Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum: 2020 Best of Year Winner for Domestic Facade
The weight of this museum’s subject matter loomed large over the design
of its edifice. The Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum teaches the history of one of mankind’s darkest moments and the worldwide human rights initiatives that followed. Its
exhibition rooms are simple black boxes in which visitors can reflect on tragedy and hope. When it came to conceiving the building’s street-front presence, Omniplan lead designer Mark Holsinger and team had to further consider the location: the city’s West End Historic District. The exterior needed to reflect the museum’s mission while following the preservation criteria the neighborhood required regarding scale, materials, and streetscape expression. The chosen cladding, copper, is one of the oldest building materials, known for its durability and resilience. It patinates over time and in the elements, “alluding to the concepts of perseverance and weathering the storm,” Holsinger says. The copper panels continue into the light-filled lobby, maintaining a message of strength in a space intended as a peaceful reprieve from the challenging topics
presented within.

Project Team: Mark Holsinger; Steve Brookover; Emily Teng Yan; Selina Cinecio; Martin Medina; Scott Hall.
> See the full list of winners and honorees from Best of Year 2020