If you appreciate art in any form, you may agree with my opinion that architecture is "imagination physically manifested". I remember the giddy feeling I experienced riding in the backseat through Houston as an adolescent. It took me a long time to understand the indescribable admiration I felt to see a building that just looked different to the others. My brain at the time couldn't grasp that the massive structure before me was once a thought in a creative mind that it would eventually outlive. Maybe architecture could also be considered imagination immortalized.
That nostalgic feeling of admiration and awe inspired my summer traveling bucket list to see structures that were once the brain children of visionaries with the audacity to build something bigger than them.
Here are just a few:
The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, Missouri
1601 Broadway Blvd, Kansas City, MO 64108
Architect: Moshe Safdie
The Museum of Contemporary Art in Cleveland, Ohio
11400 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44106
Architect: Farshid Moussavi
The Aqua Tower in Chicago, Illinois
225 N Columbus Dr, Chicago, IL 60601
Architect: Jeanne Gang
The Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.
3101 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington, DC 20016
Architects: Philip H. Frohman, George Frederick Bodley, Henry Vaughan
Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas, Nevada
888 W Bonneville Ave, Las Vegas, NV 89106
Architect: Frank Gehry
The Bahá'í House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois
100 Linden Ave, Wilmette, IL 60091
Architects: Louis Bourgeois, George A. Fuller
The George Peabody Library in Baltimore, Maryland
17 E Mt Vernon Pl, Baltimore, MD 21202
Architect: Edmund George Lind
The Air Force Academy Chapel in Colorado Springs, Colorado
2348 Sijan Dr. Ste 100, USAF Academy, CO 80840
Architect: Walkter Netsch
Palace of Gold in Moundsville, West Virginia
3759 McCreary's Ridge Rd. Moundsville, WV 26041
Architect: Kirtanananda Swami
Mildred B. Cooper Memorial Chapel in Bella Vista, Arkansas
504 Memorial Dr, Bella Vista, AR 72714
Architect: Euine Fay Jones
My hope is that at least one of these photos sparked your imagination or appreciation for the art that is architecture. These structures are the visions of those who have physically manifested their imaginations and are indicative to the genius each of us hold. The next time you take a drive or a trip, be sure to take a minute to really take in these structures for the wonders they are.