The McCormick Tribune Campus Center is a building on the main campus of the Illinois Institute of Technology designed by Rem Koolhaas. The building was opened in September of 2003. It is a one-story building, but is 110,000 square feet. This building was the first that Rem Koolhaas designed in the United States. Koolhaas won a design contest that allowed him to be the architect of the Campus Center. Because of the noise of the train tracks overhead, Koolhaas decided to enclose a portion of the track in a stainless steel tube. The building is a central hub for student life on campus and provides space for offices and meetings.

Maison à Bordeaux is a residential building designed by Rem Koolhaas that sits overlooking the city of Bordeaux. It was completed in 1998, and built for a family that included a paralyzed husband. Rem Koolhaas was asked by the family to design a house that was wheelchair accessible but still complex. Koolhaas achieved this by designing what was essentially three separate houses stacked on top of one another, with a central elevator that moves between each floor. The elevator is disguised as the husband’s office. The house is a private residence and does not allow visitors but is still considered an architectural landmark.

De Rotterdam is a building designed by Rem Koolhaas in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Construction was not started until 2009, even though it was designed in 1998. Construction was completed on November 15, 2013. The building is made-up of three towers that are interconnected, and spans 44 floors. De Rotterdam is used for apartment spaces and office spaces. It also houses a hotel, restaurants, fitness facilities, and shops.

The Central Library in Seattle, Washington was designed by Rem Koolhaas and Joshua Prince-Ramus. The building is eleven stories tall, and is constructed primarily of glass and steel. It’s opening day was May 23, 2004. The library is 362,987 square feet, and is home to about 1.45 million books and other materials.

511 Fleetwood Drive is the house that I rented my sophomore year of college. I lived there with my roommate from the dorms, who had become one of my closest friends, and my older brother who was also attending the University of Oklahoma. It was a fairly small house but it was incredibly close to campus which was important for us as we all biked to class nearly every day. This house is important to me because it is the place where I really experienced being an adult for the first time. It was the first time that I had to pay rent, water and electricity bills, and learn how to cook.

In 2006 my family went on vacation to a little beach town called Port Aransas, Texas. We were supposed to go to Corpus Christi, which is right next to Port Aransas, but it had recently been hit by a hurricane. We found Port Aransas pretty last minute, and booked a random available place to stay. The Aransas Princess is a condominium complex right on the beach in Port Aransas. It is gorgeous and we absolutely loved our stay. So much, in fact, that we have since been back to Port Aransas and stayed at the Aransas Princess four more times! Last summer, my older brother even got engaged on the stretch of beach that the complex sits on! It is pretty safe to say that the Aransas Princess is a pretty important building for my family.

Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, Oklahoma is where I experienced my very first, and many subsequent, concerts. In high school, I loved music and going to concerts more than pretty much anything else, and Cain’s was easily the best place for it. Because it was built as a ballroom, it has a spring-loaded dance floor. This is what makes it so special, at least to me. During the concert, I could feel the beat underneath my feet and pulsing up through my body. I could feet the crowd around me jumping up and down. This building creates such a unique and amazing concert experience, and I highly recommend that you go to a concert here if you are given the chance.

It is also a special building to me because my junior prom was held at Cain’s Ballroom. I did not originally want to go to prom that year, but changed my mind when I heard where it was being held. I ended up having a good time and have Cain’s Ballroom to thank for that.

My childhood home is easily one of the most impactful building in my life. My parents moved into the home in midtown Tulsa not long after getting married, and we stayed there for 25 years before moving to a new home. My brother and I were brought home from the hospital to that house, took our first steps there, and had so many other firsts and important moments within those walls.
Unfortunately, when my parents decided to sell the house, it was bought by builders and torn down not too long after. Of course we still have photographs and memories, but I am a little disappointed that I won’t be able to show my future children my childhood home. Moving out of that house was very emotional, and is a day I will remember forever. They are currently building a new house on the property, but in my heart that will always be the place where I grew up.