In the latter half of Michael Graves career he began focusing a lot of his attention on producing health care facilities and assisted living homes that were centered around the needs of the humans in them. Michael really began to focus on these designs due to his own health crisis where a simple sinus infection would leave him paralyzed from the chest down. During his time in the hospital Michael noticed the inefficiency of the hospitals from furniture and equipment to the actual building design. Toward the end of his life Michael had partnered with Stryker to create better furnishings for hospitals, designed hospitals and assisted living homes that all focused on the humans that would be living and working in them. Michael even had a TED talk on the subject of the future of hospital design that was really interesting.

The Denver Public Library was a project Michael Graves worked on in the 90’s to renovate and expand the library built in the 50’s. The expansion was 390,000 SF and the renovation was 147,000 SF. I found the process for the construction really interesting as they wanted to keep the library open during the construction process. So to accomplish this they actually did the expansion first enveloping the original building, then the existing library was renovated once the expansion was complete. The original library was actually designed as a modernist building and Graves of course designed the expansion in a postmodernist style.

This is my favorite Graves building the exterior has a look like several scraps from other buildings were randomly used too put this building together. The exterior is full of different interesting elements the shapes, scale, and color is not uniform in any way but is still a very beautiful and inviting building. For the interior Graves took inspiration from Denver’s history of exploration for elements of the design.

Michael Graves quickly became one of the most prominent architects of the postmodernist movement in the 1980’s known for his unique style. However, in the later half of the 1980’s the postmodernist style was starting to fall from favor. Yet during this time Graves seemingly found a home working for Disney. Disney’s board trusted Graves with the design on many properties including the Team Disney building which is whimsical to say the least. Graves combined his knowledge of modern building, classical architecture, and a freedom of design on Disney to offer to create this building. The building is actually designed around the idea of a sun dial and near twenty-foot terracotta figures of the seven dwarfs hold up a pediment that resemble something from Ancient Rome or Greece.

Michael Graves is a world renowned architect known for his postmodernist style. Many architects point to the Portland Building as Graves’ entry as a staple in the postmodernist movement. Though Graves was taught under the modernist movement he rejected the steel and glass facades as too cold. Instead Graves built a 29 million dollar 15 story office building with a colorful facade in the middle of Portland among colorless Modernist buildings. Built in the 1980’s during the energy crisis Graves chose to use less and smaller tinted windows to help save energy. In its recent history however the building has faced a push to be demolished due to the over $90 million renovations that are needed.

Mount Vernon was the plantation home of George Washington located just outside of Washington D.C. in Virginia. Construction began at the estate actually by Washington’s father in the early 1700’s who built a moderate home by comparison. George would later renovate and expand the property to his own preferences leaving behind to me a beautiful and picturesque estate. It is a large plantation but it is not gaudy or overwhelming it is just felt peaceful. When I toured the mansion I actually ran into a man that was overseeing what ended up being the effort to preserve the property. He told me he was a contractor that specialized in the historical preservation of buildings and went into the detail of all that includes working with historians, architects, and other specialist to properly restore the mansion back to its original glory. That encounter really stuck with me and now it is my current goal to eventually become a contractor that specializes in historical building renovation or preservation. It combines my two loves history and construction and I believe it is an honorable pursuit to try and save buildings for future generations to be able to observe. Also if you look up Mount Vernon their website has been tracking the preservation progress throughout the years and it is a very interesting.

Between my junior and senior years of high-school I actually was able to win a competition held by the Oklahoma electrical co-ops that took a couple kids from within their regions to Washington D.C. for a week. We toured about as much of D.C. as you could within a single week and I was in a almost constant awe by the architecture everything from the government buildings to bridges. It is hard to say but my favorite building I was able to see was the Capitol Building. The Capitol Building has seen so much since its conception with its first corner stone being set by George Washington himself in the latter half of the 1700’s. Though the building was left in ruin after the War of 1812 it was rebuilt. Throughout the buildings life it has been in a near constant state of renovation and refurbishment. No picture I have seen has given the scale of it justice it is a truly impressive building. The day we visited was in the middle of July with the sun blazing due to that you could hardly look at the Capitol with the reflection off the white stone. The interior of the Capitol Building was equally if not more impressive than the exterior. The dome makes you think of a modern day pantheon and the art of the founding fathers is modeled after something from the Renaissance. With all of that the part that struck me most was seeing the wear in the stone steps inside. The steps were worn down so much there was a noticeable curve to them. This was the first time in my life I truly observed and thought of the history and life of a building and it nearly brought tears to my eyes as stupid as that seems.

Devon Energy Center Tower is a fifty story tall tower located in downtown Oklahoma City. The tower was constructed over a three year period from 2009 to 2012 and is Oklahoma tallest building. I am sure to those that grew up in or near big cities this is not all that impressive of a building as they are used to seeing buildings of that size. Growing up here in Oklahoma I got to see the towers gradual construction and i am glad it is not just some square tall building. I truly believe that Devon Tower is a beautifully designed tower and it in some strange way brings me pride as an Oklahoman. I think the tower also helps to legitimize Oklahoma City as an actual city. We are finally growing to have a recognizable and memorable skyline.

I know the assignment is to spotlight a building, but when I think about architecture that I love the French Quarter as a whole comes to mind. The French Quarter a historic district in city of New Orleans Louisiana and much like its name suggest the architecture of the many of buildings there reflect a French style. It is hard to describe the feeling you get when in the French Quarter, but to me it feels as if I am stepping into another country the cultural history is just so different from any other city I have been in. I spent a lot of my childhood visiting New Orleans in the summer since my family is from the south. Every time I visit I still get a sense of wonder walking around the narrow streets looking up at all the old unique buildings. Even though the French Quarter has a reputation of being a rowdy area I always feel at peace when visiting. It is by far my favorite city that I have been able to able to visit.