The Metlife Building was previously known as the Pan Am building and was built in 1963. It was sold to Metlife in 1981. It is one of the most recognized structures in New York City and actually featured in the Avengers and Catch Me If You Can. The Metlife Building was built for both office and commercial space and it was originally called the Panam Building because Pan Am owned and operated a majority of the floors of the building. I really think that Gropius was an excellent architect who could design almost any type of project. No scope of work was too difficult for him and he was able to execute every project strategically. He constructed a monument, a US embassy, and a commercial building. Now of course two of these projects are commercial use buildings, but they vary in their scope of work. I was extremely impressed by Gropius’ variety in his designs and I was continuously surprised when I was looking through the buildings that he designed throughout his life.

The embassy of the United States in Athens, Greece was completed on July 4th, 1961. This project is easily my favorite by Gropius. He implemented the same marble used for the Parthenon as well as multiple other marbles native to Greece. What I love about this building is that it is a US embassy, but it uses the architectural and structural elements of the country it’s in. It may be a building made for the use of another country, but Gropius put his own twist on it and included Greek elements in the construction which I think is very interesting. The renovation and rehabilitation of the original building began in 2018 and is expected to take 5 years.

The Monument to the March Dead was erected between 1920 and 1922. It was created to honor the workers who died during the Kapp Putsch, which was a coup d’état that attempted to overthrow the Weimar Republic. It was later destroyed in 1936 by the Nazis because they considered it “degenerate art”. I really like this project by Gropius, it shows that he has variety in his architectural skills and is not afraid to offend anyone with his designs. By submitting it into a  competition for Weimar artists, he politicized his art and that is the reason why the Nazis destroyed it. It was later reconstructed in 1946.

The construction of the Bauhaus building started in 1925. Walter Gropius was the head architect for this project. Gropius intentionally includes a glass facade surrounding this building in order to show off its interior workings. I really like this approach because the building shows vulnerability and also class. There will be lots of natural light for all sections of this building which is also a huge bonus. Each section of the building was designed separately, separating them for the purposes of the functionality of the structure itself. I really like the inclusion of lots of glass, I think that being able to see nature can be a huge boost for the people working inside.

This house was my grandparent’s. They lived in it for 30 years where they raised my half aunt and uncle. This house sits on 200 acres of land and for many summers in a row, it, and all the land, belonged to me and my friends. We felt so rich. Now when we were there for the summer all of the furniture, except for a few things, was moved out. We didn’t care though, we slept in sleeping bags in the middle of the living room. We could do anything we wanted, stay up as late as we wanted and play all night. Granted we were about 12 back then and staying up all night seemed almost impossible.

My grandparents sold this house when I was 14. They had moved into the city and could no longer afford to drive all the way into the city for work. I loved this house. It was where I learned to love the outdoors and everything that goes with it. My grandparents taught me how to drive a golf cart. My grandpa taught me how to fish and hunt raccoons with his famous coon hunting dogs. I loved my time here and I only wish I could have been there more. I miss running around inside and my grandpa showing me all of the cool secrets of the house like a hidden safe room. It was my palace and my playground for the summers I spent there, and I wouldn’t have traded them for anything.

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/2625-Park-Ridge-Rd_Flower-Mound_TX_75022_M77172-36965

I spent the years from fifth grade until twelfth grade living in this house. It was where I could find shelter, safety, and security. I always had a roof over my head, and a bed to sleep in. It was a place where I could relax after school but it was also a place where I received lectures and harsh words. Being raised in this house made me who I am today and without it, I may not even be at the University of Oklahoma right now. I made a majority of my life decisions in these walls and I couldn’t have asked for a bigger support group than the people who shared those walls with me.

I learned that I loved to run cross country and track while living in this house. I learned how to back out of the garage and down the driveway in this house. I learned where I got accepted to go to school in this house. I made lifelong friends and experienced breakups in this house. I put work into remodeling this house. I shed blood, sweat, and tears in this house. Now that my parents have sold it and moved away, I feel like a piece of me will always remain in that house. I’ll never go back inside it again. I spent half of my life in this house, it’s the only house that I ever truly loved.

https://www.theknot.com/marketplace/the-hillside-estate-crossroads-tx-2039210

This building really meant nothing to me until this summer. I had never even heard of it until July of this year. This is the building and the wedding venue that my older brother got married in, in August of this year. My older brother and I are extremely close, so when I found out that he and the love of his life were getting married I was ecstatic, but I soon learned what it meant for him to get married, as well as how big of a milestone it was for him and I got really emotional. This building was perfect for their wedding and it really facilitated their needs and desires for their perfect day.

There were a lot of emotions in this building on their wedding day. A lot of tears were shed and it was overall a really meaningful experience. I love my brother to death and I wouldn’t have missed his wedding for anything in the world. I was very emotional at the wedding naturally, it was weird to see how grown up my brother had become. It felt like it was yesterday when we were wrestling in the living room after 1st grade. He has made such an impact on me and my twin brother, and he had no idea how much he meant to us until we gave out toasts during the wedding.

http://www.kfwarchitects.com/hunter-strain-engineering-lab/8i4gjdpf8l82mptbtyts87igju2pib

The Hunter Strain Engineering Lab was where I had one class every week when I attended Angelo State University. The class I had in this building encouraged me to pursue a degree in construction instead of engineering. The things I learned in this building pertained to the design of structures, as well as the execution of how they are tested. I enjoyed this class, however, I came to find out that I was enjoying the building of the structures more than I was the actual testing and designing. I enjoyed the building phase of construction, rather than the testing and inspecting phase. That is the whole reason I transferred to the University of Oklahoma, Angelo State doesn’t offer a construction degree and I wanted to be closer to home, so I moved schools.

The building itself was very interesting to me. They had multiple lab rooms for testing equipment and projects, as well as a very large shop room for the construction of structures and projects. I spent a lot of time in this building during my class and I really enjoyed all that it had to offer. I utilized its amenities daily and this proved to be vital for my project’s success.