The Centraal Beheer offices in Apeldoorn, Netherlands were designed by Herman Hertzberger and completed in 1972. Hertzberger is one of the most famous Dutch architects who founded his own firm Architectuurstudio HH (AHH) in 1960 and received the prestigious Royal Institute of British Architects’ Royal Gold Medal in 2012.

According to AHH, the Centraal Beheer offices consist of “sixty tower-like cubes connected on each floor by overpasses.” Hertzberger used materials that were reviled by the modernists of the time like metal and glass and concrete blocks. He wanted the inside to be open and designed an internal street to encourage social interaction among the employees and guests. The glass roof and light wells brought in a lot of natural light, which he felt was important for the well-being of the employees.

I moved into Couch as a freshman in 2018. It was an exciting time – moving away from home and the parents and starting a whole new chapter in my life. I remember noticing moving day that the outside wasn’t anything special; just a tall, ugly brick building but I could’ve cared less. When I walked in however I remember thinking this place is really old. I was right – it was built in 1966 and I’m pretty sure nothing had changed much since. My dorm room itself was not much better. It was the size of a large closet and felt claustrophobic. Even though I was moving in with my really good friend, I knew this was going to be rough. Within the first month, our toilet overflowed flooding much of the room which wasn’t great. It wasn’t all bad of course. Being close to campus was awesome, the freedom I had was fantastic, and I became close friends with my suite-mates as well as many other people. We made many great memories there but as for the building itself, I don’t miss it one bit.

The name of this building is Hong Ya Dong. It is located in Chongqing, China, and is a building imitating ancient China. I first saw this building when I graduated from high school. My friends and I went on a graduation trip together. The city we chose to travel to was Chongqing. Although this is a modern building, its style completely imitates the style of ancient buildings. When I first saw this building, I seemed to have suddenly returned to ancient times. I think the people who built Hongya Dong must like ancient culture very much, and it is also a good commercial method. This style of imitating ancient architecture attracts many people here. My friends and I also stayed in Hongya Dong for a long time, and we took a lot of photos. That day, my friends and I had a great time at Hongya Dong. Although we haven’t seen each other for a long time after graduating from high school, every time I see this building or see the photos on the mobile phone, I think of the time when we graduated and traveled. Hongya Dong is like a testimony of our friendship and it has profound meaning to me.

The Bizzell Memorial Library is one of my favorite buildings on campus. It is so attractive and wonderful to look at. The amazing color and surrounding landscape always brightened my day as I walked to class. It definitely makes me proud to call OU my home. If the beauty of the building wasn’t enough for me, all the memories that the Biz holds would surely make up for it. Every year of my experience has had some significant memory in the library, from freshmen year mandatory fraternity study hours to pulling my first all-nighter studying for finals. It is chalked full of horrible and great times and I wouldn’t trade them for anything.