At first glance the Chickasha Quality Academy appears lack luster or even oppressive, but I am only filled with nostalgia and happiness when I look at this building. When I first encountered the Quality Academy, it was a moment full of excitement and optimism. My robotics club finally was approved to move to a bigger room and the Quality Academy was that new location. This meant we would have more room to house more members and a brand new opportunity to fix our organization that had only gotten worse over the years. Looking back now I find it extremely interesting how this was such a positive experience for me and how each time I went to that building it was almost always a fun time even if it was for pulling an all-nighter to work on our robot.

The history of this building is extremely interesting as its different purposes probably invoke different feelings than the ones I have for it. Originally it was a car dealership which the large display windows on the far right still exist as a hint to this. It was then turned over to the Chickasha Public School District to be used as the Quality Academy. This was the school district’s school for special needs children. The Quality Academy was then relocated and the janitorial and maintenance crew took over the building, who still use the building today. A few rooms were given to the Chickasha Robotics Team in 2016 who still uses it today as well. It is impressive to me that the structure of the building has not been changed since it seems today that we knock down so many places rather than just repurposing them. It is also interesting to think about the different experiences people have had with this building. From the janitorial workers to special needs children, the feelings people associate with the Quality Academy must differ from mine of nostalgia and happiness.

The physical Science Center is my least liked building on OU’s campus and not just because it’s the ugliest building on campus but also because it had the biggest negative impact on my college life. The Physical Science Center is where all of my Math classes were located and even thinking back about it now makes me feel anxious. Every time I would have to go into that building I felt terrible because I absolutely hated my math class and I wanted to be as far away as possible. My math classes were probably the thing I hated most about my college experience thus far and all the anxiety and stress I got from having to take those classes I’ve put those feeling onto the building.

The Physical Science Building was built in 1969 by architects Dow Gumerson and Donald Mccormick and was originally supposed to be three buildings built along elm street but this never came to be. The building is very bland and grey and has almost no texture or design for it, it is like they went out to meet the bare minimum and once they got it they wanted to add no more to it. I’ve been told that since the building was built at the end of the 60s and early 70s, a time where a lot of college students were protesting, so taking that into mind they made the building to be riot proof, I don’t know how true that statement is but from the looks of the building I guess I could see it, the long walls on all sides of the building and what looks like pretty cave-like entrances, I don’t know what a building needs to be riot proof but it looks like it meets the standards if that’s true then I find it to be a very cool fact but not cool enough to move it from the bottom of my buildings list.

The Physical Science Center will forever be the worst looking building on campus, even worse than dale but the thing that makes me hate it so much is the emotional stress the classes I took there did to me. The math classes were definitely my most challenging classes and I had to study for them as I’ve never studied before and the fact that I didn’t like the subject made it even worse and because the classes were in the Physical Science Center I hated going in there, I would walk around the building listening to music procrastinating every minute until I had to go inside. The idea that the building looks as bad as it does because it was designed to be riot-proof is pretty cool but that doesn’t change the fact that the building looks like a big grey prison. The Physical Science Center will always be my least liked building on campus and it has more to do with the negative impact it left on me than the buildings architecture itself, OU could build an even uglier building right next to the Physical Science Center and I would still hate it more because of the experiences I’ve had with it.

Photo received from https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sosbrutalism.org%2Fcms%2F18801332&psig=AOvVaw2F0NtikLcCaN0A1MjSyuoY&ust=1633102553737000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAsQjRxqFwoTCJD4362Dp_MCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAJ

The Bizzell Memorial Library is by far my favorite building at the University of Oklahoma. It has positively impacted me through the time I have spent studying there. Before college, the only place I ever really studied was at my house. Most of the time, it was in m room and it never was a good place to try and get work done because there was always something to distract me there, so when I first got to college I decided to try out the Bizzell or the “Bizz” and it was amazing it had every different type of study environment you could ever want, dead quiet, semi-quiet, and talkative, and for someone like me who has ADHD and needs to move around a lot while getting work done it is the best place I can go to get work done or study, I’m currently typing this out at the Bizz. The next best thing about the Biz is that there is always someone I know there who I can study with which I find to be nice, I also think the Bizz is the best-looking building on campus, everything about it looks detailed and not bland you don’t find many buildings like it in Oklahoma.

The Bizzell Memorial Library was built in 1928 by the architecture firm Layton Hicks & Forsyth, the building is made out of brick and is a Collegiate Gothic or Cherokee Gothic. Cherokee Gothic is a term coined by Frank Lloyd Wright, and the building combined both Gothic and Native American elements being made in dark and pale brick and featuring decorative gothic statues around the front. The stone statues built into the building and the wood ones carved at the top of the great reading room are personally what makes this building stand out from the rest of the university, but my favorite part of the building is the entrance, it looks like a castle to me but like an OU themed castle.

The Bizz gives me a positive feeling every time I walk into it and spend multiple hours studying in it. Its unique architecture and style is something I always notice when I walk by it on my way to class and it is by far the most beautiful building to look at on the south oval. When I think back on my time in college, I think I’ll remember the Bizz the most out of all the things I did on campus (Minus the football games), and thinking about the building will always bring me joy.

Picture Received from https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.oudaily.com%2Fnews%2Fou-bizzell-memorial-library-ranked-in-lists-of-most-gorgeous%2Farticle_36025bf0-7216-11e7-808e-171ddaad171a.html&psig=AOvVaw3tuDeaMJfFrtnHMN5uL0Qa&ust=1633053013718000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAsQjRxqFwoTCPD7odnKpfMCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAP

The Chapel of the Holy Cross is a church in Sedona, Arizona that sits high above the red rocks and was built in 1956. The idea was brought up by Marguerite Brunswig Staude, a local sculptor and was initially attempted to be bult in Hungary with the help of Llyod Wright, the son of Frank Lloyd Wright. Due to the outbreak of World War II, Staude decided to build the church on her homeland of Arizona. It was designed by Richard Hein and August K. Strotz from Anshen & Allen firm.

I lived in Arizona for 9 years before moving to Oklahoma for school. We lived about 4 hours from Sedona but would frequently take short weekend trips up there because the mountain and rocks were beautiful. We toured the Chapel of the Holy Cross when we went to Sedona, and it had amazing views. The way that the church was built into the rock was unique and made It seem like the building was meant to be there. I loved the simplicity of the design and how you could see through the entire building because of the glass walls. The glass walls allow you to see the view of the mountains from inside and outside the building. I would highly recommend visiting the Chapel of the Holy Cross if you ever get the chance to go to Arizona.

Source: History – Chapel of the Holy Cross

Growing up in Norman, Oklahoma, I have been going to OU football games my whole life starting since I was born, so I have spent a significant amount of time in Gaylord Memorial Stadium. Whenever I think about fall, I think about ou football and the tailgates with my family in the football stadium parking lot that is connected to the stadium’s west side, we would pull up in the parking lot and go to the fifth floor, and we would go to the end of the parking garage floor and park our cars and set up tables next to the parking garage wall. When my family was done tailgating, we would go into the stadium, would sit in the middle section of the west side, and as a kid, the stadium looked so big and never-ending. As a kid, there was no bowl. It was open, and on the south end, there was a free-standing section of seating, and you could see outside the stadium looking between the sides. As I got older, the Gaylord Memorial Stadium looked more stunning, and though it doesn’t look as big anymore, I can respect the new bowl aspect of the stadium. When I think about October, I think about the Gaylord Memorial Stadium.

Gaylord Memorial stadium was built in 1923 and originally had seating for 500 people on both sides of the stadium, and in 1925 they built 16,000 more seating on the west side of the stadium. In 1923 the stadium was named Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in honor of the University students and others who were killed in action during ww1. During the 1920s, the stadium got its nickname Owens field in honor of coach Benni Owen. The reason it was not bowled at first was that it needed openings to get to the practice fields at the ends of the stadium. Also, the baseball team shared the field so they needed to keep the stadium open so that the baseball field would not be cut off by the bowl, in 1949 the north side of the stadium was closed off and seating was added and then in 1957 the south side added bleachers and in the 70s the upper decks were added. It wouldn’t be until 2016 almost 100 years after the stadium was built that it would finally start to be completely bowled.

The architecture of Gaylord Memorial Stadium is very unique because the stadium is a combination of almost 100 years of building. Every section of the stadium is unique because it was either added on to or built upon the original stadium and it shows the changing needs of the fans and team throughout the past 100 years. The rich history of the architecture and the memories of the stadium from growing up going has left a positive influence on me and when I think about it or go there it brings back good memories.

Image retrieved from https://www.collegegridirons.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/memok17951.jpg

Oracle Park, or as it used to be called AT&T Park, was built right on the San Francisco Bay being completed on April 11th, 2000. It seats 41,915 people and costs around $357 million. The stadium was precisely placed to a fantastic sea breeze from the bay, keeping all players and spectators cool in the brutal California heat. The stadium was built mainly of brick and steel, incorporating brick clock towers and taking influence from many of the buildings surrounding it.

My first time visiting this stadium was when I was around five, and it was amazing! I remember going to the giant coke bottle in left field, which also happened to be a slide, and using it while semi-watching the games and getting a phenomenal view of the city. They also shoot up bay water rather than fireworks for home runs. The way Oracle parks works with its surroundings instead of against it is incredible, and it’s one of the many reasons this is my favorite park.

One of the great things about baseball stadiums is that no two are exactly the same, and they all have something unique. Oracle accentuates their bay and wharf and almost makes it part of the stadium as well. As a result, the stadium truly looks like it belongs there rather than shooting up out of nowhere, as many others do. I hope to go back soon to relive some of those positive childhood experiences.