The Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen is a yet to be opened public art depot in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. It is a massive, 15000 m² space for the storage of art and artefacts from the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen’s collection. These pieces are normally hidden underground, away from the eyes of the public, but this building serves as a free, public space to display these works. Designed by MVRDV and built during 2020, it will open next year to the public, after which time the museum will be able to show off its full collection, rather than the current 5%.

The building is covered in reflective panels and windows which provide visual interest and help to break up the cityscape. The building has an incredibly open interior, and will house thousands of artefacts and art pieces on shelves and in cases, each in their required climate for preservation. The building also boasts green design, as it utilizes energy efficient lights, solar panels, rainwater plumbing, as well as a green roof covered in trees.

Book Mountain, a relatively small library in Spijkenisse, Netherlands developed in 2012 by MVRDV. Within the raised pyramid are several stacked spaces: Retail, an auditorium, meeting rooms, and commercial offices. These spaces, along with stairs, walkways, and reading areas are all lined with books, giving the appearance of a grand mountain of knowledge.

The interior of the space is lit during the day by sunlight, thanks to the pyramid of windows. The spaces within are comfortable, and feel large, especially when under the wide open sky. Not only is the light system eco-friendly, the building is primarily comprised of recycled materials, from the brick, the wood, and glass to even the bookshelves, which are made of recycled flowerpots.

The headquarters for Norwegian bank DNB, called DNB House, lies on the waterfront of Olso, Norway. It was designed and built in 2012 by MVRDV, winning the Norwegian Steel Construction prize in 2015. This building emphasizes the power of modern day construction materials, many parts of the exterior and interior seeming to defy gravity, all the while maintaining a look that fits in with the rest of the Oslo skyline.

The building serves as a central headquarters for all the functions of DNB, and includes a massive trading room as well as communal facilities, individual offices, and meeting rooms. In all there are 2000 work spaces, and it even boasts a massive 140 seat canteen on the top floor. The interior is very transparent, many areas being able to see across other rooms and through stairwells into meetings and lounges. Each of the areas of the building are connected by a set of interwoven terraces, encouraging central travel and impromptu meetings.

the Markthal is an apartment complex, a market, and a gathering place with restaurants all mixed into one. (it also has over 1000 underground parking spaces) It lies in Rotterdam in the Netherlands and was developed by MVRDV in 2014 with a budget of almost 200 million euros.

MVDRV serves as a center for living, leisure, and everyday errands, all the while being a beautiful sight. The outside of the structure is a fantastic arch with few straight lines or panels save for the windows. It hosts 228 apartments of varying sizes, each with fantastic views of the river or city, along with windows to the interior market space, sometimes in the form of glass floors. The building focuses on allowing natural light in, with a lot of window space to every apartment room. The massive interior space is lined with a mural of cornucopia of life, and hosts restaurants, a supermarket, and gathering places. The building puts many of the essentials of life all under one roof: Community, comfort, and convenience.

This is the home I’ve been renting for the past 2.5 years here in Norman. It’s near the museum and is one of my favorite houses which I’ve lived in. It may not be clear from the photos, but the interior of the house is a perfect hexagon. There is a hexagonal kitchen in the very center with 6 doors leaving it, one on each side (Pictured below). 4 doors go to bedrooms, and 2 go to a living room. There are no hallways in this house, so there is no wasted space. I was told this house was designed in the 60’s by an architecture professor here at OU.

The ceiling of this house is the roof, so there’s no attic, and this is very obvious when it rains. The rain is loud, but the sound is actually quite nice. Living in this house, you can really appreciate the symmetry and angles. Each room feels much more unique than your bog standard square room, and it is very quick to travel from any room to any other. There is a maximum of 2 doorways between any room, and never a hallway. In addition, living in this house with roommates, everything feels fair as each room is identical, and nowhere feels too secluded. Overall, it has been a pleasure to live here, and I will never forget my time in this house.

The Perot Museum in Dallas is one of my favorite pieces of architecture. It is a very interesting structure, like something from a dream. It’s an odd, distorted cube, while also being subtle enough to not stand out too much in the Dallas cityscape.

Inside, it has wide open, bright rooms covered in glass, as well as dark rooms filled to the brim with under-lit dinosaurs. From the inside, the rooms seem to be all different shape and sizes, and you rarely realize the structure of the building as a whole as you go through it. My experience in the Perot Museum was a positive one, and the building enhances the museum experience greatly. I hope to go back soon.

Two summers ago, I traveled to Britain for a week around my birthday. During my time there, what I did more than anything else was visit museums. A number of London museums as well as the Louvre on a day visit to Paris. Most Impressive and depressing at the same time was The British Museum.

Architecturally, its beautiful, and the interior is open and bright. However, its façade is a preface for the thievery inside.

While in The British Museum, I wandered through countless halls of precious artifacts from around the world, awed by the things which were from my own heritage and things which were from far off lands which I may never visit. Inundated by treasures, I often could only think about how so many things are stolen. Pieces of the Parthenon, Egyptian relics from the tombs of kings, African bronzes, etc. Compared to the Louvre, the British Portrait Museum, and the London Natural History Museum, this one rubbed me the wrong way.

Sarkeys Energy Center is to the Physical Science Center as Yang is to Yin. They have a similar monolith structure, but Sarkeys, at least to me, has a much more pleasing image. The building manages to maintain the common theme of the university while also being built like a sprawling castle, with moats, towers, and a giant keep. Its labyrinthine interior contains some of the coolest displays on campus.

I have had many classes in Sarkeys during my time at OU, and so I’ve spent a lot of time inside. As the geology building, It has underground labs, sawing at rock and producing horrible noise, while also having many beautiful rocks and fossils to look at as you wander, lost due to its horrible classroom organization scheme. some of the worst and best classes I’ve taken were there, and overall, I’d say Sarkeys has had a positive effect on me. This semester especially, you can appreciate the architecture more when there are so few people around.