Completed in 2012, One Central Park of Sydney, Australia is another well-known work of French architect Jean Nouvel. The building complex contains two residential apartment towers as well as a centrally located retail shopping center. What makes this building special, in my opinion, is its living facade, as seen in Nouvel’s other works, such as his Tower 25. Various types of climbing plants spread out along planted terraces and serve to break up the inorganic components of the building, which helps to blend the building into its natural surroundings. This blending of nature and architecture has led to the building becoming an architectural icon within Sydney. Also noteworthy of One Central Park is its highly sustainable and energy efficient design. The building complex uses its own low-carbon natural gas power plant, predicted to reduce CO2 emissions by 190 kilotonnes over 25 years, for power, and also contains its own internal water recycling plant. This water plant interestingly houses the world’s largest membrane bioreactor and is capable of harnessing water from multiple unusual sources, such as runoff from roofs and sewage from the public sewer of Sydney. This revolutionary approach to sustainability has led to One Central Park achieving a 6 Green Star rating, making it an icon after which future buildings should be designed.

Tower 25 is a mixed-use high-rise building designed by French architect Jean Nouvel and located in Nicosia, Cyprus. The tower is 67 meters high and composed of 16 floors, with 6 of these being office areas and the remainder apartments. Like many of his works, this building is completely original in its design. For instance, instead of each floor having a balcony of uniform size, the balconies vary in width and depth. This serves to give the tower a sense of life and character. Another interesting feature of this building is its unique facade, which is perforated with a patterning of rectangular holes. Aside from creating a unique aesthetic appearance, these holes also function as a form of natural ventilation. Located on the south facing wall of the city is what is known as a “living facade,” which is essentially a landscape of plants that cover the face of the tower. These plants are also multifunctional; they act to shield direct sun during the hot summer months of the Mediterranean, but maximally allow in light during other times of the year. This attention to functionality that incorporates the climate and surroundings of the building is what makes this a truly masterful work of architecture.

Rising above other architecturally renowned buildings in Chelsea, New York, such as Frank Gehry’s IAC Building, 100 Eleventh Ave. is a 23-story residential apartment tower designed by French architect Jean Nouvel. Nouvel describes his building as a “vision machine,” designed with the intent of creating excitement in its viewers. Located between the first and seventh floors, the “Loggia” is a semi-enclosed atrium within the building that features modern design concepts such as suspended gardens. Ornamental trees seem to almost float in the air, lending a somewhat futuristic feel to the space. Another eye-catching feature of this building that drastically sets it apart from its surroundings is its glass panels — each panel on the exterior of the building is tilted at a different angle. As there are some 1,650 of these window panes, the curved shape of the structure takes on a somewhat peculiar mosaic patterning due to the reflection of natural light. Indeed, this dynamic patterning can take on a wide range of hues over the course of a day as the intensity and direction of light shift. It is this distinctive form, representative of modern architecture, that makes this building perfectly at home in its culturally unique and diverse environment within Manhattan.

One of the most significant works of the architect Jean Nouvel is Doha Tower. Used predominantly as an office building, Doha Tower is an unmistakable landmark of the skyline of Doha, Qatar due to its unique cylindrical shape. It is this characteristic form that has led residents of Doha to refer to the tower as the “Condom Tower.” Indeed, Nouvel himself has admitted to the phallic nature of his work. The tower is 46 floors tall, and including its spiral, stands at an impressive 238 meters, making it the 6th tallest building in Qatar. Aside from its use as an office building, the tower also contains a restaurant and private luxury residence, both of which are located near the top of the tower above the office floors. Another distinguishable feature of this building is the intricate facade screen that covers the exterior of the tower. Paying homage to dominant culture of the area, the pattern of the facade screen is known as Mashrabiya, which is a geometric pattern repeatedly found in Islamic culture. Besides from providing some shade from the desert sun, the screen also serves to prevent decay of the glass by reducing the amount of sand that comes in contact with the glass. It is this multifunctionality and attention to culture that has led to this building being awarded numerous architectural awards and accolades. For instance, the building was awarded the title of Best Tall Building Worldwide Award by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat in Oct. 2012.

The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi is located in Santa Fe, New Mexico and was built in the early 18th century in the Romanesque Revival style. The church is not huge or extravagant in any sense, and yet there is a definite beauty in its simplicity, I feel. I enjoy the brickwork of the building, as well as the understated columns that make up the lower facade. The inside of the building is equally impressive, with great attention to detail throughout. The intricate stained glass windows really add to the beauty of the church, in my opinion. These qualities, among others, create a spiritual atmosphere and helped to fill me with a sense of calm, which is something I always enjoy. To me, this building is a place to come and shut out the outside world and have the opportunity to focus on the beauty of the moment. I must not be alone in this sentiment, as this church is a definite tourist attraction within Santa Fe, and usually has a steady supply of visitors from what I could tell. Religious or not, this church is certainly worth a visit, as it definitely impacted me in a positive way.

The Taos Pueblo, located near the town of Taos, New Mexico, is the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in North America, founded between AD 1000-1400, home to the Red Willow People. The Pueblo is a large communal complex composed almost entirely of adobe and timbre, as it has since its founding. When I visited the Pueblo, I have to admit, I thought of their way of life as somewhat primitive, due to their lack of plumbing, air conditioning, heating, electricity, etc. Upon entering a room of the Pueblo, I realized that the adobe does insulate against the heat of New Mexico, but certainly to lesser extant than a modern home with a/c. I learned during my visit here that over a hundred people live here continuously; it then occurred to me that these people are preserving their heritage and the way of life of their ancestors, and that these aspects are important enough to their sense of being that they reject the comforts of of modern life. Therefore, this simple adobe Pueblo symbolizes something much greater than the sum of its mud and straw walls, and I think that’s pretty inspiring. I must also mention that the Pueblo people were all very kind and welcoming to visitors, even those not trying to sell you something. The handmade pottery, jewelry, and instruments they offered were a nice touch as well. Overall, I enjoyed visiting the Pueblo and am glad that I was given the opportunity to expand my perspective of the forms housing might take, and would recommend visiting if you are in the area.

A beautiful building which positively influenced me is das Schloss Schönnbrunn, or the Schönbrunn Palace, which is located in Vienna, Austria. I had the pleasure of touring the palace a couple years ago. The massive palace and surrounding complex served as a summer home for the Habsburgs from the 17th century and on until the early 20th century. Despite not knowing too much about the Habsburgs, touring the complex gave me a feel for the level of power and wealth they possessed. I suppose it’s a little tricky to say what the building meant to me, other than it demonstrated to me the level of luxury and opulence enjoyed by the royal class in Europe in centuries past. The grand display of wealth that is the palace, I believe, likely served as a reminder to everyone living under Habsburg rule who ruled the empire. The palace itself is massive, containing upwards of 1400 rooms, many constructed of the finest building materials, many aspects likely gilded in gold. I can only imagine the level of wealth needed to construct and maintain such a building. My favorite part of Schönbrunn was actually the massive ornamental gardens surrounding the palace, which are separated into gardens of differing color schemes. The palace, gardens, hedge maze and parks surrounding the complex make for a great day of exploring. I certainly enjoyed my time touring the palace, and would definitely recommend visiting here to anyone looking for something to do in Vienna.

One building which positively influenced me is the Stephansdom, or St. Stephen’s Cathedral, the most prominent Catholic church in Vienna, Austria, which I had the pleasure of visiting a couple years ago. I am amazed by how a building constructed in AD 1160 can still produce such a visceral sense of awe to anyone who sees this magnificent church in person. Despite not being Catholic myself, the feeling this building gave me when I visited has stuck with me ever since. Initially, I thought the outside of the church, while certainly impressive, was somewhat unsightly due to the thoroughly blackened walls from soot buildup. However, upon entering the church, I was met with this presence and atmosphere that changed my mind of the building completely. The incredibly high ceilings of the church really do make you feel miniscule, and not in bad way; if you’re religious, you might describe it as feeling closer to God. Another way of describing the atmosphere of the church is the absolute calm and serenity one experiences in nature, and yet this building is situated in central Vienna. The tall ceilings, the stained glass windows which pour in beautifully tinted sunlight, the stunning gothic architecture, the multicolored roof, and the historic crypts, which house thousands of bones and skulls of the victims of the Black Death, all combine to create this one-of-a-kind atmosphere to this incredibly old, historically rich, and yet still functioning and currently in-use church. Due to my experiences, I can only imagine how many more magnitudes impressive and integral this church was to people when it was first built. If I ever find myself in Vienna in the future, I will certainly visit Stephansdom.