“Louis was born of Patrick, a dancing master, and Adrienne Françoise (List) Sullivan. His Irish-born father and Swiss-born mother had immigrated to the United States in 1847 and 1850, respectively, and were married in 1852. Their older son, Albert Walter, was born in 1854. Sullivan attended public schools in the Boston area and spent summers on his grandparents’ farm in nearby South Reading. When his parents moved to Chicago in 1869, Sullivan stayed behind with his grandparents and later with neighbours, commuting to school in Boston.”

“Louis Sullivan, in full Louis Henry Sullivan, (born September 3, 1856, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.—died April 14, 1924, Chicago, Illinois), American architect, regarded as the spiritual father of modern American architecture and identified with the aesthetics of early skyscraper design. His more than 100 works in collaboration (1879–95) with Dankmar Adler include the Auditorium Building, Chicago (1887–89); the Guaranty Building, Buffalo, New York (1894–95; now Prudential Building); and the Wainwright Building, St. Louis, Missouri (1890–91). Frank Lloyd Wright apprenticed for six years with Sullivan at the firm. In independent practice from 1895, Sullivan designed the Schlesinger & Mayer department store (1898–1904; now the Sullivan Center) in Chicago. His Autobiography was published shortly before he died.”

The Eiffel tower was the first major building I saw when I backpacked though Europe last summer and it definitely started my trip off right. You get a sudden gust of freedom when you look at the massive tower. When I was looking at it I remember thinking ” It is quite a bit taller then I thought” . We stayed around that area till night time and also got to watch it light up in the dark. The Eiffel tower is amazing during the day but a true spectacle at night

This building is the all-time most magical place I have ever been to. It has every flavor of coke inside and they give you a tour of how it is made. My favorite part is the movie in 3D. Every part of this place builds my craving for coke. Every floor has a unique story to tell about Coca-Cola.

In my senior year of high school, I had an internship with an architecture firm, called Guernsey, and myself and two of my friends followed an architect around for a couple of weeks. At the time, the firm was partner to the renovations of the state capitol, and they brought us to the building to show us the renovations.

This was Spring 2017. They were working on the north face of the building, which was completely covered in scaffolding and blue tarp, which was to keep wind from blowing on the stone that they were treating with chemicals. We put on hard hats, gloves, respirators, face masks, the whole nine yards. Apparently they were using some kind of material that was a nasty skin irritant, so we had to cover up completely. We climbed the entire height of the building in the covered scaffolding, which was well over 100 degrees inside with the sun beating on the tarp. At the top, I remember taking off the mask and feeling the wind on my face was heaven.

There were Swedish stonemasons working renovating the gargoyles atop the capitol. I was able to meet their leader, Bjorn, who was working on a gryphon on one of the corners of the building. He didn’t speak English, but he greeted me with a hearty handshake and said, simply, “Bjorn.” None of the other stonemasons spoke English either.

As a result of this experience, I know all kinds of interesting trivia about the state capitol that most people probably don’t know. For example, the original plans for the building hadn’t been updated – at all – since the building’s completion in 1917. As you can imagine, the building has been heavily modified since then, and the architects working on the renovations were surprised to find, in several places, floors, or lack thereof, where otherwise indicated by the plans (of which I was able to see the originals).

I was also able to see the tunnels, which lead beneath the capitol and across the street. I imagine that they were designed as an easy form of entry or egress for workers and officials that didn’t want to cross the streets surrounding the building. The problem, though, was that they were flooded, and had been for several years. The engineers couldn’t figure out exactly where the water was coming from, and, when I left the internship, they were planning on filling and sealing them. I’m not sure if they ever went through with it, though.

It was a hell of a couple of days. If I ever see Bjorn again, I’m going to buy him a drink.

This is the Mont. Saint Michel! It is one of my favorite places in France let alone all of Europe. It is located in Normandy and is a tidal island. Before visiting I had no idea what a tidal island was until I was there and saw it become an island right in front of my eyes! The tides in this region of France don’t just recede by a few feet, they recede by several kilometers. So when there is a low tide Mont. Saint Michel is part of the mainland but in a span of minutes as the tide rises it becomes an island. Many people try to walk across from Mont. Saint-Michel to the main land and if it is not timed correctly many die when the tide comes in. Unfortunately we actually saw this happen while we were there. Apart from the impressive tide the city of Mont. Saint-Michel is a stunning renaissance village built on a small rock island. When you walk into Mont. Saint-Michel it is like entering a different world, a world full of history and culture and art. The cathedral takes up a large portion of the island and is the main feature that you can see from miles away. At night the entire island is covered in lights that stream through every window and small street you would love to walk down. I cannot wait to return to this magnificent location in France and visit the cathedral and and the little shops and restaurants on the island. For anyone who has never visited this magnificent place in France I would absolutely suggest you do! It is definitely worth it!

La Sagrada Familia is a cathedral like no other in Barcelona, Spain. I have only visited this cathedral twice in my life and both times you could not go inside unfortunately. I can’t even imagine what the inside looks like when the outside is already so stunning! It is well known that the cathedral has been under construction for over a century and has had many different designers and artists work on it! I have been to so many cathedral and other religious buildings all over the world but the Sagrada Familia looks nothing like any of the other ones I have visited. I remember telling my mother one time when we visited that parts of it looked like sculpted bones. The absurd amount of detail and intricate sculpture is unlike any other monument I have ever visited in my life. I am so glad that I will hopefully, finally be able to go inside this splendor next year! I cannot even fathom how my heart will be able to take in such a sight!

This is the Notre-Dame de Paris. It is located in Paris, France. I have been to this stunning cathedral many times in my life. The artwork in the cathedral along with all the glass art makes it much more than just a cathedral. The designs and sculptures along the walls and pillars are so intricate and beautiful! The rose windows are so beautiful and bring in so much color and light into the cathedral. Though from the front of the cathedral, the building looks more simple, when you see the back and sides of the building the complexity of this cathedral becomes clear. I have always loved the architecture of the cathedral and how it looks like a completely different building from the front compared to the back. I always love visiting Notre-Dame de Paris when I am in France. I was so upset and depressed when I saw it burning last year but I am so glad that they will rebuild even though it will never be the same as it was before.

This is the Great Wall of China. It stretches the length of about thirteen thousand miles across Northern China. I visited the wall while touring through China in 2009. We did a tour with a guide and he told us about the history of how it was built and that every time someone would die during the build they would just throw them under the stones. It is by far the oldest and most spectacular piece of architecture I have ever seen in my life. There are parts of the wall that have now completely deteriorated. There are also stairs so steep no one can walk up them anymore without actual climbing equipment. I cannot wait to return and see more of this marvel!

This art museum in utah is build very nicely and stands in front of the mountains on the east side. About a year or so ago, some of my photographs were displayed here along with a group of other students from OU and Southern Utah University. We captured the open land of areas around Utah, Nevada, and California. The space is very open and has different areas for many different types of exhibits. The area surrounding it is also very calm and subtle.