The Krause Music store is a piece of architecture created by Louis Sullivan in 1922 located in Chicago, Illinois. Sullivan made a simple yet very impactful design, as the building had a block shape, but he designed the entire building to be ornamented with geometric and curvilinear forms of nature, and it was styled using Terra Cotta (Kunda 2020). Something that stood out to me was the the front of course, I personally love the giant window at the bottom giving the building natural lighting but also the decoration built around the window, the top half of the building has a very elegant style to it, I’m not sure if these are special type of windows, but the lighting in conjunction with the windows give it a very special glow unlike the other buildings. Finally, the decorations in the middle and at the top gives the building a very nice sense of character, making it distinguishable from the others. One thing I learned from all of Sullivan’s architectures is that he loves to decorate when he has the chance, which give each building a special aura.

Source:

Kunda, A. B. (2020, May 14). 15 projects by Louis Sullivan – rethinking the future. RTF | Rethinking The Future. https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/know-your-architects/a431-15-projects-by-louis-sullivan/.

Louis Sullivan was just incredibly gifted when it comes to architecture. Although he specialized in creating tall buildings, since he was the one who invented the skyscraper, since then he has experimented and revolutionized architecture in his time. Like this building, built in 1899 in the city of Chicago (Kunda 2020), it looks somewhat simple for most of it , but it has its only sweet things, such as the rounded area in the corner, the exoskeleton kind of poking through, but it’s main attraction, in my opinion is the base.

The bottom floors or the base has dark green cast iron frames, and he designed them in a way to make it a decoration as well as seen in the picture above. Personally this is one of my favorites from the buildings he designed

Source:

Kunda, A. B. (2020, May 14). 15 projects by Louis Sullivan – rethinking the future. RTF | Rethinking The Future. https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/know-your-architects/a431-15-projects-by-louis-sullivan/.

When you hear the name Louis Sullivan, you think of tall buildings, or skyscrapers. Why is that? it’s because he was the one who designed the first skyscraper that shaped the way for the many in the world today, but he wasn’t just good at designing sky scrapers. Take this building for example, designed by Sullivan and built in 1903 in Chicago, is one of the two churches designed by him (Kunda 2020). Sullivan took inspiration from Russian provincial style with an octagonal roof and a bell tower over the entrance, not only that, but the inside of the building has beautiful religious art paintings and statues all around, giving it the provincial style.

As you can see, the interior design has a beautiful array of decorations as well, the light fixtures and strategically placed windows allow for the architecture to be well lit at almost any time of the day. Every bit of this building just shows how architecture is a form of art and the architects are the artists.

Source:

Kunda, A. B. (2020, May 14). 15 projects by Louis Sullivan – rethinking the future. RTF | Rethinking The Future. https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/know-your-architects/a431-15-projects-by-louis-sullivan/.

Ben Franklin Science Academy or BFSA for short, was the school I attended from first grade all the up to 8th grade. This place holds so many memories in my life, from every aspect I can think of. Sadly I wasn’t able to get a good picture since the gate was locked and there was no better picture online besides this one, so you can somewhat get an idea of what it looks like. The building has a minimalistic and blocky appearance, it has very few windows, and the windows that it has are located at the top of the front walls, by the ceiling looking from the inside. The goal was to not allow the students to view outside but to allow natural lighting in the rooms, although very few since they’re only located on the from and back walls of the architecture. The building has gone through many changes, from initially being a middle school, to elementary and middle school, to just a middle school yet again, this architecture will always have a special place in my heart. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the year it was built or anything about it’s past besides what is was previously, but I would assume it was built around the 1960s-1970s because if it’s sheltered design

Image:

Housing, M. (n.d.). Housing & school locations – Benjamin Franklin Science Academy – 300 Virgil MATTHEWS Drive. Muskogee Housing Authority. https://www.muskogeehousing.org/locations/detail/1534.

Located on Elgin Street in muskogee Oklahoma is my dad’s prized possession, he was gifted this house after it caught on fire back in 2014, and since he worked hard day in and day out to restore it and give it the new appearance it has today. Originally built in 1945, this house is a four bedroom two bath house that was later converted into a duplex by my dad. The reason why this house means so much to me is because I was with my dad the whole time he worked on it, you can say its our project house, kid of like how people have project cars. On weekends or after school I would head over and help my dad any way I could. Now it stand up nice and firm with it’s newly restored interior and exterior. My dad wanted to be featured so there he is standing on the porch, I guess you could call them the architect as well since he did design the inside and outside to restore it.

Religion is big in my family as my parents are very into Christianity, that’s the reason why we attend this church in Muskogee. Although it was initially at a different location, this building was built in 2014 and since then brought so many new faces in to experience the gospel. Located at the main entrance is a huge wall of class with fuzzy pieces of glass in a shape of a cross in the front, after you walk in, you’re greeted by a huge meeting area with cream colored walls, high roof with metal structure slightly exposed, and beautiful tile flooring. Sadly I wasn’t able to get access inside due to it being after hours when I was able to snag pictures, but the outside is just as nice. The outward appearance of the architecture is really captivating with it almost being all brick red as the roof also has a color very similar, and located around the windows are a different type of stone to emphasize the windows, each of these windows in the front has an extra piece at the top giving the pointed appearance.

Each side of the building also has an awning that allows people to be dropped off in the case of rain or snow, keeping them dry. There is also no stairs for public access meaning it’s completely accessible to the public. This allows all kind of people to come together and worship in such a beautiful building.

Muskogee, Oklahoma is just another small city in this state, to many it holds no meaning, but to me it’s almost all I’ve ever really know. Pictured above is a sweet little yellow house located in Muskogee, a place where I’ve called my home for over twenty one years, this house is very simple, but much of a crazy design, but to me it’s amazing. The architecture of the house is just one long square building with a shingle roof and a little extra gable in the front to spice it up a bit, although it was built in 1948, the house still holds up strong with many more memories yet to be experienced!

In St. Louis stands a ten story high building that changed high rise buildings forever. Created in 1891 by Louise Sullivan and Dankmar Adler is the Wainwright building (Sveivan 2011), this building revolutionized the way we perceive tall structures in its entirety. Initially, architects wouldn’t dare to build high due to the risk of it collapsing or not being safe for an individual, but after immense thought and care, Louise Sullivan was able to design a structure that was tall, safe, and accessible to everyone. He was able to design this piece by separating them into three parts, the base, shaft, and attic, along with exposing the exoskeleton a bit with a metal structure on the inside allowed the structure to be a success and change skyscrapers forever (Sveivan 2011).

Sveiven, M. (2011, April 13). AD classics: Wainwright building / Adler & Sullivan. ArchDaily. https://www.archdaily.com/127393/ad-classics-wainwright-building-louis-sullivan.