In 2020, the annual Texas Society of Architects Conference was supposed to be in Dallas. We were supposed to showcase and tour over thirty buildings across the city. We were supposed to welcome architects from around the state to the new home of AIA Dallas and the Architecture & Design Exchange. We were supposed to celebrate new architects at the Interfaith Peace Chapel designed by Philip Johnson. None of that happened. Like most events planned for 2020, things were done differently this year.
I had the pleasure and honor of serving on the AIA Dallas committee tasked with planning the conference. Our committee worked tirelessly to plan the in-person conference. It was going to be great. It was going to be epic. And then our plans for the conference were turned upside down because of the coronavirus pandemic. That same committee then worked tirelessly a second time to plan a virtual conference while still showcasing the beautiful city of Dallas.
Even though this was an unprecedented year, we rose to the challenge and executed an incredible virtual conference. Serving on this committee, working with a talented group of architects, and executing a successful conference was the highlight of my year. We were still able to highlight Dallas and showcase nine projects throughout Dallas with virtual tours. One of these tours was of the iconic Beck House, designed by Philip Johnson for the Beck Family and built in 1964 along Bachman Creek in the Preston Hollow neighborhood of Dallas.
Each of the tours had a coordinator from the committee to communicate with the property, schedule the recording date, identify and invite the tour guides, and secure sponsorships. Being able to coordinate the production of the Beck House tour was an incredible added bonus to volunteering with this committee. In addition to making the virtual tour of this iconic property happen, I was able to (finally) tour a house that has been on my personal “architectural bucket list” for years. We were also able to produce some invaluable high-quality video recordings for the property’s archives.
As the tour coordinator, I had two opportunities to tour the incredible house and grounds: first, the house manager was kind enough to invite me for a private tour of the house and grounds one afternoon while the owners were out of town before production day; and second, I had the pleasure to be on site while the production crew recorded tour guides Mark Lamster of The Dallas Morning News with Svend Fruit and Mil Bodron of BODRON/FRUIT.
Put simply, the Beck House lived up to its billing as an iconic and rather unprecedented piece of architecture. It is just as flamboyant and bold as the architect who envisioned it. The iconic cast-concrete colonnade marches around the facade of the house marking the rigid 5-foot grid of the floor plan while still managing to be playful in the ever-changing Texas sun. Without any regard for the natural form of the site or the creek below, the house is oriented to the cardinal points of a compass: the entry doors face due west and the wall of glass in the grand entry hall face due east. The centerline of the entry hall matches that of a grove of pecan trees that were planted almost 60 years ago. The interior spaces are formal and modern, yet executed in warm materials like Travertine tile and custom bleached walnut wood paneling. As Mark Lamster likes to say, the Beck House is serious about not being serious.
The original house was organized in a very formal arrangement. The Beck family never went beyond the dining room - the kitchen was industrial and adjacent to the staff quarters. There were two separate driveways; Mrs. Beck would pull up to the front doors on the main driveway and once she was in the house, her staff would then move her car to the garage via the service driveway. While the main formal living spaces the feature of the house, the formal “on-stage/off-stage” layout didn’t fit the needs of a modern family and current (former) owners.
Local Dallas architecture firm Bodron/Fruit executed a near-perfect restoration of the original “formal rooms” and implemented a beautiful remodel of the original kitchen and staff quarters to create warm and inviting family spaces to accommodate modern family living. The same can be said about the primary suite and children’s bedrooms upstairs. In addition to refreshing the indoor living spaces for a modern family, landscape architect ReedHilderbrand re-imagined the landscaping to be less formal by introducing a large circle driveway and breaking the formal landscaped plinth that the house originally sat on as it looked down over the creek.
The AIA Dallas conference planning committee exceeded all expectations as we planned, pivoted, and planned some more for the state-wide conference during an unusual year. Working together, we pulled off something that - in January of 2020 - would have seemed not just unprecedented, but next-to-impossible: a virtual state-wide conference. The brilliance of the committee never ceased to amaze me and I’m thankful to have been a part of it. I am beyond thankful to know and work with those individuals who share a similar passion for architecture and the great city of Dallas. As a completely unexpected twist, our committee was awarded an AIA Dallas Presidential Citation for “Outstanding Contributions to the Texas Society of Architects Conference.”
Volunteering with AIA Dallas has been a highlight of my young architectural career. I have met countless interesting and passionate people - architects and non-architects alike. At times, yes, there are personal benefits, but I truly believe in the mission of the organization and the associated committees. I want to see the organization succeed and share their message with the community at large.
I’ll never forget those afternoons spent visiting the Beck House as they were shining bright spots during a very tumultuous and unprecedented year. Nor will I forget the hard work of our committee and that we pulled off a great event for architects across the great state of Texas. Here’s to good things happening in 2021!