This is the Bergama Cultural Center in Bergama-Izmir, Turkey designed by Emre Arolat Architecture. The Bergama Cultural Center follows a recurring theme of the Emre Arolat Architecture group in that there is a large presence of natural elements including everything from grass rooftop and large presence of local stone to a green bridge connecting to the local park.  While also including a library, cinema, and a large multipurpose hall so as to bring entertainment and culture to the people of Bergama.

The Bergama Cultural strives to be modern will staying simplistic so as to not be overdramatic. You can see this from the outside and interior of the building from how everything is made of simple shapes of circles and rectangles and is made up of solid simple materials so as to not make the structure seem gaudy in any way. The building also has a spacious feeling to it with wide-open spaces and large walkways and arches so to give the building a grand presence while also feeling simple and humble with its design

This is the Maslak No 1 Office Tower in Istanbul, Turkey created by Emre Arolat Architecture. Other than its massive size this building has a unique design in that the main part of the structure is covered by a curved outer layer of glass that overlaps each other like fish scales so as allow for better airflow while also protecting the building. In between this outer layer and the office spaces on the supporting structure are trees, so as to create a hanging garden that is nice to look at.

This extra layer on this building allows for people working in the offices’ spaces to feel more secure from the weather and blocks intense direct sunlight to the offices. The added feature of the hanging gardens also creates a more calming and natural feeling that is often absent in office spaces. Even at night the extra protective layer helps reduce light pollution from the building and the reflection of the lights on the outer layer creates a nice lighting effect.

This academy was built to allow for a more modern and inspired design for an education building designed for inner city Birmingham. The building was an architectural challenge due to decreasing budgets throughout the building process. Morgan still held strong and delivered a breathtaking building that helped to increase student population in this school, as well as to keep the school from closing its doors for good. The building is designed to have a very compact and geometric design that made the building not only extremely functional, but to limit the space taken and money used to create the school. The ceiling of most of the walkways and large gathering areas are completely glass to allow for large amounts of natural light to bathe the inside of the building while students are in school. This was done this way to help keep morale at the inner-city school high throughout the day. The building was built using natural materials that allowed for the building to not only be economically sound, but to help the building to be more environmentally friendly.

Trafalgar Place is a complex of buildings that was designed to hold high quality homes in an existing housing district. The design of the building is both historically similar to the buildings around it, and new age sleek to still provide the modern aesthetic that is seen in most modern buildings. Two aspects of this building that help this building to be more than just fancy new housing is that a quarter of the homes are affordable housing. As well as the vibrant landscape and large amounts of trees that were planted to help maintain the beauty of the land as well as help to keep the community more environmentally friendly. One interesting aspect of this complex is that there is a public street that runs through the middle of it. This public street not only allows easy access to residents but helps to limit the elimination of public space. The blend of public and private space allows for residents to still feel secure, and passersby’s to not see it as cut off from the rest of society. An engineering aspect of this building is that the design team suggested using engineered timber as a faster and more environmentally friendly material for the construction of the complex.

The Brill Place tower was another building that was designed to increase downtown living options for British cities, this one was built in Camden near London. The design for this building was to be that of a large vertical skyscraper that would fit neatly into a heavily trafficked area of downtown. The location of the building is in a recently opened public space and was a part of a huge undertaking to create affordable housing, private housing, a school, and other essential buildings in a public space. The outside of the building is fully glazed plinth to allow for direct and clear views of the public space and shopping areas down below. The sleek design is to minimize the space and footprint that is used by the building, but to maintain the goal of providing as much housing as possible without losing net public space. This building also makes great use of the natural light by employing large pane windows as well as creating micro tower like structures that allow for all apartments to receive complete natural light.

This is an apartment complex that was the first major design by Sadie Morgan. This building is designed to combine both the horizontal apartment style of Europe with the traditional vertical English terraced house. The building is designed to let in a lot of natural light and is an open floor concept in each of the rooms to allow for sunlight to flow throughout the building. The unique outside design is because the original plan was to make the building look almost inside out, and to be perceived as made of wood on the outside although it is completely concrete. This building was a part of the London housing agenda to increase housing options for those in London, the design was selected and has been awarded numerous achievements and accolades. Most of the interior walls are also made of concrete to give it a seamless look from the outside to the inside of each apartment.

This is the Case Library on the campus of Colgate University. This library is very unique because of the design in which it allows so much light to shine in the building. Most libraries don’t have very many windows in hopes that people will stay focused on their work and not get distracted by what might be going on outside. I personally like the design of this library because I like to be in a building that is more light than dark. I feel like having the natural light come in from the outside gives the room a happier feeling. The Case library has this natural light and gives students best-in-class workspace. This library houses seating areas, classrooms, research and collaborative spaces, and digital production studios, as well as a café with views of the Chenango Valley and the historic campus. The building has exterior features such as simple and elegant qualities using blue stone, limestone, and zinc. I chose this library, because I thought the design was interesting and that it could be useful in a learning environment. Being a college student, I understand how hard it is to focus and learn sometimes, so I think having a open, light-filled workspace would be very helpful. I would be interested in visiting the Case library and getting to see the different specs that it withholds.

This is the Symphony Tower located in Atlanta, Georgia. This magnificent tower is a 41-story skyscraper and is part of the midtown district in Atlanta. The Symphony tower rises to 657 feet and has 624,996 square feet of floor area. This space is used as office space and has opportunity for retail space.  Also, this tower happens to be Atlanta’s tallest skyscraper in 14 years. This tower’s amazing design was revealed and constructed by John Pickard and Pickard Chilton. This tower is anchored by an impressive landscape lobby and crowned with a steel and glass veil soaring 120 feet above the roof. With this sleek design, Symphony Tower is regarded as a benchmark for innovative high-rise design. I chose this tower because I thought it had a marvelous look to it. The crown on the roof of this building is not something you see very often and it caught my attention. I look forward to checking this building out next time I travel through Atlanta.

This is the River Point building in Chicago, Illinois. This shimmering, curve shaped building faces the Chicago river and the north branch of Chicago’s downtown. This building is 52 stories tall and has beautiful views from each floor. On the upper floors, you can see Lake Michigan and Chicago’s bustling downtown. At the tower’s base, there is shops and restaurants with a 1.5 acre public park on the riverfront. This River Point building has 1,000,000 square feet of floor space which is broken up as office space. This building was designed by John Pickard and Pickard Chilton. I chose to blog on this building because of its sleek design and location. I loved how it was set up on the river and individuals could use the outside space to enjoy a nice meal and break from work. I really think this would be a very cool building to visit and see in person.

The Devon Tower is a 50-story building downtown Oklahoma City. This sleek building catches the eye of everyone that visits downtown Oklahoma City. The building cost about 700 million dollars and was designed by John Pickard. This building is 1,800,000 square feet and has 52 elevators. Devon Tower is tied with Park Tower as the 62nd tallest building in the United States and is the tallest building in Oklahoma. There are so many amazingly tall buildings in the United States so it is pretty cool that this building ranks with some of the tallest buildings in the United States. I chose this building because it is in the same state as our school and is only a short drive away from Norman. If you have not been in this building, I strongly encourage you to go check it out.