This building, the UTS Central building, is located at the University of Technology, in Sydney. The architecture studio, FJMT, designed this new building as a response to the harsh urban environment, through both aesthetics and function. This 17-story building, is a new student hub that will accommodate many students within the university, and provide various departments for extensive research. With its eco-friendly attributes, the building is targeting a 5 star green rating. As you can see from this image, even with its aesthetic design, the architects were able to incorporate plant-life into the building, while still keeping it modern and original. Overall great design!

“FJMT Designs the New UTS Central at the University of Technology in Sydney.” Designboom, 28 Feb. 2019, www.designboom.com/architecture/fjmt-lacoste-stevenson-djrd-tilt-uts-central-sydney-australia-02-27-2019/.

For four years, I called this place home. My high school is one of the “big four” of the Tulsa County Schools, and it lives up to its name. Two stories high, two lunchrooms, a performing arts center, and a second building across the street, it was definitely intimidating walking in here as a freshman. They even hand out maps so you can navigate to your classes, something that seemed ridiculous, but was needed when I had no clue there was a second story to begin with. There are road signs on each hallway to help you find your way. The wall colors ranged from red, black to tan, and the carpet was grey with colors to match.

One of the downfalls is the lack of windows in the classrooms, I felt like I was in a shoebox and wouldn’t mind if there was some natural light. We do have skylights that are on the second-story ceilings, that allow natural light to come through in the hallways, but it was drowned out by the incandescent lights lining the hallways. There really isn’t anything special about the building that stands out, but I’m probably biased after being there eight hours a day.

The Gaylord Memorial Stadium is perhaps the most recognizable work of architecture on the OU campus. With the first game played on the field in 1923, this field has been in use for almost a century now and has gone through multiple periods of renovation over time. This stadium seats over 80,000 people, and is a huge stadium. The atmosphere in this stadium during a game is absolutely electric, and there is nothing like OU football home games. This stadium gives OU fans a great deal of pride and truly is a work of art on the OU campus. The amount of fun, heartbreak, and happiness that has happened in this stadium is probably higher than anywhere else in the state, and this stadium has left its mark on tons of peoples lives.

The second building I am going to talk about is my grandparents home in Dubuque, Iowa. My grandparents have lived in this home since 1965. It is a common style of home in Iowa with an open layout and finished basement. They raised 3 kids, entertained 9 grand kids, and spoiled 7 great-grand kids in this small town home. This building has a lot of sentimental value for not only me but my entire family. I have many memories at this house. When I was a kid, me and my cousins would stay at this house for weeks during the summer and my grandparents would plan a multitude of activities. One of my favorite parts of this house is the landscaping in the backyard. I help my grandma plant flowers, tomato plants, and maintain the koy pond.

Last spring break, I went to New York City with my family. We went to all the places that you are “supposed” to visit, and thankfully one of them was Metropolitan Museum of Art. Before this, I had only seen this building in pictures from the Met Gala, so when I saw it in person, I didn’t expect it to be that big. I thought it was two stories max, so when I accumulated 5,000 steps inside, I was surprised. I also had no idea so many famous paintings called this place home. I will say that even though this place is amazing, navigating it was something completely different. I got lost about three times, even with a map. One room led into the next and I wasn’t sure if I was in going in a circle or through a maze.

I was in awe of how many different exhibitions there were, and how each one had enough room for everything. I not only took notice of the exhibits, but the rooms they were in. Like each one was picked simply to compliment the architecture of the building, it helped tell the story of the artifacts.

This building has probably impacted me the most out of all the buildings in my life, it is the house that I grew up in for 16 years of my life and where my mother still lives. When I was two my father left my brother, my mom and me and the next thing I remember is my mom was introducing this brand new place, that would become home, to our to me and my brother.  This house is full of meaning for me because it represents my childhood and my family and it will always hold a special place in my heart for me.

When I first entered this house I was still so confused about what was happening because of all of the changes but I remember how much I loved the soft fluffy white carpet and how tall the ceilings were compared where we use to live. I remember that when my mom told me that I would get my own room and not have to share with my baby brother I was so excited that the house just seemed to be the biggest present I had every received.

This world renown building (Auckland Art gallery Toi o Tamaki), was designed by Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp (FJMT) and Archimedia. In 2013, on the last day of the World Architecture Festival, the Auckland gallery,  was awarded the World Building of the Year. This building was an extensive project that includes the restoration and adaptation of heritage buildings. Thus, the inspiration was to preserve as much of its original heritage and architectural order, while keeping its organic natural form as much intact. This elegant/modern design is aesthetically pleasing to observe, and sets a great platform for future designs!

Basulto, David. “World Building of the Year: Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki / FJMT Archimedia.” ArchDaily, ArchDaily, 7 Oct. 2013, www.archdaily.com/435392/world-building-of-the-year-auckland-art-gallery-toi-o-tamaki-fjmt-archimedia.

I visited Chicago back in middle school and one of the highlights was visiting the sears tower. This skyscraper was built as an office building for Sears because at the time (1973), Sears was a very big company and was expanding. It is 110 floors high and when you are at the top, you can look over the city and it is the highest from the ground I have ever been. It was a really cool experience and I remember doing research on why the building was designed the way it was built. I think the most interesting part about this tower was that it was just built as an office building for a company. It is an iconic building in Chicago and the biggest one too. This is the best memory I have of Chicago and the biggest structure I have seen in my life. It impacted me in a great way because it was a feeling I will never be able to forget looking down at the city from the top of the Sears tower.

I have family down in San Antonio so I get to visit the city a lot. I have learned a lot about this building and the history behind it is very interesting because it revolves around Texas earning their freedom from Mexico and fighting in the war. The Texans were way outnumbered but they put up an honorable fight. I have taken the tour a few times and one important note was how the Texans were able to turn a mission that was supposed to spread the word of God into a battlefield that they held down. Even though this building isn’t the most interesting piece of architecture or the tallest building in Texas, this structure has a special place in my heart because it is where many people lost their lives fighting for their freedom. The fighters used the building as well as they could to fight off the Mexicans and defend their position. I think the Texans were able to fight off the Mexicans well because they used the architecture of the building, even though they were under siege and outnumbered.