Dallas is a relatively young city founded in 1841. As a commercial center of the region, Dallas accommodates offices of all major global companies and well-known industrial plants.
However, Dallas is attractive not only for the original architecture of the modern headquarters buildings of large corporations and business centers. It’s interesting for travelers with Victorian, modernist and neoclassical architecture, as well as offers an extensive collection of other unique attractions. Well, it will be a great idea to rent a car in Dallas and discover the following 5 brilliant sights situated in this fabulous city…
Dallas Museum of Art
This is a real cultural epicenter of Dallas downtown. The extensive collection of the museum includes about 25 thousand art objects: the oldest of them date back to the 3rd millennium BC, and the newest ones – to today. It contains remarkable examples of decorative art from all over the world.
So, the selection of ancient Mediterranean art is presented with the artifacts of the Egyptian, Greek, and Cycladic civilizations.
The South Asian cultural objects contain a variety of subjects of Buddhist art (2-4 centuries AD), and the art of India’s Mughal period (15-19 centuries).
Exhibits of the African collection were obtained from Western and Central Africa and date mainly from the 17th till 21st centuries.
Of course, the samples of modern American art are also presented in the museum. They include paintings, sculptures, and drawings of the colonial period and the period of the World War II.
In addition, the museum owns a large collection of arts and crafts, consisting of more than 8,500 masterpieces majorly from Europe and America.
Address: 1717 N Harwood St
Admission: major expositions – free of charge, special exhibitions – $16 adults, $12 students, kids under 11 – free of charge
Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge
This unique bridge walks across Trinity River. Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge connects Woodall Rogers Freeway and Singleton Boulevard. This is a cable-stayed bridge of a total length of 570 meters. The length of the major span is 365 meters, and the height of the bridge at the highest point is 122 meters. In 2010 the main arch with a height of 40-storey house was decorated with a central curved span that now is one of the most visible elements of Dallas landscape.
By the way, there’s also Continental Avenue Bridge, which runs parallel to the main bridge and designed especially for pedestrians. If you want to walk along it, then the easiest way is to reach it via Singleton Boulevard.
Address: TX-366 Spur, Dallas
Bank of America Plaza
This building is the tallest Dallas’ skyscraper and the third tallest construction in Texas. Its height is 280 meters, and it includes 72 floors. The skyscraper in the style of late modernism began to be built in 1983 and its construction completed in just two years.
(photo by Keren Melgarejo)
The original architectural project included two 72-storey towers, as well as a 600-room hotel and a parking lot. In addition, the skyscraper should be decorated with the pyramids and a silver false wall. In the process of work, the plans were significantly changed, so that “Bank of America Plaza” became blue building with gray marble stripes. The decreasing of oil prices forced customers to abandon the building both of the second tower and the hotel, and the parking lot was turned into Belo Garden Public Park.
The last renovation of the skyscraper took place in 2013. According to it, the original green backlight was replaced with multicolored LEDs. Although Bank of America Plaza is not available to public, it still offers fantastic views for your camera in the evening.
Address: 901 Main St
The Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens
This gorgeous botanical complex occupies more than 250 thousand square meters and is located on the southeastern shore of White Rock Lake. You will find there a huge number of different gardens, and this spectacular view is complemented by a stunning panorama of the lake and the landscape of Dallas downtown.
In addition, the Dallas arboretum has an open-air scene, picnic areas and the collection of miniature copies of houses and other buildings that form a copy Texas ancient settlement on the prairie.
The garden is a home for more than 2 thousand species of azaleas, which represent an amazing sight in combination with tulips in spring. By the way, bananas, tapioca and chrysanthemums complement the incredible beauty of the garden.
The latest innovation of the arboretum is the visitors’ center. It features a souvenir shop, a patio and a summer house, where you can see how skyscrapers are reflected in the water of a pond at night.
Address: 8525 Garland Rd
Admission: $15 adults, $10 kids 3-12
NorthPark Center
It’s a huge top-class indoor shopping mall accommodates about 250 shops and restaurants. NorthPark Center is the first shopping complex mentioned in Vogue magazine – its annual sales turnover is more than one billion USD. In the list of the biggest shopping complexes in the US, NorthPark Center ranks among the top 20.
The project of the center was carefully thought-out in terms of the interior. It even received the award of the American Institute of Architects as the first US shopping center, where a separate space is provided for the demonstration of collections of art objects. The tradition to hold art exhibitions in the center continues to this day.
Naturally, it’s not possible to list all the stores that are open in NorthPark Center. The hugest and constantly working are H&M, Forever 21, Nordstrom, and Macy’s.
Address: 8687 N Central Expy
