I believe his designs speak volumes. Enjoy. I did.

Perrault found national reknown in the 1980’s when he won the competition to design the French Nation Library. His design for the library is breathtaking and illustrative of his immense capabilities. Even more-so, the library is an excellent representation of what seems to be his vision: designing modern architecture that always looks forward, and uses cutting edge technologies along with a desire to implement the surrounding areas into the design of the building and using geometric symmetry to draw the line of sight where he desires notice. Perrault has an ability to find a truly new way to look upon generic buildings. His company takes on challenging projects and plants its flag at the forefront of modern architecture.

Dominque Perrault’s hyper modern, tech forward vision seems to find a perfect home in large, highly visible projects. The Blade is designed as a rhomboid prism, such that it will look differently from any angle at which you look at it. It uses light and perception to effectively create the appearance of many building all in one.

Outside of the incredible aesthetics of the architecture, it is also forward looking as a center of business surrounded by housing, rather than being in an explicitly business focused location.

Wow. The first moment your eyes set sight on this design, you know you are in the presence of greatness.
As I began my research of Dominique Perrault the National French Library was the first and most prominent thing that came up in the searches. A quick look at his wikipedia page shows dozens upon dozens of projects he has worked on, so what makes this one so special?

I ask you only to look at this image. The symmetry is immediately noticeable, but beyond that this design seems to mirror not only itself, but everything around it. The reflective design of the outter building mimics the colors of the sky around it, enabling the massive contruct to appear almost natural and futuristic all at once. It is designed to contain the knowledge of the people of France, but rather that looking like a container, it appears open and inviting. The design calls out for more. Rather than meerly holding knowledge, as though there is no limit to what it can hold.

This is the design that supposedly lifted Perrault to world fame, and it seems reasonable to me.

AT&T Stadium was a destruction of many of my fondest childhood memories with my family going to a Cowboys game in the old stadium, but also felt like a shift away from the legacy of a team I truly enjoy watching. I vaguely remember the Cowboys of the 1990’s, a team worth watching every Sunday. I remember how excited I used to be to turn on the game. Now, the team has a beautiful new building, but they seem to fumble every opportunity thrown their way. The building is like a gilding of the team, attempting to remind us of the greatness of America’s team, but as you walk in and look what the building contains, you realize it’s mostly hollow. The team isn’t what is portrayed on the outside.

One of the benefits to having the new(-ish, at this point) stadium in Dallas is the great press that it often draws. Honestly, Jerry Jones is a master marketer and built a truly incredible product for us to enjoy. The building is beautiful, the opening roof allows nearly ideal weather conditions, and the opulence of the stadium could make any football fan feel as if they were in the Roman Colosseum of old. Wonder and amazement are the feelings the building feels designed to draw out of any passer-by, myself included. Driving down the highway, this piece of architecture is impossible to miss.

My brother took me to a Texas State championship high school football game at the stadium. The immensity of the location and the grandeur slap you in the face like a wet towel as you pull into the parking lot, and then blind you as you walk through the doors and see the giant screen high above a beautiful field of green. It is a strange juxtaposition, watching a sport you love, played by people you are interested about, in a place that symbolizes the immense gap between yourself and the dreams of prosperity you may hold. My first experience was overall pleasant here, but with a taint that will never leave it.