Taipei 101 was the tallest building in the world until 2010 Burj Dubai broke the record. The exterior of the building looks like a bamboo; a growing bamboo in Mandarin represents promotion in career. Every year, Hundreds of thousands people gather around on New Year’s Eve to watch the massive fireworks that last about 5 minutes letting off from Taipei 101.

The existence of Taipei 101 is especially amazing, since it was built on a country that has around a thousand sensible earthquakes per year. Taipei 101 is undoubtedly a landmark in Taipei; I can clearly see it from my home university and also my home, which takes me over 30 minutes to get there by MRT.

This museum holds art exhibitions and has amazing gardens. It is located in Tulsa, Oklahoma and is in the former home of Waite and Genevieve Phillips. I have visited Philbrook many times, because there really isn’t much to do in my hometown and this museum always has new exhibitions and events, but it’s also amazing to see that a family once lived there. It’s easy to just focus on the art and gardens, but I find it to be more of an experience if you also focus on the building it’s placed in. It’s massive, to say the least, and intriguing to know it was built in the 1920’s, with how detail-oriented the architecture is, inside and out. It has many windows that allow you to feel the sun from outside, or the clouds, but whatever the weather, it helps set the mood of the rooms. I wonder if this is why the city chose this homestead to hold certain art, or if it was just another building to put art in. Either way the Philbrook Museum of Art is beautiful, and I recommend it to anyone who visits Tulsa!

About Us

My husband and I have purchased a few houses over the years, moved around a lot, but this is by far my favorite house.  I really couldn’t tell you what the style of the house is, on the outside.  It looks much like all the other houses in the area, not so much in shape, but style and technique.  In fact, it seems to be a popular style in most of the suburbs here in the Mustang/Yukon area.  Inside is another matter, however.  That is really where my husband and I fell in love with the place.  There is so much dark woodwork features everywhere.  As we were looking at several houses, we noticed ourselves being drawn to ones that had lots of wood trim and features, as opposed to trim and features that were painted white.  The wood seems to warm the place up for us.  The study or office (first picture in the blog) also reminded me of my childhood.  Above the entrance to the room are wide open slots.  I had a a great aunt who had a town home that had those kind of features in the rooms.  I believe they were traditionally to allow for air flow before air-conditioning was common.  I used to pretend I was a young girl from some victorian time period (probably not accurate, but I was a kid) and our new house brings me back to that joy.  The family room (bottom picture) has huge bookcases, which is another feature that drew me to the house.  I love books and do not ever get rid of any, even if I have duplicates.  So I need a large set of shelves to keep them, and these bookshelves make my eclectic collection look like they would belong in the grandest of libraries.  I have, unfortunately, ran out of room in these shelves now, however.

With all the amazing carpentry features in this house, it did not take it long for me to feel like it was my home.

The next building I selected is Catlett Music Center. This is truly one of the most majestic buildings on the campus of the University of Oklahoma. The exterior of the building is very interesting with its different shapes and elevations. It is different than any other building on campus, which is like a breath of fresh air. However, it is when you walk inside when you get to see the true magic of the building. Once you walk inside, you get to see the sun shine through the stained glass into the big, open Gothic Hall. Overhead is a gorgeous organ which occasionally filling the room with glorious music.

This is very personal to me because music is my true passion. I am a member of the Pride of Oklahoma, so every time I am in this building it reminds me of all of the memories I’ve made with music and that organization.

Adriana Natcheva (architect) London

The Esther house was my favorite of the buildings created by this architect because this building brings together my roots. The combination of concrete walls, gravel backyard, and the integration of wood and big windows is a connection to me of houses from Mexico and modern houses from The United States. I was born here, however, I am Mexican because of my parents and in Mexico my family lived in houses with big concrete windows and gravel instead of grass. The contrast of wood and big windows brings the aspect of classical and modern aesthetic from The United States which integrates flavor into the buildings.

This combination just made me feel at home with a single photo and brought fond memories. This building alone does not make me feel a negative way nor does it bring bad memories. It just makes me reflect on my past and my memories of Mexico and how I long to go back and visit. Again, the integration of the windows allows natural lighting to come in which can bounce of from the concrete walls allowing it to light up the inside of the house

Adriana Natcheva (Architect) London

This house is a black and white picture come to life with it’s white and black texture brick. What I have notices about these designs is that the emphasize is in the windows because the designer is trying to incorporate not only a view of the outside by the integration of it as well as natural lighting created a dimension of light and reflection through the placement of the windows. My first impression of this building was a throwback because it reminded me of a black and white photo. This makes the building seem like it has long history and should be given a second look when walking past it. But this building look more of an office corporation type of building rather than a house. Although I do love the setting of the black and white with light boxes surrounding the windows in different angles, this building screams corporation type of space.

Adriana Natcheva (Architect) London

This next building is a whole mood of bricks and light contrasting together through glass. When I first saw the New House in Queens Park, in London it honestly reminded me of a jail. The top of the building and most of around it how long columns in box form and the gate around it is a tall brick wall which makes it look enclosed like a cell and jail all together. The rest of the structure as well as the surroundings uses complimentary materials of stone, gravel, brick, and marble to brink everything together. Another reason why this building makes me think of a modern type jail that maybe a rich person might want to do house arrest in.

I myself would not want to live in this house because it would just bring me negative feelings of being trapped inside my own grounds. However, I do like the isolation because it keeps praying eyes away and it provides one with their own privacy from the rest of the people around. They can be in their own house, in the front or backyard and not have to deal with people walking outside or neighbors who want to have meaningless conversation with you.

Adriana Natcheva ( Architect)

The first building that drew my eye from this amazing architect is the Cedar Mews. This building is both made from light wood panels and long glass windows and doors. This building incorporates the thought and implementation of nature by using wood and having glass all over to see the outside. It’s a rustic simple and modern building making a statement that less is more. With less you are able to enjoy the indoors and outdoors all together in harmony. This building represents the integrity of nature by embracing it in harmony of the building.

This building makes me feel peace, a building that I would love to visit and feel the scenery of it for myself. Although for me after a while it would seem a little plan because I love a splash of color and when the seasons change the green of nature might now always be there to help brighten up the area. Nonetheless this building represents simplicity for the ones who wish to get away from technology and the hardship of life and just want a relaxing day encountered with nature and being able to soak it all up in the comfort of their own home.