Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas

Angled on downtown's Flora Street, the Morton H. Meyerson Hall is a basic "shoe box" design wrapped in a swirling wall of glass, which contributes to its bold architectural statement. It's pretty hard to miss if you're wandering around in the vicinity. Most notably, there are 211 glass panels that make up the front façade and none of them are alike.

The architect of the world-class hall, I.M. Pei, had a history of cost overruns, and by the time the center opened in 1989, the project had gone from an estimated cost of $50 million to over $80 million, earning Pei a new nickname, "You Will Pay".

Inside, the costly facility features one of the largest mechanical-action organs ever built for a concert hall, fitted with no less than 4,535 operating pipes. The hall's acoustics are quite phenomenal as well, with 74 doors around the concert chamber that can be adjusted according to how much reverberation is needed. Additionally, there are 42 tons of curtains around the top of the stage that can be set to make musical notes arrive to the audience as purely and sweetly as possible.

Why You Should Visit:
The center is the permanent home of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the Dallas Symphony Chorus, as well as the primary performing venue of the Dallas Wind Symphony, plus several other Dallas-based musical organizations. An outdoor plaza and stage is the site for numerous festivals and concerts, so the venue, all in all, is more than just a symphony hall!