The last work of Mackintosh that i chose was the Willow Tearooms. It opened in 1903 and quickly gained massive fame and even now is regarded as the most famous tea room in Glasgow. After many changes of ownership and general deterioration the building was restored from 2014 to 2018. Mackintosh designed the exterior facade to blend in with the environment and buildings around it but also incorporated the ideas of Art Nouveau and the modern movement. Today the Tearooms serve a social service of creating employment, training, and support for the younger people and overall community. This work as well as the previous I covered have been a good experience, enhanced my knowledge, and was interesting to learn about someone very renowned but would not have known about normally.

The Lighthouse in Glasgow, formerly a building for the Glasgow Herald that Mackintosh designed, is Scotland’s Center for Design and Architecture. It is truly an incredible building inside and out, it manages to work well at blending in yet standing out with its  surroundings. The way the design manipulates light is especially visible when looking down the spiral staircase. I would say this is an extremely interesting piece of architecture that i enjoyed researching.                                   

The next work I have selected is the Queens Cross Church in Glasgow. Why this is significant is because it was the only church built that Mackintosh designed. The theme seems to be mostly modern gothic which seems in tune with Mackintosh designs. While this used to be a former church of Scotland it was decommissioned in the 1970’s and now serves as the home of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh society. The site is currently open as a tourist attraction and I plan to visit when eventually go to Scotland.

The Glasgow School of Art is what primarily Charles was made an international presence from. Work began on this building in 1897 and was finished in 1909. In this building you can see his influence and what some could consider the start of modernism. The school is considered one of the leaders in design education as well as one of the cities most iconic landmarks. Unfortunately the majority of the building was destroyed in a fire in 2018. Overall I find this building extremely interesting, the design looked like something that would have been made in the 2000’s but to learn it was done in 1909 was surprising.

The last building I choose was Cowboy Stadium. I would say it is an incredible stadium with fantastic architecture. The amount of glass they used almost surrounds the whole stadium giving it a very open feeling as well as the retractable roof, which can enhance that when opened. However, I would say memories of this building are mostly negative. This is due to the fact that our fanbase always hypes our team up preseason, and of course, the cowboys always find a way to fall apart and miss the playoffs. But I guess it is better to watch your team lose in a beautiful, comfortable stadium compared to an older one that needs an upgrade.

The next building I choose was the physical science center. My only negative memory is genuinely just the long walk there as well as the fact that all my math classes were in there. I think the architecture is unique at OU, as it isn’t the typical red brick buildings we have all over campus. I would say it is not very aesthetically pleasing as it honestly just looks like a bunker, but then again, that is the design. This building can withstand up to either F4 or F3 tornados I am not 100% certain, so it makes sense why it is made up of different materials and goes so deep underground.

Another building that has influenced me is the dorms where I lived my freshman year, Adams Center.  I would say there was both positive and negative ways it influenced me. Starting with negative, our tower, Muldrow, was nicknamed mildew for a reason I am sure you can guess. The dorms contributed to several sicknesses and were quite cramped, but there were also positives. A good amount of my friends lived in the dorms, so it was also good memories of that and the interesting times we had there. The architecture stood out to me, but in a way, it seemed a bit out of place beside, of course, the brick construction. It seemed like they needed an update or demolition to catch up with OU’s progress.

One of the buildings I have selected is Price Hall. Price hall is a building I am in daily and view it in a positive light. I remember freshman year, I would always get confused between Adams and Price Hall as they were connected. I used not to like this building simply because it was the furthest walk from the dorms and where I lived, but when I began to get into my major-specific classes and started spending more time in Price, I realized I enjoy the architecture and design of it. The way the building seems to draw you in and the study areas bring a relaxing feeling which helps when you are having to study for hours.