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.

In this building, I.M. Pei’s love of geometric design is reiterated. The triangles on the roof reminds me of the Louvre pyramid. You notice his obsession with geometric shapes. Windows shaped like hexagons and diamonds. The exterior is truly modern. The interior is filled with confusing windows and shapes. When looking at the ceiling it is difficult to tell which direction is up and which is down. This is probably the most modern styled building I’ve seen.

The Bank of China Tower is an impressive sight to behold. It’s glass facades reflect the light from the sun. The sky scraper has a steel-frame with glass curtains. The building is 315 meters tall with 72 stories. The Bank of China Tower was the tallest building in Asia until 1992 and was the first building outside the United States to reach 305 meters. I really like this building because over all the complex skeleton of the building there is a simple triangular patters that makes it easy on the eyes.

Built in Paris France, the Louvre Pyramid is a beacon of light at night. It is a pyramid with a square base, similar to the ancient tombs of Egypt. The building was commissioned by President Francois Mitterrand. I.M. Pei designed the pyramid to have 673 glass panes. This structure serves as an entrance to the Louvre and sits atop a lobby.

Dale hall is the building that I have most of my classes in. Spending day after day inside a blank walled room with a door on either side of the room is incredibly depressing. The grand entrance is broken down, with old glass doors. Trees cover the impressive awning. The blank brick walls on either side of the building leave it to be one of the bleakest academic buildings on campus.

Asbury Methodist Church is the most memorable building in Tulsa. It is defined by a massive spire in the front of the building. The windows underneath mimic the peak of the tower in the center. Despite this grand entrance, the walls of the building are fairly plain. There are a few arches along the sides of the building, only small peaks that faintly echo the grand tower of the entrance. The interior of the church is vast and can seat thousands of people. I like this building because it gives a sense of place to an otherwise very commercial part of Tulsa.

The Philbrook Museum is a building defined by the huge arches and red roof. The sheer size of the building is made interesting by the utilization of depth in the building. The Philbrook building is not just a big box. It has two square protruding towers that add  depth connected by a series of arches on the patio. The garden is meticulously groomed creating a feeling that you are in the Victorian era.

The Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame was like a second home to me. I lived close to downtown Tulsa before coming to University. This is the building that I spent almost all of my free time in.

The building is defined by large arched windows on the front and sides, two towers standing on either side of the entrance creating an atmosphere of foreboding. The exterior is made out of plain stone bricks, but defined by the different levels of depth in the exterior.

Growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, there was always one landmark that the culture of Tulsa revolved around. The BOK Center, or as I call it, the THC, or The Aluminum Can.

Cesar Pelli was the modernist architect that thought up the design of this building. The BOK Center was built in 2008. It could house a concert or show of up to almost 20,000 people. The building was designed to be a meeting place of the people of Tulsa. A place where people could come together to enjoy music, but instead it looks like an ominous tin can lurking in the distance. The building does not blend in to the surrounding downtown Tulsa and in my opinion, is the largest eyesore in our town.

Seth Hernandez

October 7, 2019