This work that proposes a novel interpretation of a city that has proudly declared its freedom from the past looks at elements that have shaped Dallas and served to limit democratic participation and exacerbate inequality.

"The AIA Guide to New York City has been the ultimate single-volume guide to the City's architectural treasures."--Back cover.

"The idea for this book came about when architectural historian Kathryn O'Rourke and architect / photographer Ben Koush collaborated on a piece on postmodern architecture for Texas Architect. The two enjoyed working together--with O'Rourke writing and Koush providing visuals--and, together with UTP, developed the framework for a similarly rich, book-length treatment of modern architecture in Texas. Conceived to be accessible to a general readership, this project explores in photographs and words approximately fifty years of Texas modern architecture, from the 1930s to the 1980s. As O'Rourke writes, "In this period, modern architecture and Texas grew and changed at an astonishing pace. The state became a significant force in national and international affairs, chiefly as a consequence of the oil industry and the presence of politically powerful Texans in Washington, D.C. Major buildings, many designed by regionally and nationally-prominent architects, followed the money in the state as the influence and image of Texas grew. Relentless ambition, a forward-looking attitude, and a strong sense of place combined to make Texans particularly receptive to modern architecture's implication of newness, its future-oriented image, and its capacity to reinterpret historical forms in novel ways." While many books on Texas architecture focus on one building type (residential architecture, courthouses, and so on), this project adopts a broader lens. A dozen chapters presented under four thematic headings explore buildings through a variety of frameworks--there are the inescapable forces of heat and money, essential functions like caregiving and government, and groupings for leisure and multi-building sites such as museums and campuses. In each of these sections, the authors present a "constellation" of buildings, with one central example and several supporting ones. So, for instance, the "God" chapter presents O'Neil Ford's Little Chapel in the Woods in Denton as its main building, alongside the Antioch Baptist Church in San Antonio and the Congregation Rodef Shalom in Waco. This sort of geographical diversity, with big cities sitting alongside smaller and lesser studied places, runs through the volume as a whole"--

"Shows how the developers of Highland Park in Dallas and River Oaks in Houston were trying to create better living conditions in a countryside atmosphere away from the uncontrolled development that had blighted late 19th-century and early 20th-century urban neighborhoods in Texas. Also explores why planned suburban and community growth failed at the city-wide level and remained confined to elite suburbs. Also looks at subdivisions in Fort Worth, San Antonio, Amarillo, Wichita Falls, Beaumont, Galveston, and Port Arthur to provide information on how city planners worked with landscape architects to incorporate infrastructure improvements, coordinate landscape planning, and employ such legal devices as restrictive covenants to shape elite space coherently. The work of Texas' foremost suburban house architects, such as C.D. Hill, William Ward Watkin, and John F. Staub, is also analyzed"--