Don’t get distracted by the tall silo-looking building in the left side of the image. The Cooper Union, the beautiful block on the right, is the newest addition to Cooper Institute of Arts and Science in New York. This building represents the institution’s goal to be innovative in art and engineering. The building is relatively open to the public for viewing and has become a cultural center for New York.

The interior features a unique, high climbing lattice as well as interesting staircases. There is plenty of exposure to natural light, and an atrium that offers views of the city.

The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art has had an incredibly positive influence on my life. From its large collection of western artwork to its more unique and dated works within, I find the building to be very distinctive.

The Bruder Klaus Field Chapel is a monument funded by local farmers in order to honor Bruder Klaus, a 15th century saint. The construction materials are largely similar to Peter Zumthor’s other works but the end result is not. While from the outside it looks like a stone book, the interior is a wigwam of 112 tree trunks. Inside is charred wood and a floor made of frozen lead.

The Bruder Klaus Chapel serves no purpose other than to exist. That being said, to walk through it would have to be an incredible experience. Its how I imagine a temple on an alien planet would look.

This Morphosis project, spearheaded by Thom Mayne, was a grand addition to Cornell University in 2014. The building belongs to the department of Computing and Information Science, and $25 million of the $60 million budget was donated by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. I like this building because of its glistening stainless steel and bright yellow front. The building serves as a beautiful introduction at the front of Cornell, and the inside is just as much of a statement.

Thom Mayne, 76, was born in Connecticut but is now considered a native to Los Angeles. He had an amazing start in 1972 when he co-founded the Southern California Institute of Architecture as well as Morphosis Architects, an LA firm that is now world renowned. He went back to Harvard for a Masters Degree and finished in 1978, returning to Morphosis as lead architect. Morphosis is known for designs that acknowledge the always-changing world we live in.

To begin, I will show the Emerson College at LA. This building began construction in 2012 welcoming new students in 2014.

This extension of Boston’s Emerson College of liberal arts is a building that well-represents its forward-thinking students. Mayne refers to the design as classic, a spin-off of block-shaped institutional buildings. I’d say they did a great job at designing a spin-off.

This is a picture of what used to be Clair E. Gale Jr. High where I went for 7th and 8th grade. They tore it down and put us in high school a year early before rebuilding it into Compass academy. What used to be the low income Jr. High became a magnet school for students who wanted a “non-traditional” education. It hasn’t been much of a success. The auditorium is the dome and it was there when the school was Clair E. Gale as well. My family’s friend Mr. Crouch ran the weights class and that was the reason I looked forward to going to school. No matter what the rest of the day was like weights class was a constant and we always had a good time.

The Kolumba Art Museum in Cologne, Germany, is another utilitarian design by Peter Zumthor. It sits atop the ruins of a former church and re purposes some of the remaining stonework. The inside consists of supporting concrete pillars which stand out against the stained wooden floors and stone remains of the destroyed church. The perforated wall sections let in light and highlight the stained glass within. This is definitely my favorite of Zumthor’s projects because I like the way he linked his minimalist style and made perfect use of the history of the location.

Every year since fifth grade I went with my mom to work the state track meet. The AstroTurf was always burning hot and running the triple jump became monotonous but we went to Baja Fresh to get burritos after so I always had a good time. The field is too shiny on TV but they’ve done a lot to fix that over the years. In person however, the blue turf looks great and adds to the experience of going to games or just being in the stadium. Its also the only college in Idaho I would have wanted to go to since I lived next to it and heard all the football games for years. I’m looking forward to seeing more games and eventually going in person once the virus is over.

Peter Zumthor’s Rest stop at the Allmannajuvet Zinc Mine Museum stands out against the background of rural Norway. I like the stonework below the bathrooms and the way they sit atop it like some sort of watchtower. The museum in the background, also Zumthor’s design, is set high up on timber stilts which is a bit scary since it looks like it could slide off at any moment. The buildings share the same black rectangle construction with timber supports and framing covered by a zinc roof just like the zinc that was extracted from the mine in years past. Though minimalist, Zumthor has fit Allmannajuvet’s museum and support buildings perfectly the the environment.

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.