10 ARCHITECTURAL MASTER-PIECES I WISH I DESIGNED 

[credit; Arc. Sam Okopi]    

    THE earth is dotted with ingenious works of man that draw out my admiration time and again. From the ruins of the Greek civilization to the skyscraper tradition of the modern era, I have found much to delight my eyes and mind over the years.

Among the lot are some modern masterpieces of architecture that have left an indelible impression on my mind. Most of them have combined breathtaking forms with innovative interpretations of how a building should function. From different parts of the world, I bring you ten buildings I really wished I designed:

10. Crystal Cathedral, United States

Now called Christ Cathedral, it is said that the founder of this megachurch, the famous tele-evangelist Robert H. Schuller, desired to have a church that would evoke the quality of open air services he loved to hold. So, he envisioned an unusual, massive building with walls made of glass. And my, did the late respected American architect Philip Johnson not give him a magnificent building! This tower of glass is almost ethereal in its shimmering communion with the skies.

 Photo credit: Crystal Cathedral by Alejandro C, CC BY-NC-2.0

Photo credit: Crystal Cathedral’s Main Seating Area – Facing Right by FXWD, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Photo credit: Crystal Cathedral by Kwong Yee Cheng, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 

9. Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre, New Caledonia

Whenever I think of the seamless blending of the new and the old in architecture, this tribute to New Caledonia’s Kanak culture and the man who fought for its pride of place, surfaces strongly. Renzo Piano, the Italian architect behind this arresting complex, sought to capture the form of the traditional Kanak hut as well as the spirit of their culture. What intrigues me is that touch of abstraction he brought to bear on the complex which, while not robbing of immediately discernible beauty, elevates the complex to a poetic, even spiritual level. Here, steel and wood combine in beautiful ways.

What’s more? Much of the wood came from Africa. Guess what kind of wood? The legendary Iroko.

Photo credit: Panoramic view of centre culturel Tjibaou by Eustaquio Santimano, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Photo credit: Centre Culturel Tjibaou by Christophe, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Photo credit: Tjibaou Cultural Centre by Leslie Lewis, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

8. Burj Al Arab, U.A.E

Watching the making of this iconic tower was an inspiring journey I haven’t forgotten in a hurry. However, long before I watched that video, one of my superiors handed me a brochure he brought back after spending a week or so lodged at the hotel. I think I had only just begun studying architecture then. Needless to say, I was blown away. I am not a big fan of direct symbolism but I take an exception with the Burj. The sleek composition of various materials, and the evocation of beauty from members serving a very functional purpose, is something that made this hotel, designed like a sail, a stunning one indeed.

Photo credit: Sacred Caravan _026: Burj Al Arab (Tower of the Arabs) by Omar A., CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

7. Ecumenical Centre, Abuja

Romanesque. Gothic. Baroque. We engaged them all in the history books we read in those back-breaking days we slaved at our drawing tables. And wow, did we marvel at the industry of the artisans of those times.

Visiting a brilliant interpretation of these ancient archetypes in my country’s capital was awe-inspiring. It was like reading a revised edition of an ancient book. All what I had engaged with in the books was finally here to see and touch; only that this time, it had come with the spirit of modern materials and a twist to the building form.

6. Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, United States

The famous Canadian-American architect Frank Ghery astounded me with this building, enough to include it in this list. Here, he brought the wild and the tame into play all at the same time, to simulate the distinct roles the left and right parts of the brain play. How fitting for a building designed to be a centre for research into the treatment of brain diseases. While titanium-clad waves dance against each other on one side of the building, white rectilinear boxes align on the other side with the discipline of marching soldiers.

Photo credit: Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health by Denver Aquino, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Photo credit: Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health by Denver Aquino, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Photo credit: Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health by Roman Trugillo, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

5. Centre Pompidou-Metz, France

The poetry, simplicity, and inventiveness of Japan has endeared me very much to that country. When I discovered haikus and tankas, I almost went through with my decision to write only those kinds of poems. I was captivated by how the structure of these poems granted freedom while still restricting the poet.

Japanese architects have largely brought the poetic dialogue of simplicity and complexity typical of Japanese tradition, to bear in their innovative buildings around the world. With the Centre Pompidou-Metz in Metz, capital of Lorraine, France; Sigeru Ban, the winner of this year’s Pritzker prize (the Nobel of architecture), reinvented how wood is used in buildings. Wood has always been a Japanese favourite. It seems Sigeru Ban decided to pay an ambitious compliment to the building traditions of the orient, right in France. And he sure succeeded at that; in this simple exhibition building sheltered with a complex roof that tapped inspiration from a Chinese hat lying somewhere in Paris.

Photo credit: Le centre Pompidou Metz by Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, CC BY 2.0

Photo credit: Centre Pompidou Metz by Alexandre Prévot, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Photo credit: La charpente du Centre Pompidou Metz by Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, CC BY 2.0

4. CCTV Building, China

Oh my—what a building! Remember the Leaning Tower of Pisa from history books?

Imagine two skyscrapers leaning towards each other and then bending by 90 degrees to meet in the skies just as they had done on the ground. What you have is a warped hollow square blown up to a jaw-dropping scale. Incredible! Rem Koolhaas’s firm, Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), is famous for bringing brutal rationalism to bear in its designs that birth simple-shaped buildings some would tag as ugly.

But with the CCTV tower, OMA redefined the concept of the skyscraper, forever.

Photo credit: Beijing CCTV Building by Arlyna Blanchard, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

3. Linked Hybrid, China

I was working on my thesis when I found this building and I knew immediately that it would impact heavily on my work. I was already familiar with its architect Steven Holl, through his principle of phenomenology and some of his works designed to reflect this principle, the inspiring Nelson Atkins Museum for example. But Linked Hybrid? The stretch of technology here, in achieving a utopian vision of communal dwelling in the skies, was too exciting to not strike an impression. This building scored many firsts and won a number of awards for its incorporation of sustainable building technologies.

Photo credit: Linked Hybrid by Wojtek Gurak, CC BY-NC-2.0

Photo credit: Linked Hybrid by Wojtek Gurak, CC BY-NC-2.0

2. Jewish Museum Berlin, Germany

The many many layers of symbols worked into this building are just mind-blowing. Conceptualized to communicate a powerful narrative of the effects of the holocaust on Jews and Jewish culture in Germany, this museum drew inspiration from incredible sources to become a most fitting emotional journey for visitors. The Polish-American architect Daniel Libeskind evolved the building’s zigzag form from an abstracted Jewish Star of David. This was combined with criss-crossing lines that were mapped from the locations of different related historical events. One of the striking parts of this building is a tall void whose floors are covered with 10,000 iron plates shaped as human faces that express anguish.

Photo credit: Berlin APR2012 Jewish Museum facade 4, by Mark B. Schlemmer, CC BY-NC-2.0

Photo credit: Jewish Museum, Berlin, by Ben_from_Dk, CC BY-ND 2.0

1. Walt Disney Concert Hall, United States

Built after his more famous masterpiece, the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain; this dazzling concert hall stands as my most loved of all buildings designed by Frank Ghery. His daring designs necessitated adapting a software meant for designing airplanes into one that could analyse complex designs like his. Walt Disney Concert Hall, for example. The grace and harmony of the sweeping curves, the smoothness of the building’s skin, and those meeting points at the top that seem to poke the sky asking to be drifted away with the clouds, are simply breathtaking.  The whole ensemble of curves evokes the image of a grand fleet of sails sailing proudly through the city of Los Angeles. This is surely my most loved building of the modern era.

Photo credit: Walt Disney Concert Hall, by Christopher Chan, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Photo credit: Walt Disney Concert Hall, by Jordon Cooper, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Photo credit: Walt Disney Concert Hall, by Devon Hollahan, CC BY-SA 2.0

There. The ten buildings I wish I designed. How about you? Any favourite buildings you have encountered that you could tell us about? What struck you about these buildings? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.