The Fairmont in Austin is a building that really caught my attention. I love admiring glass buildings that are reflective. The Fairmont is different with its light blue tint and the beautiful lights that change colors with a different theme every time you look at it. I first noticed the building earlier this year while in Austin, and it led me to research it. It’s a high-rise hotel that is very nice with a ton of amenities. The beautiful building makes me want to stay there as a guest next time I visit Austin!

When I first saw this building I was stunned. I was driving into River Oaks in Houston for the first time earlier this summer and turned my head up to this skyscraper in the middle of a neighborhood. It is a condominium complex in Houston off the 610 and San Felipe, named the Arabella. I realized then that Houston does not have zoning laws (allowing them to build towers like the Arabella just about anywhere in the city limits) but also realized how incredible it is that architecture is evolving to revolutionary designs like the Arabella. The features and aspects of the facade of the building is beautiful once seeing it for the first time. This is the type of building I hope to invest in/build/design one day in my future.

The Bank of America Tower is one of two twin buildings that dominantly sit above the Fort Worth skyline. It is also one of the towers I had the opportunity to work in this summer. In the picture above, the BofA tower is on the right and is the taller twin to the Wells Fargo Tower on the left. I never analyzed the Fort Worth skyline as much until I worked in the BofA tower, but I do remember always being drawn to these towers at sunset as you see above. The reflective glass presents a beautiful sight to those looking at the buildings from the east. The buildings make me feel proud to be from Fort Worth and call it home.

I’ve been infatuated with the Empire State Building since the first time I saw it in 2005. The grand size and its bold stature towering above the New York skyline was what caught my attention to the building. At my young age, I analyzed every detail of the building to where I could draw it freehandedly. The building covered the margins of paper during school as I couldn’t stop trying to perfect my sketch of the tower. The building is the first thing I look for when approaching New York from the airplane, or the taxi into Manhattan from LaGuardia Airport in Queens. The building fills my mind with hope and motivation to one day be in New York and work on projects that created skyscrapers like itself.

I had the opportunity to intern at the Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, California for the past two years. I worked as a product designer building products for the Events and Ads teams alongside software engineers. For part of my time there, I worked in Facebook Building 20, which was designed by legendary architect Frank Gehry. The picture shown is the rooftop lounge that I would often work out of. This area was filled with greenery, a coffee shop, and an ice cream shop. It had a very open and welcoming feel because of all the familiar faces and the weather that this area provided. The inside was just as beautiful. The open workspace featured modern art, high ceilings, and microkitchens filled with snacks. The work area felt collaborative and open. I very much enjoyed my time working in this building! It fostered creativity and helped me come up with new product ideas for the company.

I got the chance to visit Italy around a year ago and experienced some of the most amazing architecture I’ve ever seen. I saw the Pantheon in Rome the first week I was in Italy. This was a building like nothing I’d ever seen before. It was like seeing pictures from history books in person. It was probably the oldest building I’ve ever seen, being built in 126 A.D. The inside of the building had a large circular opening for sun to shine in and illuminate the building. Since it was a place of worship, this beam of light seemed to be a metaphor for the Heavens shining in. Despite the many tourists in the building, there was still a warm, cozy feeling to it. It was like being transported to a completely different time period.

I got a chance to visit the Guggenheim on a visit to New York City a few months back. This building was designed by legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright. When I first saw it, the building reminded me a lot of the BOK Center in Tulsa, just at a larger scale. The overlapping circular design was very modern and flashy. It stood out in Manhattan among an array of skyscrapers that looked the same. Stumbling upon the Guggenheim was like a breath of fresh air. If the building wasn’t beautiful enough, the art inside was amazing. This building did a great job of making me appreciate the art inside and the special place this building holds in the culture and history of New York City.