A study of our Advanced Technology Building designed by the famous Frank Gehry. An interesting architect who designed many of his constructions with what seems to be plenty of melting metallic forms and oddly positioned shapes. Not only does it look like a child’s construction of wooden toy blocks (covered in sheet metal) but Gehry even throws together a variety of different building materials as well as if the Swedish Chef was actually the true genius and creator behind this work of art. “First ya take the stone, then ya take the copper, bork bork bork.”

Gehry’s construction here in Iowa City is definitely a badge of honor for the University of Iowa. The building is (unfortunately) really only presentable from the Iowa River (west side). The view or lack of one from the main campus (east side) is that of one massive rectangular block of stone and a weird, seemingly detached, copper, bulbous form. But if one were following the Iowa River, this building acts as a beautiful sight and a breath of fresh air as it reflects the setting sun like a jewel amidst a ruin of neoclassical marble monoliths.

I’ve wanted to photograph this series for a while now and I still want to take a few more photos to fulfill my original intentions. Like for instance, I still have never got the chance to enter said building. I don’t even know what the inside looks like. Sad. So plan on a part 2 in the distant future.

I do love architecture but I really wish I could levitate or fly around, taking photos from different perspectives rather than always looking up in photos. Fortunately looking up is a satisfactory perspective when it comes to Architecture otherwise I would never have anything to show. One thing that I did finally get to try out for myself was an attempt at HDR photos (two above photos). An HDR photo is the merging of numerous photos with the same subject, each with a different exposure value (also called bracketing). It’s very easy to do and really takes less skill than it seems. I’d be happy to explain it to anyone that’s interested in trying it for oneself. Let me know what you think.

See also:

A Fall Walk

EDIT: I posted these images in a larger version under the photos tab.
http://archive.andyz.blog/gehry.html