The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs was built in 1918 as a premier hotel destination in the state of “fresh air and fond memories”. This hotel is special to me because of the memories shared by my family when I was younger. My dad would have work in Colorado Springs during the summer, so the rest of the family would go up with him and spend a few days in this hotel, heavily influenced by the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. When I was young I would roam the grounds of the resort, following in the paths, and eating at the same restaurants that  George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, and many other gloabal political leaders used during their trip for a NATO convention shortly before my stay. The main building imposes its asymmetrical beauty on the entire mountainside, while the back of the building faces out to the mysterious NORAD military base located inside the Cheyenne Mountain range. Architectural stimulants are overflowing in and around Colorado Springs, and The Broadmoor is arguably the heart.

Highland Park United Methodist Church, in Dallas Texas, was built in 1927, when nothing else in the area stood as tall or imposing lest the first few buildings of SMU’s campus. This building has impacted me through the bulk of my childhood. I grew up walking through its grand halls to the main chapel on Christmas mornings. The Chapel walls are tastefully decorated with stained glass, leaving some windows with clear glass to create a combination of natural and colored light on Sunday mornings. Now this building continues to tower over neighboring buildings, not necessarily in size, but certainly in artistry. This building, and principally the people in it shaped me, in part, into the man I am today. Every time I walk into that building now, the experience remains the same. Admiration for the development that this building provided me will never leave. Whenever I come back to it, it consistently feels like a place I belong.