[Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas in Houston, TX by Michael Graves & Associates | image source]
The architect explains the building "is a 300,000-square-foot office building and regional bank-processing center. A pitched roof marks the wing housing secure cash processing facilities on the lower floors, while a boardroom, meeting rooms, and dining rooms benefit from panoramic views of the Houston skyline visible from the two levels above. The wing opposite contains the storage vault under a green tile barrel-vaulted roof. These volumes are intended to exhibit the Bank’s commitment to security, as the loggia at the building’s entrance suggests outreach and openness."
[Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas in Houston, TX by Michael Graves & Associates | image source]
The Masonry Contractor's Association of America (MCAA) calls the building a true "masonry masterpiece." Why? One reason is because "Mr. Graves used masonry extensively for both the exterior and interior construction." How much is extensive? "The overall exterior consists of 537,000 closure brick (4"x8"x4"), 31,400 blue structural glazed tile (8"x8"x4"), 90,000 modular accent brick and 3,307 cubic feet of cast stone. Additionally, the architect utilized 3,428SF of green precast paving (to match the color of money) at the main entrance stairways and accent pavers in the concrete plaza...over 178,450 fully grouted and extensively reinforced concrete masonry units were used for backup and partition walls...Over 5,800 SF of Hadrian limestone and Palamino tile adorns the main entrance lobby, boardroom and executive restrooms. Green glazed tile units (over 15,000 of them) were used in the walls of the cash processing areas as well." That's alotta masonry!
[Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas in Houston, TX by Michael Graves & Associates | image source]
Another reason the MCAA loves this building is because Mr. Graves made the thing look like it was made of GIGANTIC bricks, like a toy model blown up to the scale of a real building inhabited by real people. Those 31,400 blue structural glazed tiles help make the majority of the exterior walls read in this manner; they are the mortar to the 537,000 closure bricks "bricks." It's deplorable, as if Mr. Graves is regressing into a grade-schooler. I'm surprised that the Federal Reserve Bank sees this postmodern playfulness as appropriate for a fairly serious institution. Perhaps they are trying to paint a goofy face on highly secure facility.
[Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas in Houston, TX by Michael Graves & Associates | image source]
That said, I actually like the footprint and massing of the building, the way it fizzles from the pedimented face fronting the highway to the old building it is linked to. The colonnaded roof deck is equally hokey, and maybe unusable during many months in Houston, but it seems to be in the right place. Nevertheless, it does not make up for a design that continues Mr. Graves' treatment of buildings as purely graphic exercises, apparently removed from the considerations of not only occupants but those that are confronted with his buildings on the outside.
[Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas in Houston, TX by Michael Graves & Associates | image source]
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