Brutalism and Beauty: Redesign Marks New Era at UT Dallas
September 2010 – UT Dallas is preparing to celebrate a milestone in its life as an
education and research institution with the dedication of a central campus redesign
Wednesday, Sept. 29th.
Open to all students, faculty, staff and the general public, the campus enhancement
dedication will be held at 10:30 a.m. at the Trellis Plaza adjacent to the McDermott
Library. A reception will immediately follow.
The Campus Enhancement Project was envisioned as a joyous physical expression of the
excellence represented by the traditionally high academic standards and vigorous
research activity on campus, and as a statement about the University’s pursuit of national
ascendancy in service to its students and its community.
“UT Dallas was the ambitious dream of individuals who created a place where young
researchers and future leaders would find a first class education,” said UT Dallas
President David E. Daniel. “This project is an external expression of the confidence and
commitment that imbued our founders, and that we share today. The University must be
excellent in all it does, and that should be reflected in the way our campus physically
welcomes those who join us here.”
The project addresses one of the specific goals set by the University’s strategic plan
under “Initiative 6: Making a Great City Greater: Enhance the physical appearance of
campus …”
The two-year project has been led by landscape architects Peter Walker and Partners, a
world- renowned design firm chosen for its understanding of Dallas and for its record of
visionary work in venues ranging from university campuses to corporate headquarters to
private gardens.
The firm was recently chosen to carry out the design of the World Trade Center
Memorial in New York. It is also responsible for the United States Embassy in Beijing
and the 1,000-acre Millennium Parklands in Sydney, Australia. The firm has also
frequently worked with other architects on landscape projects, including the Nasher
Foundation Sculpture Center in Dallas, designed in collaboration with the Renzo Piano
Workshop, and the Nishi Harima Science Garden City in Japan, with Arata Isozaki and
Associates.
The PWP plan for UT Dallas involved reforesting the main entrance along University
Parkway with more than 5,000 trees and native plants, leading to a mall cooled by a
columnar misting system, rectilinear ponds and walkways lined with magnolias. The
space is distinguished by a pavilion-sized trellis plaza between McDermott Library and
the Student Union.
A new entrance, featuring a crescent stand of oak trees, welcomes visitors to the
transformed campus.
The project is intended to unify campus while complementing the so-called “brutalist”
architecture style in which most of UT Dallas’ early buildings were constructed. The
style flourished from the 1950s to the mid-1970s, when the University was being built by
three Texas Instruments luminaries working to create a research institution in their
hometown.
Brutalism involves the use of monumental shapes of raw, unfinished molded concrete,
and is seen by some as an advocacy of functionalist principles in services, materials and
structure. It is typically stark, austere and rectilinear.
“Campus environments are an important place to teach about the built environment,” said
Peter Walker, the architect. “For many students, a campus is their first experience of a
place designed and built with an eye towards community, order and design. It is
important for campus environments to be forward-looking, world class and beautiful, as
they house the future leaders of our cities, planning departments, corporations, etc.
“UT Dallas and the greater Dallas metropolitan region are poised for growth. I believe
that this project will be a strong example of the importance of landscape and design and I
hope it inspires other projects.”
The $30 million project was made possible by private philanthropic support. The
University is particularly grateful for the Eugene McDermott family’s nearly 50-year
commitment to UT Dallas.
Eugene McDermott, along with the late Cecil Green and Erik Jonsson, founded Texas
Instruments and the research institution that became UT Dallas in 1969. In 2000, Mrs.
Margaret McDermott initiated the Eugene McDermott Scholars Program in honor of her
late husband. That program provides select UT Dallas students with a rigorous and
personalized education as well as intensive extracurricular activities like research
opportunities and foreign travel.
Members of the McDermott family are planning to attend the dedication, as are
University of Texas System officials; UT Dallas students, faculty and staff; and Dallasarea community leaders.
“It is impossible to know what we would have become as a University without the
unwavering support of the Eugene McDermott family,” said Dr. Hobson Wildenthal,
provost and executive vice president of UT Dallas. “The effects of this project will
reverberate for years to come.”
Begun in fall 2008, the transformation at UT Dallas includes many living elements that
will grow with the University and continue to improve through the years. The effort
encompassed more than 800,000 gross square feet. When complete, special features of
the project will include:
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A circular pool with a columnar fog system that is designed to run at 3.7 gallons per
minute. On calm days, fog can crawl as high as 200 feet from the column. A sensor
turns the fog off on windy days, and at night the column is illuminated.
Human-scaled outdoor chess boards.
A series of 33 needlepoint holly hedgerows that stretch from Waterview Parkway to
Floyd Road along Campbell Road. Each hedge is 120 feet long, and will be
maintained at a maximum height of 5 feet.
A wide variety of trees, including magnolias, bur oaks, Caddo maples and others.
With an enrollment of more than 17,000, UT Dallas is one of the few institutions of
higher learning to have been built from the top down. It began as a private research
institute and became a state university exclusively for graduate students in 1969 when it
joined The University of Texas System. UT Dallas admitted undergraduate juniors and
seniors six years later and became a full-service university serving freshmen and
sophomores in 1990.
The University’s main campus is situated on approximately 500 acres. Almost 600,000
square feet of new facilities have been added since 2007, and an additional 280,000
square feet are planned for completion by 2012.
The University’s quest to serve the Dallas-Fort Worth region by becoming one of the
nation’s best public research universities has changed not only the way the campus looks,
but has also:
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Increased enrollment 15 percent since 2007.
Increased research expenditures by 60 percent since 2007.
Maintained, despite enrollment growth, one of the highest average SAT scores among
public universities in Texas. The freshman class this fall has a preliminary SAT
average of 1255.
Increased the number of faculty by a net of 186, with a goal to add 200 more within a
decade, for a total of 610.
Brought the University to notice in the U.S. News and World Report “Best National
Universities” tier one ranking, tied with Arizona State and Rutgers. (2010 edition)
For additional details about the enhancement, visit utdallas.edu/enhance. For information
about naming opportunities, visit utdallas.edu/development/enhancement. For
information about the strategic plan and Tier One, visit the President’s homepage.
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Media Contacts: Jenni Huffenberger, UT Dallas, 972-883-4431, jennib@utdallas.edu or the Office of
Media Relations, UT Dallas, (972) 883-2155, newscenter@utdallas.edu.