The Kildare County Council Offices are located in Naas, Ireland, and were completed in 2006. They feature a luscious civic garden that gradually inclines from the street up to the building itself, creating an amphitheater for the  city. The civic offices themselves are two bars that are used to enclose the amphitheater. The buildings’ facade features glass panels on the entire exterior, which leads to a lot of natural light, which in an office setting has been shown to lead to improved moods and better working conditions. This building houses the counties planning and development offices, so maybe the innovativeness of the building can help inspire future plans for the city.

The Giant’s Causeway Visitors’ Centre is located just north of Bushwick, Northern Ireland and opened to the public on July 2nd, 2012. It was designed by Roisin Heneghan and her firm, Heneghan Peng, The building has some very innovative features, including being energy efficient and having a grass roof that museum-goers can walk on and look down at the exhibits that are inside the building. At the top of the hill you are greeted by magnificent views of the Giant’s Causeway, which the rock columns on the outside of the building get their inspiration from. This building is an excellent example of green buildings and green design, and the inclusion of the grass roof is something that is not only environmentally friendly but pretty cool.

The new architecture building at the University of Greenwich is located along an approach from Greenwich Town Centre to Greenwich Park within the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site in London. The building was opened in September of 2015 and it houses the University’s main research and study library as well as several academic Departments including the Department of Architecture and Landscape and the Department of Creative Professions and Digital Arts. The building also features a rooftop garden where students and faculty can go to enjoy the view or perform experiments with the greenery and microscopic life in the garden. The building looks like it nurtures a very creative atmosphere and it is very sleek.

The Central Park Bridge is located in the heart of London in what was Olympic Park. The 58 meter-wide  bridge was completed in the summer of 2012 before the Opening Ceremony of the London Olympics.  It spans the River Lea between the Olympic Stadium and the Aquatics Centre and forms an interface between the northern and southern areas of the Olympic Park. It is made up of two separate, parallel pedestrian access bridges diagonally  linked by a narrow “blade-like” walkway. The underside of the bridge is clad with mirror-finished steel so that the people walking under the bridge can see their reflections above them. This pedestrian bridge is very appealing to the eye and it incorporates the historic Carpenter’s Lock building that is in the area of the river that the bridge crosses.

I chose this place to write about for my last blog because this place brought me a great deal of happiness and because of it’s uniqueness. This milk jug shaped ice cream parlor is located a few miles from the 16th street mall in downtown Denver. They don’t serve your typical flavors of ice cream here. Everything is homemade and the flavors are all delicious. I remember that I got cinnamon toast crunch ice cream that had pieces of cinnamon toast crunch in it. This place lights up at night too, and the surrounding neighborhood kind of keeps the place hidden away. I remember seeing the giant milk jug and being really confused about what it was until my friends and I got closet to investigate. If you’re ever in Denver, I would recommend making a stop at this quirky ice cream parlor, especially during the warm summer months.

When I was 13 my parents and I went to Memphis for a short vacation and while we were there I remember being amazed at how luxurious the Graceland Mansion was. It was built in 1939 by Ruth Brown Moore and her husband, Dr. Thomas Moore. The next occupant is the reason that this 13.8 acre estate grew in fame; Elvis Presley. He bought the mansion in 1955 and made it his home for the remainder of his life. A museum is know what resides in the home, and it is a shrine to “The King” and all of his musical and acting accomplishments. The architecture on the front of the mansion is very southern and Dixie in nature, almost reminiscent of  a plantation home or something similar. The high ceilings and large rooms make for a perfect place to showcase the many talents of Elvis, and the landscape is just as fantastic. The rooms were extremely pristine and looked fit for a king, if you know what I mean.

The Sistine Chapel is probably one of the beautiful chapels that I have ever seen. The high, vaulted ceiling features multiple frescoes from Michelangelo, all of which were done in very precarious positions. When I walked into the Sistine Chapel, I was amazed at how quiet it was despite the room being full. You can hear a pin drop in the room. It is considered one of the holiest rooms in Rome and you are not supposed to talk when in there unless you are part of the papalcy. The walls are covered with frescoes from Renaissance luminaries that depict the lives of Jesus and David. The sheer wonder I felt walking into this chapel can’t be put in to words. It was amazing to see all of the art and architecture standing so elegantly after 500 years. It’s a true testament to the longevity and quality of their work. I’m not particularly religious but I would like to spend more time here and learn about the events that have happened in those halls.

A few summers ago I was able to travel to Italy with some friends from high school. While we were there we went to many amazing architectural sites, but one that really stood out to me was the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence. The gallery was founded in 1784, and since then has been one of the best destinations for Renaissance Art and Sculpture. The line to get in spanned an entire city block in Florence, but the wait was extremely worth it. The classic architecture was beautiful and astute. My favorite part of this gallery, which also happened to take my breath away, was walking from a room that had classical paintings into the large, open sculpture room. The room included unfinished sculptures from  Michelangelo’s studio after his death, as well as the gigantic Statue of David. I was in shock at how magnificent and grandiose this sculpture was. That level of detail in something so large is remarkable.

Wrigley Field is the second oldest ballpark in the MLB; it has been opened since 1912, and the Chicago Cubs have played their home games there since 1914. While at the park I could literally feel the history around me. A lot of parts of the park still look original, while other areas are being added to improve the experience. In the last three years, they have added two giant videoboards, one in left field and the other in right field, to go along with the old manual scoreboard above center field. The atmosphere was buzzing as soon as the gates opened and it didn’t stop until the game was over, and even then the atmosphere spilled over into Wrigleyville. I hope I’ll be able to see many more games at Wrigley, and maybe even see the Chicago Cubs win a World Series lol.

This summer I was able to go to Chicago with my father for a week. The architecture and sheer magnitude of the buildings in the downtown area is definitely a sight to behold, but one building that really stuck out to me was The Art Institute of Chicago. The Art Institute is located right in the heart of downtown and it sticks out because of how large and emphatic it is. The steps up to the museum are guarded by two giant bronze statues of lions that have stood there at the Michigan Avenue entrance since the museum portion of the institute  opened in 1893.

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The inside of the building was just as majestic as the outside. Right as you walk in, you’re faced with an elegant marble staircase that leads you off into the many wonders inside the museum.

The exhibits were amazing and very extensive, including over 300,000 works of art from artists such as Van Gogh, Monet, Picasso, Salvador Dali, and Henri Matisse, among many many others. The rooms that the works were on display in were very large and open, inviting you to come up for a closer look at the artistry of some of the greatest artists of all time. Walking through it I was in constant awe of the art and architecture around me. The modern wing, which was added in the early 2000s, was a very unique and fascinating place. The architecture was very sleek and minimalist in nature, and the outside landscape blended into the entrance very well.

I wish I could have spent more time there, and I would love to go visit this museum again. Seeing some of my favorite artist’s paintings up close and personal was something I will never forget.