United States Air Force Academy, Cadet Area 5.08

The United States Air Force Academy, Cadet Area is a portion of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Its use of modern architecture stands in contrast with the very traditional designs of West Point and the United States Naval Academy. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2004.The buildings in the Cadet Area were designed in a distinct, modernist style, and make extensive use of aluminum on building exteriors, suggesting the outer skin of aircraft or spacecraft.The TerrazzoThe main buildings in the Cadet Area are set around a large, square pavilion known as The Terrazzo. The name comes from the fact that the walkways are made of terrazzo tiles, set among a checkerboard of marble strips. The east quarter of the Terrazzo, known as the "Air Gardens," is a 700ft space with an ordered geometry of lighted pools, lowered grass sections and maze-like walkways. The Terrazzo area was designed by landscape architect Dan Kiley. The center of the Cadet Area was originally a wooded, sloping hill that extended from the middle of the Terrazzo south to the valley below, creating a blend of natural and man-made environments. With the building of Sijan Hall on the south side of the Terrazzo in 1968, the Terrazzo area was effectively enclosed into a large quadrangle, and this natural part of the landscape was eliminated. Only the top of the hill, now known as "Spirit Hill", remains in the central grassy area of the Terrazzo.