14- Xavier, Cincinnati

To begin the fall semester (I still think of the year in terms of semesters) we (my dad, my mom and I) took Nathan down to Xavier in Cincinnati for what would be just one semester. I was excited to see a new city and check out the campus and the architecture.

First we stopped down to visit some family in Noblesville where we stayed for the night. Thanks to Jenny's idea, I got to go kayaking for the first time. Thanks also to my cousin Eric letting me borrow his kayak out of the garage. So we went out onto the lake for an hour or so and tooled around. It was nice. My job was holding the kayaks in the back of Uncle Steve's truck while Jenny drove down the street to the lake front.

The next morning took us onto the second leg of our journey, to the city. We found Nathan's apartment and unpacked the minivan's worth of stuff.

We met his roommates, and his roommates' parents, and then went with our cousin Nick on a little tour of campus. Here's the campus entrance, just down the driveway from Nathan's apartment.

This was the central courtyard outside Nathan's apartment. Looked like kind of a fun place.

The new-ish basketball arena. Not that attractive of a cube. But huge inside.

Here's the Musketeer. And Nathan and Nick.

We got to check out Nathan's brand new business school where he'd be taking classes- it had just been completed that summer. Still smelled new. The architect was clever to turn some structural elements into nice Xs in the huge windows.

Here's the campus chapel. It had a double-curved hyperbolic roof (dorking architect/mathy stuff)

Also on campus was this awesome house. It was empty, for sale. Stone. Right up on a little hill on the corner of campus. Looked amazing inside- huge arches connecting the plaster-walled rooms, giant old radiators, and lots of light through the huge windows. It needed a lot of work. But seriously- standing alone as a house (irrespective of its location within Cincinnati or the fact that it was IN Cincinnati) it was an awesome house that I would SO buy. If...lots of things.

Oops. Photos a little out of order. But the reader doesn't know that, do they? Except for now you do. Whatever. This was the first building on campus we saw after leaving Nathan's apartment. Looks cool and collegey, right? Three good looking Italian men. Me Nathan and Nick.

Also out of order, this is clearly some sort of seal/logo, it was embedded in the floor in the new student center. I like geometry. And logos. And photos of stuff.

After we said our not-really-teary goodbyes, after our little tour of campus, I persuaded my abiding parents to drive us downtown for a brief architecture tour. I was looking things up on my phone cause I hadn't had proper time to fully do my research ahead of time. Downtown was...maybe the size-ish of downtown Indy. Who knows :)

But we got there, and of course discovered things I didn't know were there, but were definitely worth seeing. Take this random building, by random architect...entertaining, worth a photo, colorful.

I like the experience of discovery. My favorite thing about traveling, besides seeing the things I'm already excited and planning to see, is seeing awesome things that I didn't know existed and just stumbled upon. Like finding Atlantis during a little fishing trip or something.

Here was a Cesar Pelli performing arts center of some sort. I knew it was here, didn't know it'd be quite so boring- I mean I guess its nice, but had I not seen it on the internet I probably would have barely given it a second glance. If I noticed it. I guess I like the square punches and the expanses of glass between the massive brick pillars. But still- kinda *yawn*.

For a split second I thought this was the building I came to see- just because I saw a more striking, contemporary, interesting shape down the street. Still worth a photo though.

And then I wheeled around and realized I was right next to the main attraction- world-famous Zaha Hadid's Cincinnati Art Center, I think it was called. I forget, since it was like 9 months ago. (Geez).

Zaha is famous for her swoopy work, most of which doesn't really look like this, and also famous cause she's a woman in a male-dominated field, and she's Iraqi. (But personally I don't really buy her work- it doesn't do it for me- she just makes cool shapes and then stuffs buildings into them and then explains why the shape was perfect for that building.)

It was a very vertical building, tucked into a corner lot, on a narrow site, so the museum was sliced up into small floors instead of spread out horizontally. Conceptually, this swoopy wall was supposed to be drawing the ground plane from outside on the sidewalk into and UP into the building (and thus drawing the people with it). You can see it extends through the glass onto the sidewalk. LOOKS cool.

But its just a shape. It doesn't actually draw people in. And you can't see it much from outside on the sidewalk anyway- especially since that giant wall on the right separates it from the other glass wall and sidewalk.

Anyway, a couple other interested buildings we drove by on our way out, after I stood in the lobby of the art center for 15 minutes as my parents sat in the car :) I thought this building might be an Antoine Predock, cause it looked a lot like his City Hall in Austin. But Google told me no dice.

As we were driving towards the river though, I realized there was this striking blue pointy building across the river. I begged my dad for a little bit more of a detour. So we headed down the waterfront, past the stadium campus, to the nearest bridge and over the water into Covington, Kentucky. And of course, we discovered some extra things worth seeing! I love traveling. Even if its just to Cincinnati.

Here's mini Notre Dame du Paris. I mean look at it, aside from the towers being connected, its like a scale model. Google told me (as we sped by in the car and I snapped a photo and then grabbed my phone) that it was the Cathedral there. Wish we had time to go in, but I think the natives (in the front seat) were getting restless.

Another building that looked like Tower Records in LA plus Marina City in Chicago.

Ooh! A big old bridge! It was under construction. Closer inspection (a plaque on the wall) told us that it was designed and built by a guy named John Roebling. NO, you say, THE John Roebling? That's right, him! Can you believe it? Crazy, right? (Same guy who designed and built the Brooklyn Bridge (or at least most of it, before he died and his son took over)).

It was very blue. Apparently a lotta people live over on the KY side and walk the bridge to commute to work. Not a bad gig! I kinda wanted to do that...

Here's a rare picture of me taking a picture (though me taking pictures is clearly not rare).

Woot.

And the main attraction that brought us to this sleepy little town (that was like Cincinnati's Hoboken, if that means anything to anyone)- The curvy pointy blue building! Tallest building here, called to me all the way from downtown Cincy across the river. Good work, whoever built this...

The backside. It was hard to get in one photo (so some of these are photomerged together- thanks Photoshop, again and again and again). Cool balconies, facing the river, overlooking Cincy. Get to live close to the city, and also SEE the city. Nice. I thought the color and shape was great, and the facade too.


We inquired within, and at least the lobby was designed by Daniel Libeskind, but I think the whole thing was, though it wasn't clear (nor on the internet, believe it or not). But there was an award to him for the interior, in the lobby. I took a couple pictures but didn't find it amazing or anything. Oh ps, it was a condo building.

On our way back north, here's where the Bengals play, right on the river next to downtown.

And that is all. We headed back to South Bend. See you in a semester, Nathan. I'm glad he came back to Notre Dame but sad I won't have much of an excuse to go visit Cincy again- apparently U. of Cincy has some cool buildings too...and that's what life is all about, right? :D