The DESI Training Center is a vocational school for electrical training designed by Anna Heringer. A collection of traditional building methods were used to make it more sustainable. It includes two offices, two classrooms, and two residences for the school instructors. 100% of the buildings energy needs are provided by solar panels and a solar thermal heating system provides warm water. This is the first use of sanitary units built into earth houses in Bangladesh.

This training center incorporates many Bangladesh traditions and shows how mud and bamboo can accommodate modern lifestyle requirements. Typical Bangladesh buildings have a separate room for each household function around a central courtyard, the DESI building incorporates it all into a single structure. The design of the building maximizes natural light, uses low-tech and low-cost building materials, as well as a non-existent carbon footprint due to creating its own energy. The building is an incredible feat of architecture as well as having a noble cause of teaching kids. To me, this is a great example of sustainable building and shows that modern energy systems can be combined with sustainable practices.

The El Reno High School building dates back to 1911 when it was a college. In the 1910s-1920s it was expanded to its current size. It is much like Nielsen Hall in terms of architectural themes inside and out. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. There is a ton of history packed inside that building, and I feel very fortunate to have gotten to go to high school there.

Boasting more than 225,000 sq ft (yes, you read that correctly) Canadian Valley Tech Center’s El Reno campus is home to educational programs ranging from “how to use your iPhone” to a pre-engineering sequence for HS juniors and seniors. I participated in the latter. In 2013 the original campus was obliterated by a 2.6 mi. wide tornado. The rebuilt structure is mostly safe-room, and one lap around inside the building is roughly two miles. It is definitely worth a visit to see.

Aldi is my favorite store. It originated in Germany and was based on the principle of affordable and available food. It has expanded to include Trader Joes, and Aldi is opening up at least one new location per week. My favorite part about the architecture is that it is efficient rather than “pretty”. The inside is organized to allow for heavy traffic but not congestion. There is only one entrance/exit. (Also they have an aisle where you find stuff you didn’t know you needed.)

The first time I went to St. Louis I was in 6th grade. Our first stop was at the arch. This was a fantastic sight. At first, you think it is  just an arch, but then you find out you can go inside. It doesn’t seem like a big place, but once you are there, it actually is larger than you think.

When we got there, it was light, but the sun  was starting to set. By the time we went through the line, and got to go up, it was dark. This meant, not only did I get to see all of St. Louis, I got to see it all lit up with the lights of the night. This was a magical experience for me.

The Gateway Arch is a 630 foot monument in St.
Louis. It is the world’s tallest arch, as wall as the tallest man made monument in the Western Hemisphere. It was built as a monument to the expansion to the west of the United States.

The Museum of Wood is a building  that was designed by Tadao Ando and is located in the Kansai Region  of Japan. It is located in the forest of Mikata-gun , which is in the Hyogo Prefecture. This causes the museum to be surrounded by natural scenery. The museum focuses on the role of wood and forests in Japanese and different international culture.

The museum was conceived in order to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the National Day of Wood. Which is a feast that was established by Emperor Showa to remember the forests that got lost during World War two.

The concrete building has a small exhibition space, educational spaces, and art workshops. In all three of these spaces, they all focuse on forests, trees, and wood carving.

The wood pavilion is a monumental structure. It has a diameter of 150 feet, with an opening about 72 feet across. It includes ribs and board on top that are made with local cedarwood. There is also a circular pond that is located in the middle.

The Arezzo Cathedral (more accurately called the Duomo, to differentiate it from the multiple other churches in Arezzo) is a medieval cathedral that I visited often while studying abroad in Arezzo. The cathedral is a mix of Gothic and Byzantine styles, with a nave that has the general layout of most gothic churches, minus a transept, and a Byzantine chapel connected to the side of the church. The chapel appears to be a later addition, as there are stained glass windows that can be seen from inside the nave, and that currently face directly into the structure of the chapel roof.

I visited the cathedral multiple times, initially just because I liked Gothic buildings, but later because I found it a good place to go to clear one’s head. It’s spacious, dark, quiet, and keeps people from interrupting you. Believe it or not, there were many times in my semester abroad where I was stressed out of my mind; going to the cathedral helped to ease that stress, and I wish there was such a place that was as easily accessed here in Norman.

The Rooney Family Center in Arezzo is where OU’s Study Abroad in Arezzo program is based out of. It is a refurbished, 12^th century monastery, with literal layers of time within the building. I’ve been told that during renovations, they found remains of an older building that the current building was built over. Today, you can see an old, Roman-style column that was found, and a cistern. One could say that the purpose of the building has consistently been one form of education or another, transitioning from mostly religious education to that which is more consistent with a university setting with some opportunities for cultural enrichment.

The building was one of my favorite parts of studying abroad, as the layout to the building is very chaotic and organic, and there is plenty of natural lighting throughout the building. My favorite parts of the building included the tower, from which you could see much of the landscape surrounding Arezzo, and the Mensa, where I made many good memories either running events or just eating with friends.

The Bizzell Memorial Library is a popular, well-advertised building on OU’s campus, visible through the whole South Oval and most elsewhere on campus where students take classes. The building is dedicated to OU’s fifth president, William Bennett Bizzell, and even has one of his desks in the Great Reading Room, arguably the most popular part of the building.

The building, especially the Great Reading Room, where I spend most of my time in the library, has allowed me to work and study in peace, greatly increasing my productivity while on campus. I choose this place to study and do my work, because it is (mostly) quiet and a place where you can be fairly certain that you’ll be left alone. It is also the most beautiful place that I’ve been to in Oklahoma, even if I’m biased towards the Gothic style.

I first came to OU my freshman year of high school. Evans hall was my first glimpse, into what OU had to offer. I was so impressed at the architecture of the buildings on campus, and Evans Hall remains as one of my favorites. It initially reminded me of a castle, and it left a profound impact on my mind. I remember walking by, and just being so breath-taking at the massive building. I walked by the tree stump, read the inscriptions, and just knew that this would be the place I called home.  I began my OU journey solely on the impression that Evans Hall gave me. Evans hall on its own has a rich history. Stories of it burning down three times, students attempting to rescue their records and transcripts, and the historic rebuilding are all very interesting stories that showcase the history behind these buildings. Most recently, Evans Hall housed a sit-in protest over the alarming actions of OU Professors. The sit-in was a profound statement that black students and their allies demand better. Many of these students were my close friends, and I was inspire by their tenacity to stand against racism, injustice, and lingering oppression. This sit-in made national news, and I was so inspire to see it accomplish many of its goals.