1 / 3 Sculptor Henry Moore (left) and architect I. M. Pei were on hand for the dedication of Moore's sculpture "The Dallas Piece" at City Hall Plaza. ((File)) 2 / 3I.M. Pei at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra AT&T Gala at the Meyerson Symphony Center. 3 / 3(l-r) Stanley Marcus of Dallas, I.M. Pei, architect of the Meyerson Symphony Hall and Eduardo Chillida, internationally reowned Basque sculptor a the Myerson Symphony Hall inspecting site for the installation of Chillida sculpture.

After all, it was former Dallas Mayor Erik Jonsson's chief project to reshape the city's image after the tragic assassination of Kennedy in Dealey Plaza. According to architectural website Galinsky.com, on his first Dallas project, Pei said: "When you do a city hall, it has to convey an image of the people, and this had to represent the people of Dallas... The people I met — rich and poor, powerful and not so powerful — were all very proud of their city. They felt that Dallas was the greatest city there was, and I could not disappoint them."

Perhaps, the most interesting fact about Dallas City Hall's structure is that its three front pillars are purely aesthetic. According to Architecture Week, Pei added the pillars after Jonsson reacted to the apparent top-heaviness of the building's shape. The pillars are stairwells that had originally been concealed. Further, Pei convinced the city to add the 6-acre plaza to the front of the building.

As for the Meyerson Symphony Center, amid political and aesthetic squabbles Pei again spared no expense, racking up a bill of $106 million. It was his third building in Dallas and his first commission on a musical auditorium.

1 / 3Organist Jonathan M. Gregoire of St. Andrew United Methodist Church in Plano performs at the Pipedreams Live! organ concert at the Meyerson Symphony Center in downtown Dallas, Sunday, October 23, 2016. ((Tom Fox / Staff Photographer)) 2 / 3President Barack Obama speaks during an interfaith memorial service at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas on Tuesday, July 12, 2016, for five law enforcement officers killed last week in an ambush at a Black Lives Matter rally. (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News)(Staff Photographer) 3 / 3Dallas is full of signature works from "starchitects." Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, 1989). Pei's only concert hall remains an elegantly understated presence in the Dallas Arts District, a subtle counterpoint of angles and curves. The interior is darkly luxurious, with extensively adjustable acoustics (by Artec Consultants) among the finest anywhere. Photographed February 2012. (Lara Solt/The Dallas Morning News) (Staff Photographer)

Dallas Morning News architecture critic Mark Lamster captured the essence of the Meyerson in an article about the 25th anniversary of the building: "Here we have one very complex and very contradictory building that happens to be very likable. Dallas, with its conflicting and colliding street grids, seems an almost ideal setting for Pei's brand of formalism, which is itself defined by clashing grids that can seem to defy logic. But those grids do resolve themselves."

Perhaps our city hall is a little overlooked compared to Pei's other dynamic Dallas commissions: One Dallas Center, Energy Plaza, Fountain Place, and the Meyerson. This is not a popular opinion, but I'd argue city hall holds a special place.

People around the world are familiar with the structure, even if they don't know it by name. Anyone who has seen the 1987 movie RoboCop, about a dystopic Detroit, will recognize Dallas City Hall as the megacorporation's headquarters. As a native Detroiter, I loved way RoboCop deals with themes of media influence, gentrification, corruption, authoritarianism, greed, privatization, capitalism, identity and human nature. As a Dallas transplant, I love walking through the front plaza of this modern, futuristic building. It is one my favorite spots in the city.

The Dallas skyline looms behind actor Peter Weller during a filming of RoboCop outside Dallas City Hall. ((File / 1987))

Pei turns 100 on Wednesday and his influence on our city is just as prevalent today as ever. I would over-romanticize Pei's career if I didn't mention that he was a complex man, who has his critics, and even suffered some notable setbacks throughout his projects. But I believe he was the perfect person to bring diversity, culture and a distinctive style to the architecture of Dallas.

Pei enjoyed success throughout his career for his ability to adapt, draw inspiration from indefinite sources, and avoid being confined to one particular style. No doubt, Dallasites can still learn a few life lessons from this centenarian. At the very least, you should watch RoboCop.

Renwei Chung is a Dallas Morning News Community Voices contributor. Email: projectrenwei@gmail.com