Maya Lin is an American Architect that made one her biggest successes in here career while she was still attending undergraduate school at Yale University. Lin designed the memorial for Vietnam Veterans in Washington D.C. She won a contest that was made to help chose the design of the memorial. That was a truly amazing feat to accomplish and was able to do it at the age of 21. Lin has gone on to design various building for various universities all over the United States, and continues to be one of the more successful architects of our time.

Steven Hol is a architect based out of New York City, and is also know as a watercolorist. I guess it kind of makes sense given that some of his buildings are so extravagant that they look as if they are from some sort of colored art piece. He is internationally known for his innovative architecture styles and that is what he is known for best around the architectural world.

Rick Joy is an architect from Tucson, AZ and if you look at the way his structures show and the settling around it you can see his Arizona upbringing. To me, his buildings fit the desert scene perfectly especially the one pictured above. The dullness of the building itself fits in the nature setting that is in, and is not meant to take away from the nature around it, instead it complement the surrounding scene. I believe that is what Joy does pretty well in his work.

The Baseball Hall of Fame located in Cooperstown, NY is one of the most surreal experiences I have ever been in. None of that has to do with the architecture as it looks as if its an old colonial style building back in the time of the American Revolution. However, as soon as I walked through those front doors, I almost felt connected with the entire history of baseball. Walking through the first hallway after the short introduction video you see things such as, Ty Cobb’s sliding shorts made of complete wool, and even one of Babe Ruth’s contracts that he is signed. Throughout the entire museum you feel more connected with the sport than ever before. Once you get to the final room with all the plaques you are truly breath taken as you can walk down the aisle and eventually you will get to the first ever Hall of Fame class. This building more than any other one I have been in has felt like its actually taken me and put me in the greatest times of the sport of baseball.

The Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. One thing I can say for sure about this place compared to any other I have been too, is that I have never seen the architecture of a building play into a sporting event so much in my life. Opened in August of 1975, the design of the dome was to help develop a home-field advantage for the hometown saints, and it has helped with just that. I visited when my favorite team the San Francisco 49ers were playing the Saints in a regular season matchup. To that day I have yet to be in a sports environment that loud, and that had so much fun together. The Superdome is unlike any other stadium I have ever been to.

Grand Central Station is one of New York City’s most know landmarks within the giant concrete jungle. Built by French architects the station opened 1913. When I visited the station back in 2010 I actually was pretty underwhelmed with what I was walking into. Yes, the building itself was very nice, but I don’t remember spending more than 20 minutes there, because after all even though it is one of NYC’s most visited tourists attractions, at the end of the day it is still just a train station for commuters.

I have been to the Oakland Coliseum many times in my life growing up in the area, and with all the great moment I have shared their it has become like a second home for me. The stadium is located in the East side of Oakland, CA and opened up in September of 1966. Home of both the Oakland Athletics and Oakland Raiders, it is no known as the last professional multi-sport stadium used by both the NFL and MLB. Although the concourses aren’t much more than old cracked concrete, and the plumbing situation that has been reoccurring the memories of walk-off home runs, and division-clinching victories will always make this a special place for me.

The architect that I will focus on is Iraqi Architect Zaha Hadid. Hadid was born in Baghdad, Iraq in October of 1950. Some of her greatest works are the MAXXI- national museum in Rome, and also the London Aquatics Center in London that was built for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Both of these buildings have futuristic looks with curved roofs, and large window panes along the side of the building to really give it a unique modern looking style. Hadid has had her hand in some of Europes most interesting looking buildings, and is one of the most influential architects of the 21st century.