The Trinity : myth, vision, and form in Dallas's River
Name
939628756-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
6.57 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
079b78cee37a9e1b7ed451495a74d151
Author(s)
Seltzer, Callahan Pauline
Advisor(s)
Anne Whiston Spirn.
Alternative Title
Myth, vision, and form in Dallas's River
Date Issued
2015
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
The thesis explores the planning history of the Trinity River in Dallas, Texas. It examines the dramatic physical changes that have occurred in a particular area of the river adjacent to downtown, referred to as the Trinity Banks District (TBD), between the years 1840 and 2015. The thesis explores how the TBD has occupied a place of the "frontier" in the minds of Dallasites for over 175 years. The thesis finds that the visions and physical form of the TBD during these years derive from a collectively held urban myth-the frontier as a "tabula rasa." This myth repeatedly allows city builders to accept visions for the Trinity River that are untethered to reality of the alluvial river. The thesis argues that urban planning in the TBD repeats a cycle, which begins with the collectively held myth of the frontier; the creation of physical plans by outside experts; incomplete implementation of those plans; physical stagnation of the TBD; and finally, a remythicizing and re-visioning among civic elite. In light of the most recent controversy regarding the Trinity River Toll Road through the TBD, the thesis concludes that both the myth and this cycle persist in planning the Trinity Banks District in the contemporary era. Research was carried out at the Dallas Public Library History and Archives Division and interviews were conducted with stewards of the Trinity River, city planners, architects, and urban designers.
Description
Thesis: M.C.P., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2015.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 60-64).
Subjects
Urban Studies and Planning.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Terms of Use
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