The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library was completed in 1972 and is known to have been Rohe’s last building. As one can see, the building is also designed in a modernistic way within the type of glass, steel, and brick building. However, it looks vastly different due to how much taller it is than the College of Architecture in Chicago. This is not one of the nicer buildings of his that I enjoyed seeing. However, it is interesting to me because it is similar to the building at IIT in Chicago, which I did like. This one has more buildings, but still utilizes the same approach. It has large windows, but due to the many windows it has, the window size seems less impressive. Nonetheless, a seemingly nice building.

References:

https://farnsworthhouse.org/ 

https://www.dwell.com/article/ludwig-mies-van-der-rohe-architect-19dd30ba

Crown Hall was built in 1956 and is home to the College of Architecture for the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, IL. It demonstrates Rohe’s simplistic take on the glass and steel type of architecture. I really enjoy the large window panels at the front. This building looks incredibly modern and allows natural light into the building. Its two sets of staircase allow for a nice two sets of porches out front of the building. It is almost as if it has a built-in stage to it.

The Farnsworth House was built in Plano, IL and is a work that demonstrates the connection between structure and nature. It embodies Rohe’s modernist ideals in a very artistic manner. This house seems to have very little privacy, but once again, I really enjoy all of the windows to let in the natural light. I imagine the view of the sunset or sunrise is also really nice, assuming the curtains are drawn back. One another note, this home is also very prone to flooding, but it has been able to withstand multiple floods. 

The Barcelona Pavilion was built in 1929 and designed by Rohe. This particular architecture is one of the more modern looks, especially for its time. It has great open windows to allow natural light into the building. Additionally, it seems to be constructed using plenty of natural rocks. I really enjoy this building because of how lightly designed it is. The great big windows are a great use for day time lighting. It also has this large body of water right outside the building filled with plenty of smoothed stones. 

The first time I visited the Union was around the age of ten, while my brother still attended OU. At that time I had only every been in the Molly Shi Boren Ballroom and my favorite part about the whole place was the red telephone booth outside. Once I came here, I was able to learn more about it. Especially as a food worker and UPB member, I get to see places of the Union that are typically restricted to the public. One of the cool places is the “hidden” floor between the first and second floors where plenty of cleaning supplies are kept. It’s not pretty or fascinating, but the concept itself is pretty cool. There is also the really old giant elevator that requires special instructions to work. It’s super creepy but also very gross. The basement itself smells awful, but has plenty of stored supplies. The newer section of the building is the Conoco, which just happens to have completely no janitor closets in it, making it incredibly unfortunate for the janitorial staff. There is also a room in the actual clock tower that I hope to visit someday with Ms. Tontz. The Union also happens to have a minecart in the basement with a tunnel, my hypothesis is that it connects to Monnet Hall, but I can’t confirm this.

Monnet Hall is located on the North Oval, right next to the Union. It was a building that took me a year to go explore, but when I finally got a job at the Western History Collection I was able to see places where the general public is not allowed to enter. The entire building was built in two sections and one is older than the other. Unfortunately, it is not ADA Compliant because there is no elevator on the front end of the building, which is the half where the library lives. The library is incredibly nice and is home to so many books both on the first level and the second level. There, it is quiet but not as quiet as the Great Reading Room in Bizzell Memorial Library. My least favorite parts of this building are the stacks where all the manuscripts live and the very bottom floor. I would bet this building is haunted because there is a kitchen in the basement that doesn’t work and many of the workers would say how creepy noises come from it. There is also a second basement in the one of the rooms in the basement that has a tunnel that no one is allowed into. The vibes are incredibly eerie in that building, but I loved working there. I get scared easily so anytime I would have to pull manuscripts I would either sing loudly or put headphones in.

The Devon Energy Center is in the Engineering Quad of OU’s campus. The first time I visited I thought very little of it because I was only there momentarily. However, once I explored the building more I found a new appreciated for it. There is a terrace on the top floor that allows you to see a clear view of our campus. The giant windows on the side of the building allow for an amazing amount of natural light to come in, which I really enjoy the most. Also, there is plenty of nice study space in the building on the various levels. You can also see below at the first floor from other floors above. One of the best parts is that it is connected to the underground tunnel system that connects most of the buildings in that quad.

A couple of years ago I attended a wedding that was of my sister-in-law’s family. They had it in the Ritz-Carleton in San Francisco. When I went it seemed overwhelming because I had never been in a building that was as nice as this one. When I stepped in there, there was a huge Christmas tree right in the middle of the room. They had the whole place decorated with Christmas decorations and everything was very elegant.

We spent time taking pictures in a different floor where there was literally a fake staircase that led to just a blocked off wall. I think it was for decoration purposes, which was weird to me. Everything there was white and very light. We also had the wedding reception outside, but there was a large ceiling and some sort of tent. After that we all went back inside the building and there was a bar in the salon we were in. Everything lit up really nicely with the colored lights.