Review: A 'Football Oz' in North Texas

The Star, the corporate headquarters of the Dallas Cowboys, opened in 2017, but this week it finally got the architecture review treatment from an unflinching critic.

2 minute read

July 25, 2018, 7:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Dallas Cowboys headquarters

Dorti / Shutterstock

Mark Lamster writes a review of the Dallas Cowboy headquarters, The Star, located in Frisco, Texas. Lamster places the tradition of the Dallas Cowboys as "America's Team" before shifting the history to the tenure of current owner Jerry Jones.

In Frisco, he has built it a genuine capital, a shimmering football Oz that emerges like a spectral vision from the blank canvas of North Texas nothingness. It is a miniature city, a 91-acre branded corporate headquarters and entertainment complex dedicated to football, consumption and — above all — profit.

The Star is not to be confused with AT&T, which opened in 2009 with a price tag of more than a billion dollars including more than $300 million in public funding. According to Lamster, however, the style of both complexes works in concert.

As at the team's AT&T Stadium in Arlington — a.k.a. Jerry World — the architectural language of the Star is unapologetically modern. It is a city of reflective surfaces, of glass and metal and white concrete that dazzles in the sun, and it is blessedly free of the kitschy, nostalgic elements common to sports design. "We talk about the past but we build for the future," a team representative told me.

Lamster also compares to a warmer, more vernacular style of architecture that is also found in Texas, and laments the auto-orientation of the complex ("understandable" but "unfortunate," writes Lamster). A follow up article by Christopher Wynn breaks Lamster's points into a tl;dr list.

Friday, July 20, 2018 in The Dallas Morning News

Black and white Rideshare Pick-Up Zone sign

The Slow Death of Ride Sharing

From the beginning, TNCs like Lyft and Uber touted shared rides as their key product. Now, Lyft is ending the practice.

June 1, 2023 - Human Transit

Red on white 'Room for Rent, Inquire Inside' sign

In Most U.S. Cities, Archaic Laws Limit Roommate Living

Critics argue laws preventing unrelated adults from living in the same home fail to understand the modern American household.

May 24, 2023 - The Atlantic

Vancouver Chuck Wolfe

Ten Signs of a Resurgent Downtown

In GeekWire, Chuck Wolfe continues his exploration of a holistic and practical approach to post-pandemic urban center recovery, anchored in local context and community-driven initiatives that promote livability, safety, and sustainability.

May 24, 2023 - GeekWire

Self-driving Mercedes semi truck on highway with white semi truck behind it

California Moves to Limit Autonomous Trucks

A bill passed by the State Assembly and moving on to the Senate would require autonomous semi trucks to have a trained human operator in the vehicle.

June 2 - The Sacramento Bee

Minnesota state capitol building with red flowers on green front lawn

Minnesota Budget Includes Significant Transit Investments

After a contentious debate, the state legislature passed a budget that changes how transportation projects are funded and supports increased transit service in the state.

June 2 - Governing

A vacant lot between two one-story brick buildings with graffiti in Detroit, Michigan

Proposed Land Value Tax Plan in Detroit

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan proposes hiking property taxes for vacant land and buildings while lowering the rate for occupied homes and businesses in a split tax plan he contends will resolve many of Detroit's blight and high property tax woes.

June 2 - The Detroit News

Project Manager III

San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency

UDO Transportation Planner

City of Charlotte - Charlotte Area Transit

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.