The bulk of my classes are in this building. It is always filled with art and you can never run out of ways to create with the tools provided. What stands out to me the most is the friends I have made inside those walls as well as some of my past work that was displayed inside as well. The windows create a great amount of light during the day which fills every open space really well. Great memories will always be associated with this place.
Last summer, my family and I had the opportunity to visit the country Jordan, where both of my parents were born. One building that I still can picture in my head a year later is a huge shopping mall called “City Mall”. This mall is the largest mall in the area, coming in at almost 1.7 million square feet!! They have basically every brand you could think of, from Nike to Louis Vuitton, and there is even a full two story grocery store named Carrefour attached! A grocery store attached to a shopping mall?? Yes, you can go to the mall, buy your tennis shoes and Gucci purse, and then go straight to the supermarket and buy your weekly groceries and supplies too, all in one run!. It is just one of the coolest places to see in the area, and the size is insane! For those who live there, the building isn’t THAT cool, but for me, an American who has only experienced malls such as Quail Springs, Penn Square, and Sooner Mall, City Mall blows these three out of the water! Last year was the first time I have actually been to the mall and was interested in it. The last time my family went before this was in 2015, when I was still younger and not able to appreciate the building. The mall consists of a two floor food court, many floors of retail shops, random dessert stands, multiple kids play areas and of course, the huge two story grocery store. I can’t wait to go back to Jordan and visit this mall again!
This last piece of architecture is one of my favorites. Japanese culture and architecture are very intriguing and interesting to me. I have not been able to see this skyscraper in person, but it has influenced me by giving me the motivation to travel and experience different cultures. I hope to one day visit this ginormous work of architecture and be surrounded by other Japanese buildings. I really enjoy seeing skyscrapers and this one is definitely on the bucket list to go see. It demonstrates some of the human accomplishments by towering over everything else around it.
This is Gaylord Hall at the University of Oklahoma. This building will forever have a positive effect on my life. This is the building I’ve spent a lot of the last 3 years of my life. I have learned so much in this building. It is also such a beautiful building as well. The first time I visited the campus this was my favorite and it still is to this day. I will be forever grateful for this building.
The OKC Gold Dome is located off of 23rd and Classen in Oklahoma City and was built in 1958. This building is an iconic landmark in the OKC metro and is widely recognized by the locals. Every day on my commute to work and school, I drive by this building. There hasn’t been a single OKC resident I’ve met without a story or memory attached to the building. However, in my time living in the city, I have never seen the building thrive or bustling with people. I know others who have attended high school dances, bar parties, etc, but to me it has always been a ghost town. I have even made bets with friends on what company may purchase it or what it could become next. I think about this building as I drive by every day and hope I have an excuse to visit inside soon.
I want to say that they finished building Devon Tower when I was about 14, but it was started a couple of years earlier. At that time, I don’t think I’d left OKC, so it was by far the tallest building I had ever seen. Of course, I understood that there were taller buildings in other cities, but it is hard, standing there, looking up at the tower rising out of the city, dwarfing the buildings around it, and say that it isn’t impressive. Especially when standing right beneath it, looking up, it seems to go on forever.
One of my friends likes to call Devon Energy Center ‘The Citadel,’ which I find particularly apt, because it dominates the city in a way that I really haven’t seen recreated, whether through images or in person, anywhere else. Another friend says it looks like an finger, in which the sloped part at the top is the nail. It seems as though everyone that lives in and around OKC has some special name or story for the tower, and it seems to be quite polarizing, insofar as a building is able. Perhaps the fact that Devon Energy Center redefined the skyline of OKC nets it a special place, whether out of love or hate, in Oklahoman’s hearts.
This is the high school I went to just a couple of years ago. This school shaped my life in so many ways. I met some of my best friends there and some of them I’m still in contact with to this day. I went to a pretty big school so I met many different people that impacted my life. I learned so many different life lessons that I will remember my whole life . I had some of my best years there and every year taught me many lessons. This building will forever be a positive in my life.
I went on a road trip for a few weeks around Colorado with my best friend last August and we were able to stay at the famous Stanley Hotel that the movie The Shining is based off of. The hotel was actually built by the inventor of the Stanley Steamer car, Freelan Oscar Stanley. It is located in Estes Park, Colorado and is basically the centerpiece of the town up on a hill that allows you to see it immediately as you finally make it out of the mountains. The hotel has a Georgian and Colonial Revival style architecture and is very grand with its large build and white sides with a red roof. The vibrant colors of the hotel allow it to pop out easily and show its beauty to everyone around. The entire building is gorgeous and is located in such a beautiful area. The history of the building is amazing to hear about and there have been so many incredible historical figures that have made their way through the halls here.
This house is located on the other side of the world, in Amman, Jordan. It was built by my father and his thirteen siblings back in the late 70’s/early 80’s. Yes, they built it with their own hands; thats the way it was done back in the day in Jordan. The house is two stories tall plus a basement. It is 9,220 square feet and made basically entirely out of cement, stone, and marble. Yes, the walls are made of entirely out of thick cement, so there is no escaping the summer heat in this home. When you arrive at the house, the first thing you will see is a very steep driveway. The home was built into the side large hill (which my family owns), so you have to drive basically at a 45 degree angle to get to the driveway. When you walk into the home through the large metal double doored entrance, you will be surprised by how the foyer was designed. You are given the option to either walk up 10 steps to the main area of the home, or walk down 10 steps into the basement of the house. I technically shouldn’t even call it a “foyer”, as when you walk in you literally only see the stairs leading up or down, nothing else. It is a little hard to describe better than that though. As you walk up the stairs, you will notice that the floor of the entire home is completely made of huge slabs of white granite with black accents. To the right is a huge circular living room, and to the left is the rest of the home. There is a very elegant flight of stairs leading up to the second floor, as well as a huge balcony overlooking the whole area. I am not able to visit this home very often, as it is on the literal other side of the world, but it has left a very long lasting impression on me. My family usually visits the country every other year, and we did happen to go last summer, and stayed for about two months. I have so many memories and fun experiences, I could write a whole essay alone on this one house. Basically, this house is beautiful and large and will be partly be in my possession once my father passes. It means a lot to me as it was once where my father lived for many years! It is very cool to go back there and imagine him as a kid living with his siblings there. The house is also so large, I would just sit on the balcony watching the sunset and just think about all the work it must have taken for them to build it from the ground up.
The Hardesty Arts Center is one of my favorite places to visit when I go back home to Tulsa. There have been several art shows displayed here and at one point there was even a photography studio for people to come in and use. This building has always given me new ideas from every visit. Its structure and openness at the front of the building has always been one of my favorite parts as well. I cannot wait to go back and visit this place again soon!
