The Desert House in Phoenix, AZ was completed in 1996. This home is extremely unique and beautiful. With the design style and materials used it looks like a modern-day, contemporary homeowner’s dream house.  As I have mentioned in my other posts, their use of natural materials and color is what gives their buildings an absolutely timeless look and style that has not, and does not seem to be fading anytime soon. Various types and colors of glass, concrete, granite, wood, and stone were used to complete this residence. The two main areas of the house are bar-shaped and separated “by the wash”. These areas are connected by two bridges, one is open to the outside and the other is enclosed. The large windows throughout the house allow natural light to fill the space and some are sliding which allow fresh air in as well. I personally think this house is amazing, but I would never live in it myself. I enjoy a more cozy and welcoming environment that I can relax in. Though this house is open and beautifully crafted, the design and set up might make it feel more cold and serious than a traditional home.

https://www.archdaily.com/61497/american-folk-art-museum-tod-williams-billie-tsien/moran1

I chose this building 1: because I very much enjoy art museums, 2: because after looking at pictures, the building itself is a work of art. People would come just to look at this building even if it wasn’t a museum. It is an 8 story tall building with 2 floors added on underneath that sits on 53rd street in New York City. It was voted best building in the world in 2001, for obvious reasons once you read about all the details put into this building. In my opinion, the concrete walls with the wooden floors give it a very modern vibe even though it was built also 20 years ago. This proves that natural-looking materials and colors are timeless and classy, interesting enough to be beautiful on its own, but not distracting as to take attention from the various art exhibits you can find here at any given time. The most unique and interesting part of this building to me are the panels that move according to the light outside and flooding into the space.

https://www.archdaily.com/40619/center-for-the-creative-and-performing-arts-university-of-chicago-tod-williams-billie-tsien-associates/view01_exterior_nw_final2

I chose this building for its eye-catching design in photographs. This building is unlike any others that I have seen. The dramatic creativity and uniqueness of this building is to expected because it is the building for creative and performing arts at the University of Chicago. Completed in 2012, this building stands 11 stories high and is filled with rehearsal spaces, studios, and classrooms. This building shows their style are partners very well by, again, using natural materials like glass, wood, and limestone to create a very timeless space for all to enjoy the beauty. Aside from the main 11 story building, there are smaller building which lines the exterior of one side of the main structure. These smaller buildings are built from the same natural materials but are topped with skylights to flood the spaces with natural light. The spaces for the different arts that take place in this building were very well thought out. Some spaces are filled with light hues and flooded with natural light, while others are darker with some natural light to fit the artistic medium of the space. I don’t see the beauty or intrigue of this building fading anytime soon.

This structure in La Jolla, CA was originally created as a neuroscience institute that was completed in 1995. After they moved to a smaller facility it began being used for molecular imaging by Scripps. After looking at photographs of this modern and contemporary styled facility the completion date is shocking to me. Like their other projects, they have created another ultimately ageless building that is impossible to put a time stamp on.  The pattern of natural colors and materials continues here with various types of stone, glass, wood, concrete, and steel.  The institute is 3 different buildings brought together by a plaza in the center which you see in the picture. The theme of large windows and natural light continues in this project. Each building was designed with optimal usage in mind, like the office windows that allow light and privacy or the auditorium with specifically engineered walls to make sound easier to hear even though it is no amplified.

The Olympic House was built as the IOC Headquarters. It was built to represent transparency, unity, collaboration, fair play, and sustainability. The inside is very open for all different types of work styles. The design also pushes for more communication, interaction, and knowledge sharing between workers. The Olympic house also has many different sustainable features that help minimize its environmental footprint.

The Bonnefanten Museum was established in 1884 but was later redone by italian architecht Aldo Rossi in 1992. This museum is very uniquely shaped with a rocket like structure that over looks the Meuse river in the Netherlands. The mueseum currently exclusivly shows only art and  is very prominent in the area along with being known as the viewing factory. This building is completely symetrical down the middle and is in the shape of an E.

Richard Meier’s Teacher Village project is essentially a little village, like the name states, with three charter schools, small to mid-scale retail stores, and housing for teachers. All of the classrooms are designed with many windows to let in natural light. Much like many of Meier’s projects, this building is no different in that it features a lot of light colors such as white with elegant lighting. It is also worth noting that the project is in Newark, New Jersey. And, in the area, there is a zoning code that doesn’t allow buildings to be over 60 feet tall, so this building fits that mold. This is just simply a cool project as it really looks like it would be a great place to send your kids to school and also extremely convenient for teachers to live in.

The Scholastic building which is the headquarters of the Scholastic Corporation is located in New York City. It was created by the italian architect Aldo RossiIt and was built in 2001 and is the only building in New York to be constructed by an italian architecht. It is a 10 story building that is uniform in height and scale while being made up or alot of steel this building standsout from its surroundings with its prominent cylindrical pillars and color and its interior is very diverse with a performing arts center along with a cafe and other such ammenities.

The San Cataldo Cementary created by the italian architect Aldo Rossi is considered to be one of the first and most important psotmodern buildings. It is located in Modena Italy and was under construction from 1972-1976. This building is a roofless, and made with no doors or windos and is a red cubed shaped ossuary used for housing dead remains The ossuarys run parallel and are suppose to be a representation of the bone structure in humans.  It is essentially a shell in which the gaps are filled with the coffins and caskets of those who died otherwise the wholes are left open where there is nothing.

Designed by Richard Meier, the OCT Shenzhen Clubhouse is located in Shenzhen, China, and was completed in 2008. Like many of Meier’s projects, the clubhouse is very lightly colored and white with elegant use of lighting. The entrance of the building has a really cool waterfall with clean night lighting surrounding the building that really makes the colors and elements pop out at you. The building is located on an artificial island, and inside it features a fitness center, pool, multi-purpose area, restaurant, and a gallery among several other things.  What really caught my attention was the geometry of the building. It’s just very unique and clean looking in a difficult to describe way. Ultimately, I think the lighting and geometry of the OCT Shenzhen Clubhouse are what make it so unique and interesting.