This is the Aspen Art Museum located in Aspen, Colorado that was designed by Shigeru Ban. Despite being a very modern building, it features an extensive use of wood/composite wood for both structural and styling purposes. The building contains wooden roof beams and the exterior has a woven pattern, created with a material called Prodema, which is comprised of paper and resin under a real wood surface. For me, the woven exterior is the part of this building that stands out the most, and it reminds me of a woven basket, which is something that’s artful yet natural and organic. Thinking deeper, I feel that there exists a sharp contrast between the natural, wood-like material on the exterior and the artificial, square grid-like pattern they are arranged in. A natural structure is not so organized, yet humans have a desire to neatly organize things, typically into geometric shapes. Here, the Aspen Art Museum has a strong repetition of rectangles/squares.

Photo & info source: https://www.archdaily.com/546446/aspen-art-museum-shigeru-ban-architects

Tatiana Bilbao was the architect for the Botanical Garden located in Culiacan, Mexico. It was built is 2012. Over 30 years ago, engineer Carlos Murillo, created the Culiacan Botanical Garden. Tatiana Bilbao job was “reconciling nature with architectural order,” and I think she did a great job. The pictures of the Botanical Garden are so beautiful. The design is very green and modern, which are my two favorite things when I look at architecture.

This building is another creation from Yvonne Farrell. In this building, you are able to see all the windows and pillars only on the front of the building. This is because the building faces the coast and behind it is just city litter. The Pillars are there to easily allow the ocean breeze to enter the building so the building never gets hot. Yvonne has a style of a lot of windows, balconies and having the building all the same color made from some type of stone.

After looking at Yvonne Farrell’s different buildings that she’s created, I’ve started to pick up on common themes in her buildings. Yvonne really likes the modern style with stone and big windows. This building is the Anthony Timberland Center at the University of Arkansas. As you can see the building is very modern with big long windows at the front. She also incorporated a big balcony on each side of the building to go with a more symmetrical look. One thing I like about the building is how it’s somewhat symmetrical but not perfectly. The roof on the right side is a little bit taller and the balconies on both sides don’t perfectly match but it’s close.

Sadie Morgan and her group renovated the Calpham manor primary school. The school is located in a very tight fit urban area. So, it was a challenge to provide space for learning due to not having much space, but they pulled it off and made it really stand out amongst the other buildings. The new wing was therefore conceived as a freestanding extension that plugged into the Boarding School, enabling the school to function effectively and holistically as a single entity.

Bioinnova was built in 2012. Tatiana Bilbao was the architect for the building. It is located in Culiacan Rosales, Mexico. The area is 6260 m². This building structure is considered a biotechnological park building. They wanted it to be a link between academics and business for the college. The structure is located in the state of Sinaloa. I like the way this structure is designed, I love the slick and modern design. I read that each level of the building works technically and aesthetically with a specific sustainable system, so each part does its work to keep the building running. I absolutely love this idea. I would love to visit this building some day.