up "CityDesign Studio" in Dallas City Hall

Speaking of the Trinity Trust, they've still got those T-shirts available.​The suspense is over. (See what I did there?) Following up its September 24 announcement concerning $10 mil going toward turning the Continental Avenue Bridge into a pedestrian pathway-n-park, the Trinity Trust this morning ... More >>

At City Hall, a Call to "Complete the Streets"

​Last week, the National Complete Streets Coalition announced that more than 100 cities across the U.S. have adopted at least some of its policies, with Lansing, Michigan and Rockville, Maryland, among the latest to seize the idea that the streets don't belong just to cars. (Ah, yes. Here we go.) ... More >>

Brent Brown, Head of City Hall's New CityDesign Studio, On Redesigning Dallas

Brandon ThibodeauxBrent Brown, Mary Suhm's choice to head up the Dallas CityDesign Studio​Even after having mentioned the Dallas CityDesign Studio -- which the Trinity Trust is paying for, thanks to Rusty and Deedie Rose's $5 million donation -- a few times, we still didn't know what the what it's ... More >>

Inching One Step Closer to That Self-Sustaining Block Behind Dallas City Hall

Come Friday, we'll know which of the three Re:Vision Dallas finalists, including Entangled Bank (seen here), is the out-and-out winner.​John Greenan, executive director of Central Dallas Community Development Corporation and one of the main men charged with growing that self-sustaining block behi ... More >>

White House Invites Head of Dallas CityDesign Studio to Talk Clean Energy, Public Health

Brandon ThibodeauxBrent Brown​Ran into bcWORKSHOP and Re:Vision Dallas's Brent Brown Friday night at the opening of Main Street Garden, and during a lengthy chat that spilled over into a downtown dinner with our families, not once did he mention a pending trip to Washington, D.C. But the Dallas In ... More >>

Forward, Forwarding Dallas

​John Greenan has made it official: He and Brent Brown are going forward with Forwarding Dallas to fill that parking lot behind Dallas City Hall with a self-sustaining building. Says Greenan of his decision to go with the Portuguese architects behind the downtown hillside, "Dallas would be a riche ... More >>

Texas Observer on "Signs of Life" in Downtown

Patrick Michels​Michael May's the latest to wonder whether the AT&T Performing Arts Center is going to remake downtown. Brent Brown, of bcWORKSHOP and the Dallas City Design Studio at City Hall, says, Yup, sure 'nuff, so long as you include, oh, Main Street Garden in the mix: "It's still dead ... More >>

On This Day of Service, Emmitt Smith and Family Lend a Helping Hand on Congo Street

Courtesy Pat and Emmitt Smith CharitiesBrent Brown, left, with Pat and Emmitt Smith and their kids on Congo Street near Fair Park this morning​Since June 2008, Brent Brown and his bcWORKSHOP have been rebuilding a handful of century-old single-family homes that line Congo Street, in the Jubilee Pa ... More >>

When MLK Visited SMU

Courtesy SMUMartin Luther King Jr. addressing a standing-room-only crowd at McFarlin Auditorium in the spring of '66​Yesterday, of course, was the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service; hence, Emmitt Smith and family's visit to Congo Street, where they joined Brent Brown and bcWORKSHOP. But SMU ha ... More >>

As bcWORKSHOP Moves Into Dolphin Heights, a Filmmaker Tags Along

Noe Medrano Jr.​Things of which I am quite fond: Dallas. Documentaries. Brent Brown. And the work Brown and his bcWORKSHOP -- and the bcCORPS, quite an army -- are doing along Congo Street near Fair Park and, soon, in nearby Dolphin Heights. Noe Medrano Jr. has put them all together: The filmmaker ... More >>

A Video Round-Up: Jerry Jones Talks With Dick Ebersol, Why Dallas Isn't Detroit and Jim Moroney on The Future of The News Business

A slide from Eric Corey Freed's presentation. Also, a lesser-known Prince song.​Whilst Daniel and Sam wrap up some end-o'-day items, let's direct our attention to the follow-up videos that follow, all which I found on Vimeo today. It's quite the hodgepodge.But let's begin with Jim Moroney, publish ... More >>

Congo Street Initiative Feted By AIA, HUD For Restoring "Integrity" to Community

AIA/HUDBefore and after along Congo Street​Till a Friend of Unfair Park just pointed it out, I hadn't seen mention made anywhere of Brent Brown and bcWORKSHOP's accolade handed out a few days back by the American Institute of Architects and the U.S. Housing and Urban Development. Brown's Congo Str ... More >>

Tonight at the Belmont, Larry Beasley to Update Plans for That West Dallas Makeover

Click to enlarge: Sketches resulting from February's two-day design charrette concerning West Dallas and Oak Cliff development​Back in October, the Trinity Trust ponied up $2 mil for the creation of the City Design Studio, to be based out of Dallas City Hall and run by, among others, bcWORKSHOP's ... More >>

NEA's Mayors' Institute Awards City Design Studio $100,000 For "Cultural Remapping"

​Some of the winners of the 21 National Endowment for the Arts grants handed out Thursday know precisely how -- and where -- that money will be spent. In Los Angeles, the $100,000 awarded through the Mayors' Institute on City Design 25th Anniversary Initiative will go toward the mixed-use Broadway ... More >>

Liveblogging This Morning's Trinity River Corridor Project Committee Meeting

From the PowerPoint proposing a new Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard Gateway connecting Fair Park to the Trinity​The very top of the very morning to you, Friends. Here I am at City Hall once again (still haven't regained my Foursquare mayorship, very upset about it) to bring you live updates from ... More >>

If Nothing Else, Dallas Urban Lab's "Visionary Proposals" Will Make a Very Nice Art Exhibit

UT School of Architecture/Dallas Urban Lab​Over on DC9 yesterday, Pete posted the latest Smile Smile video, "Truth on Tape," which is a very naked, guest-star-laden clip shot entirely at the Rachofsky House. So, then, funny thing: When Pete passed along the clip, I went to the Rachofsky House's we ... More >>

Celebrating the Congo Street Green Initiative's Six New Homes

Patrick MichelsbcWorkshop's Brent Brown, center, at Saturday's picnic celebrating Ella Garrett's new house on Congo Street.​Saturday evening marked a big finish to Ella Garrett's long, tough summer, with a party full of neighbors and friends outside her new house -- the sixth home built by bcWork ... More >>

A Town Hall on Thursday to Introduce Proposal For West Dallas's New "Urban Structure"

​On the other side is a memo City Manager Mary Suhm sent to the city council and Mayor Tom late last week in which she extends an invite to Thursday's "public discussion" of the Dallas CityDesign Studio's West Dallas extreme makeover. Brent Brown and Larry Beasley, funded by the Trinity Trust's $2 ... More >>

Last Night, A First Look at CityDesign Studio's Latest West Dallas "Urban Structure" Plan

Photos by Patrick MichelsLarge copies of the tentative plan for West Dallas were on display for discussion with folks from the Dallas CityDesign Studio at the Mattie Nash-Myrtle Davis Recreation Center.As advertised, Brent Brown, Larry Beasley and the rest of the Dallas CityDesign Studio crew welcom ... More >>

On This MLK Day of Service, Street Art Intended to Spark Talk About Homelessness

​Just got the heads-up: At this very moment, volunteers with the bcWORKSHOP are out and about installing cut-outs like those you see below across the city, from North Dallas to downtown to White Rock and points in between. They're intended to raise awareness about how to end homelessness. ​The c ... More >>

What Can You Do With an Old Shipping Container? Turn It Into a Commissary.

The E and H Commissary as it looked during construction on Tuesday before its installation on the SMU campus​Speaking of big doings on the SMU campus ...Next week brings the first-ever Engineering & Humanity Week to the Hilltop, courtesy the Hunter & Stephanie Hunt Institute for Engineerin ... More >>

When Will They Begin to Re:Vision Dallas? Depends On When City Creates That "Sustainable Design District" Downtown.

If you thought they'd forgotten to build this behind Dallas City Hall, you'd be wrong.​It's been an awful long time since last we wrote about John Greenan and Brent Brown's plans to build that green, sustainable building of tomorrow directly behind Dallas City Hall. But a few days ago, a piece wri ... More >>

In West Dallas, Where William Whyte's Vision of a Living City Hall Plaza Is Finally Coming to Life

Gary Buckner with one of the 10 or so chairs they're making out of old pallets for next week's Living Plaza in front of Dallas City Hall​My copy of William H. Whyte's 1988 book City: Rediscovering the Center arrived today, and right there, on Page 123, The Organization Man writes of his attempt to ... More >>

In Front of Dallas City Hall, Grabbing a Bite on The Living Plaza. "And It Only Took 30 Years."

Council member Jerry Allen tosses a Frisbee to Trinity Trust President Gail Thomas on the City Hall Plaza today at noon.​I'd intended to spend, oh, maybe half an hour in front of Dallas City Hall today, where, decades after William H. Whyte first proposed the idea of making that expanse of concret ... More >>

The Eating Plaza: Positive Portents

​The folksy tunes of The Dallas Family Band moved through the air as the large musical group wound its way through a crowded, vibrant City Hall Plaza, usually a barren, human-repelling concrete landscape interrupted by abstract sculpture and, occasionally, scrawny trees. The mass of people was ... More >>

That's Just a NORML Squad Car

Via.​Just couldn't hold this till item till 4:20, so sorry. But I'd meant to mention last week that the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (or NORML) was staging its part of the World Wide Marijuana March on May 7 on the Dallas City Hall Plaza. ... More >>

QR Signs of the Times, Part II: CityDesign Studio's Virtual Look at Dallas' "Public Realm"

​I saw one of these signs on a Bishop Arts sidewalk over the weekend and thought nothing of it -- that is till today, when I was looking for something unrelated on the Dallas CityDesign Studio, which led me to its Facebook page, which led me to this: Urban Design Matters, a just-launched website r ... More >>

Oncor, City Need Some Help Making Power Plant on Calatrava's West Side Look Nicer

​Good timing: Later today, Leslie's cover story for the paper version of Unfair Park dealing with the city's involvement in efforts to thoughtfully (fingers crossed) redevelop West Dallas at the foot of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge will hit newsstands virtual and otherwise. So happens, according ... More >>

Dallas City Hall Plaza to Come Alive, Yet Again, Next Wednesday. And Not For the Last Time.

Click to embiggen your invite to next Wednesday's lunchtime wingding at City Hall.​Moments after I posted that piece on the Living Plaza in front of Dallas City Hall a few weeks ago, one Friend of Unfair Park took a look at the commissary and crowd and proclaimed it little more than "a bit" -- a o ... More >>

On July 1, See RoboCop In Front of Omni Consumer Products HQ, Dallas City Hall

Poster by Alexander Flores​Finally, a dream comes true.For far too long now we've talked about screening RoboCop somewhere in downtown, preferably outside, definitely near one of the myriad landmarks featured in the film set in "Detroit" but shot entirely in Dallas in the summer and early fall of ... More >>

You Know That Empty Lot in Front of Downtown Farmers Market? Town Homes!

Click to embiggen plans for the town homes on the lot across from Dallas Farmers Market​On and off in recent years there have been several attempts to fill that vacant lot across Marilla from the Dallas Farmers Market, and each plan has gone nowhere. Which is why I got interested when I saw this: ... More >>

Through the Looking Glass at OCP HQ

Photos by Justin Terveen​To those who helped made last night's RoboCop-at-OCP HQ event happen -- Downtown Dallas, Inc.; Brent Brown and his staff at the CityDesign Studio; the Dallas Film Society; and, of course, the promotions staff at the Observer -- a mighty "much obliged" this morning. Couldn' ... More >>

Are You Tough Enough for the Return of The Living Plaza In Front of Dallas City Hall?

​This would be ... what, round three? And here you thought the Living Plaza was a one-timer. Nope. It may be a 192 degrees tomorrow, but that's not going to stop the City Hall staffers who've taken over where Jason Roberts, Brent Brown and William Whyte started. And so, beginning at 11:30 tomorrow ... More >>

Guess We Should Have Submitted Our Sketch For That West Dallas Power Plant Contest

Scott Armstrong's winning entry in the cover-the-power-station contest. Get it -- power plant?​A Friend of Unfair Park just gave me the heads-up: The three winners of that so-called "Power Art" competition, intended to create some kind of artistic cover-all for the Oncor substation at the western ... More >>

Sylvan Thirty's Developer Chimes in About Tonight's Town Hall Meeting

Via.​Anna's attending tonight's town hall concerning the proposed zoning for the Sylvan Thirty development at Sylvan and Fort Worth Avenue; should be a good one, given the makeup of the panel that includes Brent Brown from the CityDesign Studio and Keith Manoy, head of transportation planning for ... More >>

What We Learned About Sylvan Thirty, And Development in Dallas, at Tuesday's Town Hall

A view of Sylvan Thirty from the Belmont, as conceptually rendered at last night's meeting​We began the broadcast day by discussing Sylvan Thirty's funding; we end it by looking back at last night's town hall meeting concerning its layout and, more broadly, the future of street and development des ... More >>

On October 22, Take a Walk, Ride Your Bike or Just Hang Out on the Cedar Crest Bridge

The Cedar Crest bridge as it looks today. Now, try to Imagine one side full of bikers, walkers and other amenities.​In December of last year, the city of Dallas put out the call: Design firm needed to draw up pedestrian and bicycle enhancements for the Cedar Crest Bridge over the Trinity River. In ... More >>

Before Walking, Biking Across "Better" Cedar Crest Bridge, Learn How to Do It Yourself

Click for a much better look at what might become of the Cedar Crest Bridge.​On Friday we took a ride down Cedar Crest Boulevard over the Trinity, which the city's spending millions to makeover as a half-vehicular, half-hike-n-bike bridge -- but not before Jason Roberts and the Better Block-ers se ... More >>

Keep in Mind: Lisa Loeb, Will Clarke Are Among Those Speaking at TEDxSMU Saturday

Via.Have I ever mentioned Lisa Loeb's dad, not seen here, is my mom's gastroent ... oh, I have? Never mind.​All the ducats for Saturday's TEDxSMU wingding at the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre are long gone, but no matter: As The Hilltop reminds, you can espy the doings from three remote locations: ... More >>

Don Your Sunglasses For Yet Another Look at New-Look Reunion Tower (The Omni Too)

We said it before: Downtown Dallas is starting to look a little like Lil' Las Vegas. The subject spurred a little back-and-forth during a staff dinner last night, during which someone mentioned the story in yesterday's paper about our even more illuminated skyline. Said urban planner Larry Beasley, ... More >>

On MLK Day of Service, bcWORKSHOP Turns History Into Art to Find Way to the Future

bcWORKSHOPIf you notice anything different about the Knights of Pythias Temple, or Union Bankers Building, in Deep Ellum ...​Last year, you may recall, Brent Brown's bcWORKSHOP spent the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service by posting 'round town those cutouts intended to raise awareness about ho ... More >>