I have been attending this Christ the King Catholic Church in Oklahoma City with my family since I was born. It has influenced me in a positive way and has given me a foundation of faith in my life. Whenever I walk into this building I feel like I can forget about what else is going on in my life and focus on myself and my relationship with God. This church has became a tradition for my family and me to go every Sunday morning. My favorite part of this building is the stain glass windows on the sides. When the sunlight shines through the windows it makes the whole church look colorful.

In the 80’s the energy giant, Williams Corportation, set out to have one of the first sky scrapers in Tulsa, OK. Standing at 52 stories and over 660ft tall, it is was at one time the tallest building in Oklahoma. It was designed by famous architect Minoru Yamasaki, who also designed the infamous World Trade Center towers.

Growing up I had a unique relationship with this building because it looked so much like the World Trade center it frightened me, also because my grandmother worked there and I did not want anything bad to happen to her. I felt like I grew up with the building including in 2006 when it under went renovations like an ice skating rink, restaurants and a movie theater. Those additions made this building more than just a boring place that I knew from my childhood.

In 1881 Union Station was built in downtown Denver Colorado, nestled right near the rocky mountains. The station burned down in 1894 but was later rebuilt to its newer larger size in 1914. This building never caught my attention until it’s reopening after it’s renovation in the summer of 2014. The newly remolded station includes a 112 room hotel, many restaurants and stores.

The integral part of the station is the accessibility to Colorado’s many train services including Amtrak and their own centrally located state run transportation. I have visited Denver numerous times, even for extended stays and have only traveled on the train once. The experience of traveling on the train is not necessary to enjoy the beauty or amenities of the station. Many times I have made day trips out of going to the many options in the station.

The Centraal Beheer offices in Apeldoorn, Netherlands were designed by Herman Hertzberger and completed in 1972. Hertzberger is one of the most famous Dutch architects who founded his own firm Architectuurstudio HH (AHH) in 1960 and received the prestigious Royal Institute of British Architects’ Royal Gold Medal in 2012.

According to AHH, the Centraal Beheer offices consist of “sixty tower-like cubes connected on each floor by overpasses.” Hertzberger used materials that were reviled by the modernists of the time like metal and glass and concrete blocks. He wanted the inside to be open and designed an internal street to encourage social interaction among the employees and guests. The glass roof and light wells brought in a lot of natural light, which he felt was important for the well-being of the employees.

I moved into Couch as a freshman in 2018. It was an exciting time – moving away from home and the parents and starting a whole new chapter in my life. I remember noticing moving day that the outside wasn’t anything special; just a tall, ugly brick building but I could’ve cared less. When I walked in however I remember thinking this place is really old. I was right – it was built in 1966 and I’m pretty sure nothing had changed much since. My dorm room itself was not much better. It was the size of a large closet and felt claustrophobic. Even though I was moving in with my really good friend, I knew this was going to be rough. Within the first month, our toilet overflowed flooding much of the room which wasn’t great. It wasn’t all bad of course. Being close to campus was awesome, the freedom I had was fantastic, and I became close friends with my suite-mates as well as many other people. We made many great memories there but as for the building itself, I don’t miss it one bit.