I've been living in Dallas for a few years now. During lunch, I went downtown, and a coworker pointed to a building across the street.

"Hey, did you know that city hall building appeared in RoboCop?"

I didn't know. I really didn't.

The building that looks like an upside-down pyramid, which I pass by every day on my commute, was the place that said in 1987, "This is Detroit."

1500 Marilla St. Dallas City Hall.

But up close, this building looks really strange. It widens as it goes up.

It narrows as it goes down. I don't know how it doesn't collapse physically.

It turns out it was designed by I.M. Pei, the same guy who made the glass pyramid in front of the Louvre. It was completed in 1978.

Standing in the plaza and looking up at the building, suddenly the movie's background music started playing in my head.

The heavy synthesizer sound. "OCP, We are Omni Consumer Products."

This building is the one that appeared as the headquarters of the evil corporation in the RoboCop movie.

It has a futuristic, cold, bureaucratic vibe. So from the filmmakers' perspective, they must have thought, "This is the place, this is it."

If you've seen the movie, you know that Detroit in RoboCop is a total mess.

Criminals are rampant, drug dealers occupy the streets, and the police are being privatized in a dystopia. But all those desolate street scenes were filmed in downtown Dallas.

Let's touch on this. What was Texas like in the mid to late 1980s?

The oil boom was coming to an end. Oil prices plummeted, and the entire Texas economy was wobbling.

So there were vacant buildings, empty streets, and industrial ruins all over downtown Dallas.

From the filmmakers' perspective, it was like finding a location to express "the future ruins of Detroit" just lying around on the streets.

Isn't it ironic? Detroit didn't want to cooperate with the film because they didn't want to see their city in ruins, but Dallas, Texas took on that role instead.

Moreover, Texas was really struggling at that time too. A city pretending to be ruined was actually a city that was really going downhill. This sounds like an indie film synopsis.

I watched RoboCop again. Honestly, when I was younger, I thought, "Wow, cool, a cyborg shooting guns," and that was it. But at 33, watching it again, I realized it's not just a sci-fi action movie; it's a satire.

A giant corporation privatizes the police. They treat people like interchangeable parts.

On TV, amidst horrific news, ridiculous commercials pop up. Executives calculate ROI using human lives in the conference room.

Is it normal for a movie from 1987 to be scarier in 2026? I wonder if Paul Verhoeven was a prophet.

And the scene in the OCP headquarters conference room. That cold, authoritative feeling. Looking back, it all came from the architectural atmosphere of Dallas City Hall.

Pei probably didn't intend to design "the future of bureaucracy," but somehow it turned out that way.

The building is arguably one of the main characters in the movie.

Whether you're a RoboCop fan or enjoy visiting film locations, this is a must-see spot if you're in Dallas.

If you live in Dallas and have seen RoboCop even once, you should definitely stop by 1500 Marilla St this weekend.