#WeLoveBuildings - PocketBuildings ❤️ to Buildings
Buildings are present in all shapes and sizes in our everyday lives. We enjoy shelter from heat, rain, and snow. We work, play, and create memories with others inside the safety of buildings. For our PocketBuildings team, we see more than just concrete, glass, and doors. It seems appropriate to share our favorite buildings for Valentine's because we see buildings as a work of art and an expression of feelings. Buildings are often a beautiful reminder of a culture, a time, or a mission of the people in the community. A building can be a sad remembrance of an event that gives the body collective a place to grieve and assemble to morn.
These are our Valentine's to our favorite buildings:
Marin County Civic Center
Designer: Frank Lloyd Wright
Valentine: Bryan Chong, CEO & Co-Founder
“The Marin Civic Center has a special place in my heart. In addition to it being a Frank Lloyd Wright project and the architectural star of the movie Gattaca. My wife began working there soon after we started dating. So whether you’re headed to the farmers market in the parking lot, reporting for jury duty, or just heading north on 101, it’s a beautiful landmark that’s impossible to miss.” ❤️
Learn more about the Marin Civic Center.
John Handcock Tower
Designer: Henry N. Cobb
Valentine: Greg Moulton, SVP & Co-Founder
"My wife and I lived in Chicago for 4 years. We enjoyed taking all our friends and family to the Signature Lounge on the 95th Floor. Just before Thanksgiving, we were up there at night and it started snowing. Amazing views." ❤️
Learn more about the John Hancock Tower.
Cove House at The San Francisco Yacht Club
Valentine: Alex Rothenberg, Managing Director - West
"This building is vintage 2020 and is the result of over a decade of planning by dozens of volunteers helping the project across the finish line. I made a small donation in my late father's name which will forever be visible on the brass plaque commemorating the donors who helped make this building possible. My brief bio and story about why this is my favorite place now live in a time capsule inside this building, to be opened 2070. This site had a small single-family home on it since the early 1900s. The old Cove House was the location of many sailing classes, both in proficiency and safety. This is actually the building where I first met our CEO Bryan Chong, years ago, at the Safety At Sea Course." ❤️
Batman Building (aka AT&T Building)
Designer: Earl Swensson Associates
Valentine: Hunt Baker, Managing Director - East
"I love the Batman Building (AT&T Building) in Nashville. It is the most distinctive building on Nashville's skyline. Its name has changed from South Central Bell Building to BellSouth Building to AT&T Building, Nashvillians always know it by The Batman Building because of its' twin spires that resemble Batman's head. To me, it's a Nashville staple and something that anyone who has lived in Nashville will know." ❤️
Learn more about the Batman Building.
U.S. Bancorp Tower (aka the Big Pink)
Designer: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Valentine: Zach Eyster, Portfolio Specialist
"Located in the heart of downtown Portland, Bancorp Tower is the largest office building in the state of Oregon. You can spot this building from virtually anywhere in the city as Portland is home to only 3 genuine skyscrapers. To my knowledge, this tower is the only bonafide pink skyscraper in the world and is a major landmark here in our city. Depending on the time of day the building can appear orange, purple, or blue making it a local CRE favorite." ❤️
Learn more about the U.S. Bancorp Tower.
Shanghai Tower
Designer: Jun Xia
Valentine: Seth Holladay, Engineering Manager
"It is a marvel of engineering. Extremely energy-efficient, LEED Platinum certified, and it looks amazing. Its features, its size, everything about it belongs in a sci-fi movie. The building collects and recycles rainwater! It produces wind power. It is encased in fully transparent dual-pane glass. This is the future. We need ambitious projects like this to inspire and push the state of the art forward. There are useful lessons to be learned from all aspects of the Shanghai Tower, including its challenges. I hope this is just the first of a new generation of buildings, both big and small, with similar technology." ❤️
Learn more about the Shanghai Tower.
The Effiel Tower
Designer: Gustave Eiffel
Valentine: Ilias Aboubeker, Full Stack Engineer
"I was a teenager when I first visited my uncle in France, and I can't forget the day he mentioned: 'Tomorrow we are going to drive to Paris and you are going to see La Tour Eifel.' I could not sleep, my mind kept thinking about it all night. When we arrived in Paris and we started approaching La Tour Eiffel everything felt special, and there it appeared I could not believe it. it was gorgeous, superb everything about it was just stunning. I truly fell in love with the moment. No words can describe that feeling." ❤️
Learn more about the Effiel Tower.
The Gates of the City of Minsk
Location: Minsk, Belarus
Valentine: Liza Buraya, Full Stack Engineer
"The Gates of the City" can be considered as the signature of Minsk because they're the first thing people see when they step off the train. They’re built in the Empire style with exquisite decorative elements and sculptures on top and look especially beautiful in the rays of the morning sun. When I was a university student, I walked by them every day, and I remember those days with a lot of fondness. They’re also one of the reasons why I love traveling by train because when I come back from long trips, I see them and think “It’s so good to be home!” ❤️
Learn more about The Gates of the City.
Sagrada Família
Designer: Antoni Gaudí
Valentine: Anthony Buckley-Thorp, Product Advisor
"It's the most unreal experience inside - hard to believe that stone structures can be so gravity-defying and majestic. To think that someone could conceive of such a building in 1882 is mind-blowing." ❤️
Learn more about the Sagrada Família.
Pantheon, Rome, Italy by djedj (source)
The Pantheon
Designer: Marcus Agrippa (29–19 BC) & Hadrian (rebuilt) - Destroyed by fire several times.
Valentine: Diana Bourgeois, Marketing
"Being in The Pantheon is like sitting with a witness to history. The front façade opens up into a beautiful dome that speaks about art, culture, and a civilization that evolved with the building. The dome is an architectural wonder with unreinforced concrete that makes me want to sit in the middle of the floor and just take it all in. The Pantheon makes me feel connected to people throughout history." ❤️
Learn more about The Pantheon.
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