Skidmore, Owings & Merrill designed the Seoul Light Digital Media City Tower in Seoul, South Korea. This model is impressive because it reinforces sustainability strategies. This building also eloquently blends the north, east, south, and west sides by curving all sides to create smooth transitions. A unique feature about the Seoul Light Digital Media City Tower is that it has a large central void in order to allow natural light and clean air to enter and circulate the building. There are also wind turbines near the roof which the building uses as its power source. The glass panels are also there to catch and reflect the light which reduces the need for artificial lighting during the day. All of these factors positively contribute to the building being sustainable, eco-friendly, and lowering maintenance costs.

This was another interesting building to read about because of how modern it is in comparison to everything around it. Seoul has incorporated many different architectural advancements into their buildings and partnering with Skidmore, Orwil & Marrill helped properly portray that in the Seoul Light and Digital Media Tower. I really liked the incorporation of things that are naturally occurring in the world in order to lower costs of maintenance. That simultaneously pushes for a ‘greener’ environment. The building is also very modern looking which I thought could make this a very important milestone for Seoul. Other developments could take ideas and incorporate them into their own respective designs to promote even more innovation.

link: https://www.som.com/projects/seoul_light_digital_media_city_tower__sustainable_design

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP continues to conjure innovative and creative ideas for buildings owned by well renowned organizations. The Four Seasons Hotel located in Manama, Bahrain on a private 12-acre island. The hotel was meant to capture eyes and become a sort of visual landmark for the esteemed capital of Bahrain. The building is composed of 17 hotel floors and floor-to-ceiling glazing on the north and south side in order to properly showcase the  Arabian Gulf. An interesting feature is that guests will arrive to the private island by either the main bridge connecting to Manama or boat.  The hotel helped immensely with economic development in the Middle East.

I thought this was yet another incredible project done by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill’s firm. I was very interested in reading the press releases about the Four Seasons Hotel because the people of Bahrain expected nothing less from this company. Getting a privately owned island to place their huge hotel on set a standard for the Middle East’s economic status. I enjoyed reading how this is a beginning to creating a new standard for the capital city.

link: https://www.som.com/projects/four_seasons_hotel

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP partnered with Copenhagen architects after being granted access to construct the Karlatornet project in Gothenburg, Sweden. This building has gained the title of being the tallest building in Sweden and could be a huge shift in the country’s history. The country could shift its traditional developments now because of the inspiration brought by the Karlatornet.

As one can see in the photo, this building sticks out like a sore thumb among the others. I found it very cool that they had the Karlatornet built because it has made history. I compared it to when the United States got news of the twin towers being constructed in New York. It was a monumental moment because they had been labeled as the tallest building during that time period. After this moment, architects were very inspired by what they saw and took it into consideration when creating their own designs. This then became the ‘regular’ and architects began to have more ideas because their spectrum had broadened and engineers became more capable.

Source: https://www.som.com/projects/karlatornet

The Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill LLP is one of the largest architecture firms of the world. 800 West Fulton Market is located in the Fulton District. This is a mixed-use building that contains offices and also houses people. It contains 19 stories but was measured to keep the same scale to the other buildings in the district. 800 West Fulton Market is considered a landmark because it pushed connected this new neighborhood to the higher density commercial district to the north.

This building was very interesting to me because it has become one of the ‘smartest’ buildings in Chicago. The design is LEED Platinum Certified because of improved energy efficiency, better air quality, and lowering operating costs. There is over 50% of green roof space and the temperature is monitored to increase employee productivity while saving money on maintenance. I thought that incorporating the steel into the project gave it a more modern look which helped a lot with making the Fuller District a good bridge towards the north side of Chicago.

link: https://www.som.com/projects/800_west_fulton_market

The Rogers Arena in Vancouver B.C. was designed by Brook and Beynon Brisbon.  When I visit new cities, I usually try and find tickets to visit their local arena because although most of them are generally the same on the inside, their ambiance is all unique. The Rogers arena is one of my favorites because of how close it is to a body of water. Before the concert, I had poutine by the bay and was found the placing of the arena really cool. The vast amount of entrances made it kind of confusing at times but that is how all arenas are.

The distinguishing feature of the Rogers Arena which I fell in love with is the retractable roof. While watching a game, I could see a lot of the buildings through the rooftop which was something different. Vancouver is an incredible city that mixes man-made items with the landscape. Instead of feeling trapped, being in the open area was a different experience because of how fresh it felt. When I returned for a Harry Styles concert, it was shut and set up differently which made it feel like an entirely different building. I really like where it is placed within the city but also that every event feels like the arena was built specifically for that rather than it’s actual multipurpose intention.

The Perot Museum in Dallas, Texas is one of my favorite buildings because of its unique texture. It was designed by Laureate Thom Mayne. I remember being very excited as I’d drive by on I-30 because there was a lot of conversation about how cool it was going to look and that the exhibits were going to be even better. After it was finished being built, our school joined a queue in order to get tickets for a field trip. On the drive there everyone in the bus was buzzing with excitement and once it came into view, everyone collectively gasped because the building looked like it was floating. We later came to realize it was because the first floor is composed of glass walls but I was still in awe of the garden area before one enters.

A feature that to this day still amazes me is the escalator that gives you an amazing view of Dallas. I think making it enclosed in glass was a great idea and I thought it was even cooler that it appeared as its own entity from the rest of the building. The first time I attended the Perot I remember the escalator being full and that there was about a person on every step. Now of course the hype has gone down and it’s an overall better experience because you can go at your own pace and observe everything in great detail.

When I was visiting Casa Batlló, I was in awe of how the building stood out on the already busy street. The mob of people waiting to enter made me even more excited to see it myself. I had just come from the Sagrada Familia was amazed to have connected the dots about Antoni Gaudi being the brilliant architect behind both projects. Our tour guide had mentioned that this building originally belonged to his Architecture professor, Emilio Sala Cortes. He incorporated modernism into the building which made it an overall remarkable house.

The Museo Soumaya is located in Mexico City, Mexico and is named after Soumaya Doumit. The project was designed and overseen by Fernando Romero and was funded by Carlos Slim. Museo Soumaya is a privately owned museum which I had the opportunity of visiting two years ago. I was in awe of traveling from a pueblo to the city and how the funds towards buildings drastically change.

It was evident that this museum is one of luxury and is surrounded by tourists. I found it incredible that the outside was skewed and the inside also followed the pattern because it had a circular ramp. The outside was remarkable and walking through it was even more insane because of how the simplistic design complimented the building in its entirety. I also liked the message about how Carlos Slim had constructed the Museo Soumaya in honor of his wife.