The Perot Museum of Nature and Science is located in the district of Victory Park in Dallas, and it was designed by the architect Thom Mayne. The building was conceived rejecting the notion of museum architecture as a neutral background for exhibits. It was designed to inspire awareness of science through an immersive and interactive environment as the building itself can be used as a didactic tool for demonstrating scientific principles at work through various strategies, including revealing the building structure and mechanical systems. The institution not only aimed to enhance public understanding of natural systems, but also aimed to address and exemplify environmental responsibility through the building’s fore-fronting energy-saving and water-reuse technologies, as well as the integration of native Texan ecologies into landscaping. By integrating architecture, nature and technology, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science embraces its role as an educational resource for the Dallas area.

This is the Emerson College Los Angeles (ELA), located in the famous Sunset Boulevard. This building was designed by Thom Mayne and its construction was completed in 2014. This building brings student housing, instructional facilities, and administrative offices to one location, condensing the diversity of a college campus into a single building located in the heart of Hollywood. The two residential towers bridged by a multi-use platform create some sort of frame to the dynamic core dedicated to creativity, learning, and social interaction. This upper platform serves as a flexible armature for outdoor performances, a stage for student films, screenings, and industry events. In addition, the building demonstrates Emerson’s commitment to sustainability with an automated sunshade system that responds to local weather conditions.

This is a public housing model developed by Morphosis in 2006, and it is located in the city of Madrid, Spain. This model of public housing in Madrid is different than any public housing I have ever seen before. This is an impressive and creative alternative to the common housing blocks where units are simply stacked on top of each other. This model has many different layers to it, with many open spaces and public courtyards. This building transmits a feeling of community, a place where social interactions are valued. And it is this feeling of community that makes this building feel more like a village than a regular public housing complex.

This is the Bloomberg Center, the heart of the new Cornell Tech campus on Roosevelt Island. This building was designed by the famous architect Thom Mayne and had its construction completed in 2017. The Bloomberg Center features varied set of spaces, offering flexible spaces for different learning modes, workspaces, huddle rooms, and social areas. In addition, this building was planned to be among the largest net-zero energy academic buildings. The campus employs multiple strategies to achieve this, including having its primary power being generated on site without using fossil fuel, having solar power, having a green roof and a rainwater collection system, as well as a highly insulated façade, minimizing thermal bridging. The Bloomberg Center is not only visually a great building, but also practically as it addresses the needs of the community in a sustainable way.

Sala São Paulo is a concert hall located in the former Julio Prestes train station, right in the center of São Paulo. The first time I visited this concert hall was back in 2015, on a school field trip. The architectural style of this building is commonly seen in other historical buildings in this region of the city, but when I first encountered this specific one, I was blown away. Its size as well as some of its architectural features (the arcs, columns, and ornaments, for instance) really transmit the historical importance of this building. Inside, not only the building’s architecture is impressive but also what was accomplished as a result of that architecture. That’s because its ceiling is adjustable, allowing the volume of the hall to vary. This ensures that the intensity of any composition has its acoustic concept respected. The experience of watching the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo in this building is something will always remember.

MASP (Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand) was designed by the famous architect Lina Bo Bardi and is located in one of the most important avenues in the city of São Paulo, the famous Avenida Paulista. This region is considered one of the city’s main financial centers as well as an important point of culture and entertainment. This building is not only one of the most important cultural institutions in Brazil, but also a very important building for me, personally. Both the interior and exterior of this building are impressive. Inside, it houses the most important and embracing western art collection of Latin America. Outside, underneath the large suspended volume is a place open to everybody, where you can find local artists as well as hold public and/or political meetings.

On Sundays, this avenue is open to pedestrians and there are dozens of cultural and recreational activities going on. And this is where the MASP became so important to me. My friends and I would spend almost all our Sundays hanging out in Paulista and our meeting spot was MASP. Sometimes, when we didn’t feel like doing anything, we would just sit underneath MASP, listening to live music from a local artist, and talking. Due to this reason, MASP became much more than just an amazing museum and architectural piece to me.

Colégio Alicerce was the school I attended for most of my life. When I first started studying there, I was only six years old and was very intimidated by the building as it was much larger than my previous school. As time went by, I got more and more used to this building and more attached to it as well as. This is where I spent 11 years of my life and it is where I made some great lifelong friendships. Contrary to what 6-year-old me thought, this school wasn’t big at all and that’s probably what made it so special. The fact that the school was small meant that everybody knew each other really well and made it feel like a big family. Although it has been three years since I have graduated high school, I am still very close to my friends as well as some of my teachers from Alicerce, and every time I’m back in Brazil, this is one of my stops.

Estádio do Morumbi (or Morumbi Stadium) is the home to my favorite soccer team, São Paulo FC. I can vividly remember the first time I attended a game there and how amazed I was by the stadium itself as this is the third-largest soccer stadium in Brazil. I was only 9 years old the first time I got to watch São Paulo play there and as we walked into the stadium, I got goosebumps. This building is very special to me because watching São Paulo matches in this stadium with my cousins are some of my favorite memories of all time. Although I don’t get to go there as much anymore, every time I’m back in Brazil, I try to watch at least one game in Morumbi, even if it’s just a friendly match.