Air Force Academy Chapel

Air Force Academy Chapel
Originally uploaded by CkH~Lovin' Life

I had to add another picture to this post. Lest anyone think that the Academy chapel is just an architectural oddity, here's the massive pipe organ that resides at one end of the chapel. You can notice some of the stained glass that runs between the spires of the roof on the left of the picture also.
The chapel is a functioning church, and as such has everything you'd expect to find in a church - organ, altar, pews, stained glass.

Air Force Academy Chapel

Air Force Academy Chapel
Originally uploaded by gamookie

Today's image, the latest in my American Architecture desktop pictures series, is from the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I grew up in the shadow of Pike's Peak and my dad used to take me to basketball games at the Academy. This building has always been one of my favorites, and this is a great picture of it.
I think what I like about it is that it's so clean - all crisp lines and sharp angles. So often in architecture people compromise away the best design elements, but this is all there, precise and looking like a set of razor-sharp teeth!

Golden Gate Bridge

Golden Gate Bridge
Originally uploaded by jimfrazier

Here's a great photo of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge at night. I like this picture because it's not your standard Golden Gate photo of the bridge in bright daylight. Sometimes you also see the Gate surrounded in fog. The bay is often foggy, and I found SF to be chilly even in the summer.

Pyramid Arena in Memphis, Tennessee

Pyramid Arena
Originally uploaded by DiscourseMarker

Here is another great piece of American architecture (suitable for wallpaper). I remember driving through Memphis many years ago on my way to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, and the Pyramid is very striking. It's huge!

Sad that the arena is not currently being used. I hope they sort this situation out soon, it is such a waste of a great building.

Empire State Building

Empire State Building
Originally uploaded by Martini Captures

I'm starting a series of posts with pictures of American examples of "grand architecture." The sort of pics I'm looking for will show off the building or structure nicely and also be usable as a desktop picture (or wallpaper, if you insist on using Windows).

My other requirement is that the picture have some nice composition and be licensed under Creative Commons (so I'm not stepping on anyone's rights!).

This is the first in my series, a great picture of a truly American landmark - the Empire State Building. I hope you enjoy!