The pictures above are of the house that I am currently living in, and I’m not sure if it is easy to tell from the satellite image, but I live in a hexagon. The roof belies the actual shape of the house, which, I promise, is a perfect hexagon. I am renting the house with three other roommates right now for $2000 a month (split four ways), and my landlord, who is a very nice old lady, tells me that the house was designed and built by OU’s dean of architecture in the late 50’s and early 60’s. I have no way of corroborating that information, but it sounds pretty neat, so I included it.

The house has four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and no hallways. The no hallways part sounds kind of weird, but you walk in the door and it’s true; there are just doorways connecting all of the rooms. The kitchen lies at the center of the house and is a smaller, nested hexagon with a taller roof segment letting in light and six doors leading out of it. It’s pretty easy to get turned around and forget where you are if you don’t keep track of all of the doors.

As a consequence of living in a hexagon, the angles in my room are very strange. I share a bathroom with another roommate, but, closet and bathroom excluded, my room is shaped like a trapezoid, so you can probably picture the angles. It’s a really cool place, and I highly doubt that whatever rental I move to next will stand up to it.

I won’t miss the electricals, though; the lights flicker when the fridge kicks on.

This is my childhood church, First Baptist Church of Mount Pleasant. This is the church I grew up in. So many memories were made here. I spent most of my Sundays and Wednesdays here. This is where I made some of my life long friends. I remember taking piano classes here, all the VBS weeks, playing in the gym and so many more memories. My parents still go to this church so when I go back to my hometown, I always visit. Such a positive building in my life and I’m so grateful for it.

The Oklahoma Contemporary Art Museum is new to the OKC metro area, but has already made a major impact. This building was designed by Rand Elliott architects, with Oklahoma’s changing weather and landscape in mind in the varied levels of the outdoor structure. The reflective exterior displays the colorful and vast Oklahoma skies, and is especially amazing at sunrise. This building has been meaningful to me during the last view months, as during the pandemic there have been few opportunities to interact socially. The museum has been putting on socially distant and outdoor events, which have been a great way to safely experience art and come together with the community. This is a place I have enjoyed getting to meet friends I have not been able to see often, and I think it will continue to be a place to connect even more when the pandemic ends.

Whether I am arriving by plane or car, when I travel back to Chicago I am still filled with amazement at the sight of this magnificent building. It’s one of the first things I look for and notice once the skyline is in sight. Both sides of my family are originally from Chicago and my great grandfather even worked on The Sears Tower when it was being built. I can tell you that this building (which was also the tallest building in the world at one time) holds a special place in the heart of most Chicagoans. I have such wonderful memories visiting family and exploring different parts of the city. The Sears Tower reminds me of so many of the stories my family has to tell about growing up in Chicago and I think the building exemplifies the unique beauty of the city.

This building has to be one of my favorite skyscrapers in Houston. Houston is where I grew up after moving from Alaska and I always admired this building while I lived there. The top of it opens up in a circular fashion with changing lights on the outside of it. The lights are always bright and beautiful colors and it is very hard to miss this building especially at night. I do videography and recently I got a video of this building with my drone and it looks amazing due to its modern architecture. I really like modern architecture as well as skyscrapers, so there is not much for me to dislike about Center Point Energy Plaza. Whenever I come home and see this while driving back I get a nostalgic feeling that I am back home.

I doubt that I really noticed the Physical Sciences Center the first time I stepped foot inside it as I was probably hurrying to my next class on the first day of Freshman year. I think my disdain for the building has developed as a slow burn, but after four years I have come to really hate it. Not only does it have its own brand of brutalism that stands out against the rest of OU’s architecture, but, even if it was on its own, it really does belong on r/evilbuildings. I’ve probably had about half of my classes at the Physical Sciences Center, and, every time, I look up at the cornerless citadel and wonder what the person that designed it was really thinking, and why such wholesome studies as chemistry and mathematics would be sullied by such an ugly buliding.

For a lot of people, the Physical Sciences Center probably represents general chemistry, calculus, or some other required class that they disliked. For those people, it is probably a fitting visage, but I have had a lot of my favorite classes there, and I think it’s a shame that they had to take place in a building that would be genuinely at home at a prison.

Castello di Amorosa is an authentically designed 13th century Tuscan Castle Winery located in Napa Valley, California. The building is built to be just like a medieval castle and includes: a moat, drawbridge, towers, courtyards, chapels, armories, stables, and more. The castle is 121,000 square feet and the entire construction process including materials and methods were done exactly how it would have been done back 700-800 years ago. I went here on a trip years ago and the beautiful design of both the interior and exterior is astonishing. Every single brick and rock you see was put in a certain spot that makes the building so perfect. The beautifully designed interior with its large paintings, grand dining hall, and endless wine tunnels is incredible. I really hope that I will be able to go back to this wonderful place sometime soon. The building has sadly gotten burned because of the recent fires in the wine country of California, but the team there is hoping to bounce back and get everything fixed soon.

This building was owned by my mom for 20 years. My mom started Laura’s Cheesecake before I was born and sold it a couple of years ago. I spent many years here and basically grew up in this building, she even had a nursery built for my sister and me there. I also worked there in the summers and it taught me a lot about life. I met many people that shaped my life in many ways. It had such a positive effect on my life, I still visit every time I go to my hometown.

This is the Hardesty Arts Center, also know as the AHHA building, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The AHHA was built in 2012 for the Arts & Humanities Council of Tulsa and is used as an art gallery and studio space. I really love this building because it’s a symbol of gathering for the Tulsa arts community, and really grew during my high school years when I felt more appreciation for art. 

When it comes to the physical space, I find it so interesting that it seems like a heavy and sharp-shaped building, with the concrete walls and metal details, while at the same time feeling so soft and light while inside. I think that their walls of windows letting in natural light must be part of this effect. I also find it so interesting how the space itself is so neutral and has held so many creative sculptures and other forms of artwork. 

This may not be the most aesthetically pleasing work of architecture, but it was great for Alaska. This is the city I grew up in as well as the place where my parents met. In a way without this building I would not exist. I love this hotel because there is a great restaurant on top of it that overlooks the city. This is also one of the tallest buildings in Anchorage, so it is a great vantage point to see what is around. I believe this is one of the coolest buildings in Alaska and also has many fun shops and restaurants in it. It is also very functional as a hotel and is a great place to stay. The Captian Cook hotel has a special place in my memories and I look forward to going back here and look over my childhood city.