Fountain Place
Dallas, USA

HEIGHT: 219m/718 feet
FLOORS: 62 floors
COMPLETION: 1985
ARCHITECT: Pei Cobb Freed & Partners

Looking like some giant crystal award for excellence in architecture, this building rises in its own corner of the Dallas urban core. That partial isolation enhances the building's distinctive shape and allows it to be admired from many different angles. Even though Fountain Place is symmetrical in shape, it never quite looks the same from one location to the next. To comprehend this odd shape, envision a block of Styrofoam with a rectangle marked diagonally across the top. From the point where two vertical corners of the cube converge with the penciled-in rectangle, carve in a slope downward. This may sound confusing, but it works. Alternatively, if you have the means, hire a helicopter and hover above the building until it makes sense to you. That's the best way to understand most large-scale architecture. Fountain Place is actually just one-third of a larger project that was never completed. The rest was to have included a hotel and a third building. However, the item that garners the most attention, aside from the building itself, was actually finished -- the fountains. Fountain place is home to a lovely water garden and fountains that transform this corner of the city from sun-scorched north Texas summer into a lush paradise where people can pause, reflect and catch their breath before passing on to their next destination. No matter how magnificent the green prism above it, the fountains are the feature that is always highlighted in the tour books.

http://www.dallasarchitecture.info/fountpl-5.jpg

http://www.pcfandp.com/a/p/8212/8212-2.jpg

http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/texas/dallas/fountainplace/top.jpg

http://www.dallasarchitecture.info/fountpl-4.jpg

http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/texas/dallas/fountainplace/baseentrance.jpg

http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/texas/dallas/fountainplace/water.jpg

http://www.dallasarchitecture.info/fountpl-3.jpg

One of the greatest Pei's masterpiece. Same blue as the sky's glass windows and the twised structure gives the feminine feeling for this skyscraper. Rising 720 ft. tall like an enormous Blade taking off the ground...9.5/10

7.5 a bit stubby on some angles, but overall a great looking building:)

Brilliant faceted design, probably my favourite in the US. 9.5/10

nice tower. I like the top.

9/10

8.5/10

Nice shape and color, except the windows could have been better.

8.5/10

Simply amazing! Almost as good as the Bank of China.

A good looking tower,but maybe too fat.
8.0/10

massive. 7.5/10

The third picture looks like a rocket about to take off. :) Anyway I give it 8/10

10, absolutely amazing piece of architecture

One of the greatest Pei's masterpiece

This is a Henry Cobb skyscraper, I'm pretty sure.

It took me a while to figure out how the shape of this building actually worked. It's a very interesting design, and I love the blue glass. One of the best towers in the United States. 9.0/10

mmmmm, i used to like this one better before, now it is a 7/10

1986 award for best design, and here is not among top 100 ???

:bash:


Top design, 10/10

Subtlety clearly wasn't the architect's main concern.....:D

7/10 - I love the way the glasss curtain wall dances with the light - it seems to make the entire sky a part of the design...

But the massing is sort of chunky; it doesn't flow skyward, and so it doesn't help the building soar. A perfect case of planning a building as if it were a giant sculpture, perhaps? And what might work as a scupture doesnt' always work as well on a skyscraper...The overall shape just doesn't quite fit...

Not a bad looking 'scraper, but it seems like it could use a little something more....

looks awful from this side:
http://skyscrapers.com/files/transfer/6/2002/04/148016.jpg ->5.5/10

But this angle fixes it all:
http://skyscrapers.com/files/transfer/6/2001/05/113229.jpg 7/10

I don't understand why it doesn't look that tall...:( :?:

BUMP! D|FW represent!

Originally posted by Chibcha2k
I don't understand why it doesn't look that tall...:( :?:

Trust me, if you saw it in some other pics...or in person especially, that allllll changes!

Courtesy of C Troy Mathis
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid73/p218e5c50f17b769d24d162b5f384eed9/fb6ecefb.jpg

Some of the fountains in the plaza underneath.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid73/peebfa0db8dc10afb34a87b863c152e1e/fb6ecec1.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid73/pbd3925001a1d9467ccb7bfd4d94472f4/fb6eceaf.jpg

What a great building!! 8/10

A very beautiful and creative building, I made a stained glass artpice of the building.

9/10

Btw, it is not symmetrical, it's a mirror image.

definitely unique and despite it's not-so-tallness, it still is one of the greatest scrapers designed and built.

http://www.dallasarchitecture.info/fountpl-5.jpg
http://www.dallasarchitecture.info/fountpl-4.jpg
http://skyscraperpicture.com/dallas09.jpg
http://skyscraperpicture.com/dallas08.jpg
http://skyscraperpicture.com/dallas10.jpg

10!!!!!

I LOVE IT

looks like a good try from a 10 year old. 4/10

i always liked this one..9/10

unique design...so much glass! 7.5/10

9/10

A masterpiece.

http://skyscrapers.com/files/transfer/6/2001/05/113229.jpg

facade: and i like it blue :) and glassy
form: excellent!
points: 9,5

Nice shape, unique, great design
10/10

9

Amazing... :eek:

8.5/10

Glassy and shinny!
Interesting!

Somehow it reminds me of blue rocket!

5..4..3..2..1..fire!

http://skyscrapers.com/files/transfer/6/2001/05/113229.jpg

10 What a masterpiece. More beautiful in person.

8.5/10

Interesting design

The base
http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/texas/dallas/fountainplace/base.jpg

http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/texas/dallas/fountainplace/det3.jpg

http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/texas/dallas/fountainplace/water3.jpg

5/10 I like glass, but no this building.

4 Punkte!

Looks quite old-fashioned with not a very good quality

7/10! lovely shape there is something about this one I don't like (I don't know exactly what).

i don't like the giant slides makes it too bulky

5/10

it'd look good as a sculpture, but not that good as a scraper. the plaza looks pretty darn refreshing though...

8

Lived in Dallas those pictures don't do justice to this building at all.

Ahhhh -- Dallas redeaming itself for the atrocity that is Reniassance Tower

Great look and feel that moved the city outside the "box" and into a newer style of scraper construction, post-modern, albeit 20 years later ;-)

8/10 great tower, original, still looks brand new, and I just like the name, nothing fancy, or long, or with tower in it, just named after the fountains at its base

9/10. I Like The Color And The Desing

the design is different i like it 9/10

8/10
I like it.

Too massive, ugly form. 4.5

6.5

I like the fountains but not the bldg so much. Interesting design but not somethin I'd really want in my city. Might appear better suited to Asia or on the water somewhere.

It is very massive, very imposing, and has a giant footprint. I like the way it is designed and it is very architectually astounding. Yet it just seems dated and the glass at ground level is cheap and bland. It also looks like it is trying too hard and doesnt really feel natural with its surroundings. Another Texan bohemoth. 7/10

8.5/10. 1 point off for the bulk design but Fountain Place makes up for it with the blue tint glass, waterslide style of th ebuilding and a water fountain in front. Cool relax.

10
Love it. Totally unique, nothing else like it.

9/10

Very futuristic, and highly original.

I wish there were more buildings like this around the world.

Well although it's very fat it has a very nice form, the glass is very lovely, and it soars well!! Yeah this tower is definetly worth seeing!!! 9/10

9/10

Too fat, 7.5

A giant gleaming diamond!
10/10

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3206/3030009225_e7c501368e_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3044/3030837214_2d989b964c.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3027/3030000673_208f44121d_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3147/3030001419_c31bcfec4c_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3279/3030837920_7d1342b0c1.jpg

Simple, but nice. 7/10

10/10 shiny and sexy and pyramidlike

Fountain Place is freaking awesome. So simple, yet so stunning. I give it a 9.5/10. :D

10! spetacular!

9/10

8.5/10

Fantastic shape and facade but it'd better with more metters, it'd more stylized
9/10

9/10

Awful. 2.

10+ I absolutely love this one. Totally beautiful, totally unique.

Simply breathtaking! 9.5/10

Interesting design.. 9.5/10

Interesting shape but boring facade. 7/10

9/10.

Hey! I love this! 10/10.

wow 10/10

absolutely amazing piece of architecture

10/10

9/10

it´s a really nice tower 8/10

9/10

7,5/10

I really love weird designs! 9.5/10

Simply amazing!
9.5/10

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/9225/picture1018000hv.jpg

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/4379/img03498009dy.jpg

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/6917/img03458000lp.jpg

She's a beaut. 9.5/10

7/10

7/10

nice 7/10

9/10 Great building.

8/10. Cool!

9/10.

9.5/10 amazing building. I always liked it, I just never realized it was so tall. I always thought it to be around a 400 footer. So the massing might be a little off, but what a design, what colors!! And in some pics, completley awe inspiring. I just wish that it would be in a more compact enviroment so that it towers over its neighbors instead of having a carpark as a neighbor. it would look better still.

amazing 8/10

7/10

nice design, elegant and great dark colours. almost evil looking,
a 9/10

6/10， i dont like such style

8.5/10.

great 8.5/10

8.5/10

9/10

Somewhat behemouth, but still a landmark.

7

10!

I don't care what you think, this building kicks BOOTAY!!! :master: :bow: :yes:

Perfect 10, BTW.

6/10

8.5/10 unique

9/10

9. cool.

9.5/10 Love it!:) Looks very elegant.

8/10

I think it would have looked better if they had slanted the top the way they had slanted the side.

9,5/10

classic tower 7.5/10

Brilliant design!

I love the unique shape, it doesn't look the same from two different places. Also the facade is really beautiful, I love it!

9.5/10!

7/10

Nice tower. 8/10

9/10

8/10

this building is sensational
8.5/10

Pic by Ninjatune from dallasmetropolis.com

http://static.flickr.com/1384/891428505_55c1bcaf6f.jpg

8.5/10

superb 9.5/10

10/10

7/10

9,5/10

10/10

So unique! i love it 9.5/10

9/10

This is my kind of Building! 9.5/10

photos from flickr

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/172/465898203_19cc5e1702_o.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/127/389762301_b88f969c99_b.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/122/313218775_16d8ff641d_o.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/125/347331424_ff2ce896f5_o.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/119/303223775_5b90a8b2c4_o.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/235/462349204_dba512d429_o.jpg

Fountain Place
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1110/683214004_e92cc81f18_o.jpg

8/10.

7,5/10

dislike the facade 6/10

I feel the triangular top section doesn't quite fit with the rest. Something more daring, and taller, should have been put up there. So it could have been a true, world-class masterpiece, but the opportunity was missed. The rest of the building is superb and not without reminding me of Hong Kong's Bank of China.
7.5/10

7/10

big iceberg!

9. magnificent

8/10

Nice and interestinf design!

9/10

8/10

7/10

7 / 10

8/10:)

8/10 interesting structure

8/10

5/10 don't really like it

7.5/10

8/10

8.5 - Very unique, but perhaps a bit too much use of glass

We live in good times:) I know, it is a matter of the taste, but I very much, very much like him. He is original, he is shocking, he is uniform all at the same time.

He is very beautiful. I am greeting.:)

10/10

10/10. superb!

10/10 <3

8/10 a classic

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3061/3017475243_b76cb19db8_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3052/3018334460_f880224ee5_o.jpg

08/10

Beautiful. Worth giving a 10 points.:okay:

8.5/10

9/10

8/10

Very elegant and beautiful !

9.0/10

Oh boi ! 9.50/10

truly beautiful!! 10/10

10/10 the old brother of Torre Espacio :)
http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/fountainplace/fountain7.jpghttp://farm4.static.flickr.com/3336/3514045212_b263292116.jpg

http://www.bomberscastello.com/actividades/competiciones_deportivas/2_carrera_torre_espacio/torre_espacio_1.jpghttp://www.dallasarchitecture.info/fountpl-1.jpg

the same architect, the same idea

10. Excellent building. Regards.

9/10

9/10

Monumental, sculptural and iconic. 9

8/10

10/10:)

7/10

voted 5.5/10

8.5/10 !! unique shape like it ")

9/10

9.5/10

Best in Texas, and arguably the best tower in the American south.

cool 9/10

9/10

Symbol for Dallas, iconic design. Far away from being perfect, though. 8.5/10

Finally! My desktop picture was a skyline of an American city, and I didn't know what city it was. Now I recognized this beautiful building!
9/10!

9/10

8/10

9.5/10

3.5/10

10/10

8/10

9/10

9/10

8/10

:ohno: 5/10