I pass this house everyday on my way to class and getting around Norman. This house is probably one of my favorite houses I have seen in person. The shear beauty of it with all the columns and pillars and the different levels in the bricks really intrigues me. There has been a lot of times between school and work that I’m just drained but then seeing this house just keeps me motivated to keep working at it. It keeps me driven so to get to my end goal hopefully later in life.
The Water Temple Hyogo located in Hyogo Japan was built in 1991. Ando Tadao has always loved the use of concrete as his materials. In this exquisite design, he actually designed a little pond on top of the building as a roof. The building was designed as the residence of the oldest sec of Tantric Buddhism in Japan. I like how Ando Tadao blends some of his buildings with nature. I would think he does that because japan is such a pretty place.
This building is called the Torres Glòries in Barcelona, Spain and it is another piece by Jean Nouvel. It resembles the shape and structure of the Doha Tower in Doha. However, instead of intricate weave patterns that are on the Doha Tower, this building is covered with glass and steel. This allows for a nighttime spectacle because they light the building with different colors. This building looks like it belongs in the Middle East, but Nouvel brought that energy to Europe by designing this in Spain. Jean Nouvel has an intriguing creativity and it shows in his architectural designs.
The Scotland Street School Museum was Charles Rennie Mackintosh last big build. The Museum was finished in 1906. This building goes back to embodying how I always envisioned Scottish Architecture. Has the big pillars, lots of windows, and beautiful stone, much like Mackintosh’s School of Art. I like all the windows he did in the project, between that and the light tan colored brick it really softens up the building inside and out. You can tell that when given the freedom that he really liked to tie the buildings back to his roots.
The Chichu Art Museum was constructed in 2004 in Japan. As you can see in the picture, the museum is built inside of the ground. Ando Tadao wanted to combine the relationship between people and nature. The Museum uses a ton of natural light, which can at times change the appearance of the artwork depending on how bright it is outside. I have honestly never seen anything like this before! The inside of the Chichu Art Museum is even cooler. I recommend looking up more pictures of this museum, they will not disappoint!
Known as the Burj Doha or Doha Tower, this building is another unique architectural piece by Jean Nouvel. From first glance, it may look like a glorified silo-like building. However, the outsides of he tower is covered in intricate designs just like the dome of the Louvre in Abu Dhabi. You can see that Nouvel strives to keep some of his unique fingerprints in different buildings. This building is in Doha and it cost about $125 million to make and it is said to be a cousin of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest tower in the world.
Queens Cross Church was the only church that Mackintosh designed and built. The first service was held in 1899. For this building they kept it pretty simplistic, no tall pillars. They didn’t fill the windows with magnificent mosaic windows like you see in a lot of the grand churches built in this time frame. The just wanted to create a environment for people to come worship.
Ando Tadao was the architect that was assigned the challenge of creating the Osaka Culturarium. The project began in 1994 and turned out to be a huge success and one of his many masterpieces. The building is used as a venue for various occasions involving botanicals and other displays of art. In my opinion, I like the use of glass because it allows you to have a view of the water that the building is on. One of my favorite buildings by Ando Tadao.
This is the National Museum of Qatar designed by Jean Nouvel. This is another architectural piece that caught my eye designed by Nouvel that is remarkably unique. The structure looks like giant circular disks placed upon each other, but in a beautiful way. I would love to visit this museum in Qatar one day. Also, it seems as if designing and building in the Middle East allows for more artistic freedom by some chance. I say this because it is hard to find many designs that look like this one in America. Personally, I would love to see more artistry flourish in the way we design our buildings here. This building is wonderfully designed and it catches everyone’s attention.
If you walked into this building not knowing what it was, you would know who built it. I.M. Pei’s designs are instantly recognizable. The steel frames provide a triangular latticework of structural support. This leaves a wide open floor space within the structure. This building allows incredible amounts of natural light into the building.
