The George Peabody Library is located in Baltimore, Maryland, and is part of the Johns Hopkins University campus. The Neo-Greek structure stands five floors high. The exterior of the building is primarily composed of granite and limestone, which has been weathered over the last 147 years by Maryland’s subtropical climate. Some areas of the exterior stone and roof are lightly coated with moss and dirt. At the building’s entrance, one will find a large, arched wooden door flanked by Doric columns. A stone inscription that reads “Peabody Institute” is carved into the balcony that hangs above the main entranceway. Two levels of narrow arched and rectangular glass windows also cover the exterior of the building. The most striking feature of the interior of the building is its five floors of cast iron balconies filled with 300,000 volumes. A massive glass skylight at the center of the atrium illuminates the space in the daytime. Both the columns supporting the balconies and the balconies themselves are embellished with gold leaf. Alternating slabs of black and white marble, nearly resembling city blocks when viewed from above, comprise the floor of the atrium.
Patron: George Peabody Architect: Edmund G. Lind
1866: Construction begins. 1878: Building is opened to the public.
The Chicago field museum of natural history is largely rectangular in shape. The building is separated into two wings with a long open area in between. The outside of the museum is a yellowish-white limestone-like color. There are three entrances into the building. One on the ground level and two on the main level. The Ground entrance is to the east and the main level entrances are in the north and south. Upon entering the ground level the family PlayLab is to the right with underground adventure and bioacoustics being to the left. Further in is the Egypt exhibit and Siragusa center. Finally all the way in the western wing of the ground level is the 3D movie theatre and the Harris collection. Upon entering from the main level from the outside, visitors must pass under four tall sand-colored pillars at the entrance. The main architecture in the center of the building inside the main level is a bright white color. A long skylight allows for natural light to enter the area. Neoclassical pillars hold up the structure near the entrances to the different wings. Skeleton replicas of a titanosaur and a Spinosaurus are present in the main entrance areas of the building, along with some in-life replicas of two fighting elephants, some small pterosaurs, and a Quetzalcoatlus. The west wing on this floor is mostly dedicated to animals with two sections specifically focusing on birds and mammals. The east wing has two main focuses: indigenous American history and reptiles. The upper level is more varied than the other levels. The east wing contains a fossil section, Chinese history area, plants section, and a small room on the southern point of the building for jades. There is also a small room on the northern side of the east wing displaying Audubon’s bird illustrations. The west wing contains a restoring Earth exhibit, a room about women and people of color in science, and a pacific history section. There is also a small room on the southern end of this level for gems. There is also a statue of a life-size standing Quetzalcoatlus in the center northern section of this floor.
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The September 1st attacks to this day remain one of the most violent terrorist attacks ever experienced on American soil. This attack stays so vividly in minds not only for the loss of life but what committing an attack on the U.S means to it’s civilians. 2,977 lives were forever memorialized in Ground Zero. While the buildings such as the One World Trade Center stand in remembrance, the center itself pays respects in a multitude of ways that have been personalized to the people of Lower Manhattan. Made up of multiple buildings throughout the plaza Ground Zero and One world Trade structure itself stand as memorial and publicly accessible location. On level stands the heavily dense forested memorial site in which the foot print of the original towers stood. Now a square falling fountain, the flowing water creates a auditorial seclusion in which one can experience. Fittingly named Reflecting Absence. The One World Trade center maintains 86 usable floors specificized for office work. From floors 20 to 90, with a few lounges and other recreational locations. Otherwise the building maintains a public observatory in which the public can view New York from the highest building. Heavy precaution is take in security and defense around this building due to the sensitivity of the topic and location.
After delays construction began on January 2008
93 stories had been completed by March 2012
The final topping was lifted on May 10, 2013
The Tianjin Binhai Library stands as a contemporary public structure situated within the Binhai district of Tianjin, China. The Dutch architectural firm MVRDV collaborated with the Tianjin Urban Planning and Design Institute to create this building, which finished its construction in 2017. The building design features a rectangular floor plan that extends to five stories, while its main attraction is the "Eye" auditorium that glows from within. The building's glass exterior lets natural light enter the main hall while showing off the curved design of its interior. The interior design features continuous white shelves that create wave-like walls, which function as both stairs and seating areas while surrounding the central sphere. The open design of the space enables visitors to move freely between reading and meeting areas, which lack defined separation points. The building structure incorporates reinforced concrete and steel, and glass materials to achieve its smooth white surfaces, which generate a clean and bright environment. The glass walls and skylights allow natural light to enter, which produces gentle shadows that emphasize the curved lines of the interior design. The building achieves a harmonious fusion of futuristic design with peaceful ambiance through its combination of architectural elements and sculptural features. The design transforms traditional library spaces into interactive spaces that combine visual and social elements. The "Eye" serves as a symbol that represents both vision and knowledge, and discovery. The flowing shelves in the design represent the natural flow of knowledge and information. The building design promotes exploration instead of silence because learning in today's world requires active participation and shared knowledge. The building demonstrates China's dedication to cultural development and educational progress, and technological advancement. The Tianjin Binhai Library has achieved status as a worldwide symbol of contemporary architectural design. The building's striking design draws numerous visitors and photographers who demonstrate how public architecture can generate public interest and national pride. The building sparks debate about library design priorities between visual appeal and operational needs, while demonstrating that architectural design needs to unite aesthetic value with practicality and meaningful purpose.
Architect: MVRDV (Rotterdam-based architecture firm)
Collaborating Partner: Tianjin Urban Planning and Design Institute (TUPDI)
Client/Patron: Tianjin Binhai Cultural Center
Image 1: MVRDV-Tianjin-Library-12-©-Ossip-van-Duivenbode.jpg https://i0.wp.com/archeyes.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/MVRDV-Tianjin-Library-12-©-Ossip-van-Duivenbode.jpg?ssl=1
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Located within the Tianjin Binhai Cultural Center complex
The Bibliotheca Alexandria is a multifunctional cultural and educational complex that is located in Alexandria, Egypt. The building spans 160 meters in diameter and is 32 meters tall, and it extends 12 meters underground. An open plaza and a pool surround the building, and a bridge connects it to the city adjacent to the University of Alexandria. The exterior wall of the building comprises nearly 6,000 square meters of hand-carved stone, engraved with letters, alphabets, and symbols from over 120 world languages. The unique shape and large size of the building make it look like an important symbol of Egypt. The exterior is inspired by the Hellenistic architecture style which is a style known for it's large, detailed complex structures. This style also depended on the point of view of the viewer and wanted to give a theatrical experince to a viewer to make it known that the building is significant. The Alexandria Bibliotheca follows this style by having with the long sequence of columns at the entrance of the building, including the courtyards outside the building and porch at the entrance of the building. The interior is designed with tall columns with a large glass ceiling that provides a natural light. The Alexandria Bibliotheca is a space used for lectures, museums, galleries,exhibition halls, auditoriums, and it's used for conferences as well. The vast amount of book sheleves and computers inside the building gives the idea that this is a building that is used for research and studying.
Architects are the Snøhetta, a Norwegian architecture firm
Image 1: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/egypt/mediterranean-coast/alexandria/attractions/bibliotheca-alexandrina/a/poi-sig/1136427/355232 Image 2: https://www.nohoudh.org/knowledge-exchange-between-nohoudh-bibliotheca-alexandrina/ Image 3: https://english.news.cn/20220420/c5d06ef0eb3c4a998c7b637f58ffd99a/c.html Image 4: https://www.archdaily.com/592824/ad-classics-bibliotheca-alexandrina-snohetta
The Alexandria Bibliotheca was built in a Contemporary Egyptian style
Urban plans (New York, Chicago, Paris, Tokyo, Beijing, Cairo, Istanbul, Athens, and Baltimore)
To Scale: 100 Urban Plans by Eric J. Jenkins (Routledge, 2008)
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Renovation completed (January 19th, 2002)
The structure is very quadratic in its form. Viewed from overhead, its form is just a simple rectangle. Though it is worth noting that this form is made up of essentially two buildings. Continuing from overhead the left side building top appears ordinary compared to the right side which features a green, almost tile-like texture that bounds a glass square on the roof where light proceeds to enter the structure. It features 2 distinct levels that feature several interior rooms and an interior courtyard in the middle where the building truly shows its grandeur. This middle interior courtyard features a full look-around from the middle of the structure where it appears you can then space out into the individual rooms that contain the historic art pieces on display. The exterior features this glass atrium entrance lobby, added later during the building’s existence, this entrance helped combine the two sides of the museum. Its patterns and construction method seem to be rather ordinary, at least for the exterior. For the interior, there is a significant use of archway patterns for what appears to be entrances of hallways that lead to the rooms. The rooms seem to be very quadratic in form as well, with all featuring variations of rectangular and squarish forms. The rooms have varying colors and the courtyard features a brighter yellow. Standing as one of the cultural anchors for Mt. Vernon's place, the historic district the building is a part of, the structure started as a personal collection of Henry Walters and his son William T. Walters. Eventually, Henry made his collection viewable for the public in 1874. Ultimately, he requested a redesign from several architectural firms and renovations began in 1905 for the collection to be transformed into a museum and subsequently, the museum officially opened in 1909. A little over two decades later, after his death, the museum officially was given to the city.
Architect: Shepley, Bullfinch, Richardson and Abbott(firm)
Architect: Kallmann, McKinnell and Wood (firm)
image 1: File:Walters Art Museum, 600 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21201 (35452161645).jpg - Wikimedia Commons
image 2: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Walters_Art_Museum_ceiling_-_Stierch.jp
St. Ignatius Church N Calvert St, Baltimore, MD
The building presents a symmetrical, classically composed façade with the base of the building rusticated, and the rest of the facade is brick with tall arched windows and a heavy modillioned cornice. The church is also adorned with a golden cross on top. The tall, frosted glass arched openings and blank brick arches alternating on the upper levels give the façade a rhythm and sense of verticality while maintaining elegant restraint. The interior is designed to be a late-Renaissance and Baroque style. The columns rise to support a richly ornamented entablature and gallery, and the overall volume conveys both grandeur and symmetry. There are no intrusive structural columns dividing the nave, allowing unobstructed views toward the high altar. The stained-glass windows installed in the 1870s and comprising some seventeen different colors bring vibrant light into the space, enhancing the layered ornamentation and inviting the visitor’s gaze upward. the church’s setting and architectural composition reflect broader civic and cultural ambitions of the Catholic community in Baltimore in the 1850s. Positioned along Calvert Street between Madison and Monument Streets, the building was conceived as a “palace” of the Italianate style that proclaimed the growing confidence of the Jesuit-administered parish.
Louis L. Long (Architect/Designer) and Henry Hamilton Pittar (Builder)
Image Link 1 https://www.hmdb.org/Photos/18/Photo18314.jpg?11252005 Image Link 2 https://ispretreats.org/wp-content/uploads/St-Ignatius-Baltimore-e1589484022397.jpg Image Link 3 https://s3-media0.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/Z80xEygDXl6kZwDfGtIRLw/o.jpg Image Link 4 https://explore.baltimoreheritage.org/files/fullsize/67f87df88449646cfc99ef91389a8839.jpg Image Link 5 https://live.staticflickr.com/656/31110716783_a65ce4155a_b.jpg
Exterior: The building is primarily designed in the Italianate style. Interior: The interior showcases a late Renaissance/Baroque style.