A Visitor from Home

Tori arrived safe and sound. For her first day here we shopped for most of the day. At night we went to Christiania, Copenhagen’s “alternative” neighborhood. Apparently, the area used to be used for military housing. I guess a bunch of squatters started living there and never got kicked out. It’s a pretty neat place – there are vendors everywhere selling all sorts of hippie apparel and paraphernalia, an indoor skateboarding area covered in graffiti, and a bunch of whimsical, leaning houses around a lake. The whole place smells of marijuana and its not hard to see why. Everybody there is smoking, and they sell it openly on the street.

We ran into one of my friends from soccer, Aurelio. He is the one who sat with me and watched the pick-up game that I was not allowed to play in while we waited for his friends to arrive. He showed us around and pointed out all of the good restaurants and places to go.

I’m getting excited for our Western Denmark tour. I really enjoyed our first study tour, especially the food. We leave tomorrow morning.

Hooray for the weekend!

This weekend was a good one. On Friday night I was planning on going to Tivoli Gardens with Jen and Sarah. It started raining, so we went out to dinner instead. We found a vegetarian restaurant not too far from our kollegium. We are not vegetarian, but the place looked interesting from outside and, as I said, it was raining. When we walked in the first thing we had to do was take off our shoes. The restaurant was buffet style, and reasonably priced. We sat at the only three open chairs, next to a Belgian woman visiting Copenhagen for work.

The food was delicious. They had this great tomato soup that tasted like it had a little curry in it. They also had these thai curry green beans that were fantastic. I went up for thirds. The Belgian woman was really interesting too. She was telling us all about what to see when we travel around after the DIS program, and about all of her experience in different cities and hitch-hiking.

Saturday was Cassie’s birthday, so a few people got together and had a party for her complete with a slip and slide. The kollegium is right next to a train station, so we had several spectators. Later on that night a big group of us went to the opening ceremonies for the outgames, the gay Olympics. We had a great time there with all of the people, live music, and dancing. Events are going on all over the city this week, so I’m sure I will see more of the outgames.

On Sunday I started planning my post-DIS travels around Europe with my two traveling buds, Anna and Ryan. We decided to buy a Eurail pass rather than cheap plane tickets to each city. We figured that would be less stress and greater flexibility both now and later.

Later that day I went to play soccer with Copenhagen’s Latin American contingency. I had a blast! It was some of the most fun pick-up soccer I’ve played in a long time. The men kept on talking about me in Spanish – I don’t understand much, but I usually got the gist of what they were saying. Finally, someone told them that I could understand them and they smiled, some embarrasses about what they had said.

They invited me to stay for a barbeque, but I couldn’t. As much as I wanted to stay, I had to get to studio to do at least some work for Monday. Maybe next week.

Tori, my little sister’s friend, is coming to stay with me tomorrow. She is traveling around Europe and has a few days to kill before her next plans. I told her to call me when she arrives at the train station – hopefully we won’t have any problems finding each other!

Tape

We had the day off of school today. I had a nice long morning doing nothing then went to meet my group in studio to finish up the site models. After I finished my part I walked to the art store with another girl in my studio. I wanted to buy some double stick tape, but didn’t see a price tag on it. I thought it couldn’t be more than the kroner equivalent of a couple bucks but I was wrong. A single role of double stick tape was 70 kroner, even with my student discount. That’s a 14 dollar role of tape. As wonderful as double sided tape is, it is not worth 14 dollars. I’m going to return it tomorrow. Hopefully a different employee will be working then. I bought a utility knife at the same store for only 5 kroner (about 1 USD). I guess that goes to show that Danes are firm believers in the saying “measure twice, cut once.” The monetary punishment for needing to tape something back together is wicked.

Its raining again this afternoon. That put a damper on my soccer plans. Instead I went to the grocery store, and then proceeded to eat most of my groceries when I got home. At least groceries in Copenhagen are reasonably priced.

hmmm

Our studio professor was unimpressed with the work we’ve done. We were supposed to have finished two site models and done a site analysis in a day an a half. None of that got completely done. Instead we had two admittedly ugly and half-done site models and a very preliminary site analysis. After an hour-long studio (it was supposed to have lasted 4 hours) we all got back to work. I am working on the site analysis. My partner was supposed to have added pictures to my text and printed a few copies out for the group. Unfortunately she did neither and wasn’t in class today. Her friend said she was sick and was dealing with personal issues. Hopefully everything is ok.

I was going to go play soccer again today. I found a good game yesterday and it looks like all of Copenhagen goes to the park after work to play, so I have plenty of games to choose from. Unfortunately, it was raining when I left studio at about 5:15. Since I’ve gotten back to the dorm, though, the rain has stopped. I wanted to ride back to the park, but I left my cleats at studio. Bummer. Maybe tomorrow.

One project down, one to go

Today we began assignment 2, the real studio project. I have the same studio professor as I did for the first assignment- I like him a lot, so I’m happy. Our project is to design a public sports complex near a park not too far from the DIS building. We went on a bike tour today to see several other examples of successful community centers and sports facilities. On our way home it started to pour – we stopped and waited under the eaves of a building during the worst of it, but still got pretty wet.

I am a little worried about time. We only have three weeks to do the studio project, but I have a friend coming to stay with me next week and family coming the following week. I don’t know how I am going to balance entertaining them with studio work. Hopefully everything will work out!

Futbol

I went to Faelledparken today to play some pick-up soccer. I heard that there was a game at 11:00, so I showed up a few minutes later hoping to find a game. Instead I found a bunch of people kicking a ball around getting ready to play a game. I asked one of the men if I could play when they started – he said he didn’t mind. I put on my cleats and headed out towards the field to kick the ball around with them. When I walked out, a bunch of the men started talking amongst themselves. After several minutes, one came out and told me that I could not play because I was a girl. They were Muslim, and their religion would not allow it. I said that I understood, but I think my emotions were visible because the man that had originally said that I could play walked off of the field with me and to talk. I told him he should play. He said he wouldn’t and that some of his friends would be coming soon to start a new game.

I waited and they came. The crowd was almost entirely South American – everyone was speaking Spanish and I could understand some of what was being said. It ended up being a huge game – about 15 per team. We would play for 45-minute periods, then take “water breaks” where the players would drink a beer and smoke a cigarette. The group was really fun and nice and the soccer wasn’t bad either. I am planning to go back next week. Hopefully I’ll be able to find some other games before then!

End of the Study Tour

So sad. Today was the last day of our study tour. We spent most of today driving (I spent most of today sleeping on the bus.) I loved Helsinki, but I think I loved Stockholm even more. Gamla Stan, the old area of Stockholm, was my favorite spot in the city. There were tons of narrow streets, big, old buildings, and great shopping.

The meals on this study tour have been some of the best that I have ever had. Last night we ate at a restaurant in Gamla Stan. We started with a salad, then came the main course, Swedish meatballs and potatoes, then desert, a chocolate truffle. DIS has every little detail painstakingly worked out, so whenever we arrive at a restaurant they bring our food right to us. There is hardly any waiting between courses, and I never have to worry about what to order because DIS pre-se lected the best thing on the menu for us. The portions are always just right too – enough to satisfy any hunger, but not so much as to make you feel sick.

Today on our bus ride back we stopped at a castle for lunch. When we sat down at the table they had our first course already waiting for us – a delicious crab and lobster concoction on bread. Our main course was salmon and potatoes, and desert was a berry parfait. Delicious. I can’t wait for the meals on our next study tour!

Helsinki

Today is our second day in Helsinki. I love the city and also love the fact that we are staying in the same place for more than one night- its nice not to have to pack up every morning.

Today we visited the Myyrimaki Church, another building that I learned about in Jerry Larson’s lectures. The way the church plays with light is spectacular. Next we visited Kiasma, a Steven Holl modern art museum. I had never heard of or seen pictures of the museum, so when we arrived it was a complete surprise. The modern building is full of swooping metal and concrete curves. I really enjoyed the exhibits too.

This afternoon was the first time we had time to ourselves (sort of). We were given a list of buildings to see and told what to sketch while we were there. The winners, we were told, would get a prize. My group decided to take it easy. We took our time and just went to a few of the buildings. The first one we went to, the Temppeliaukio Kirkko Rock Church, was my favorite. The church is carved out of a giant rocky outcrop. Inside the acoustics are near perfect. When we walked in we were some of the only visitors. A violinist was playing, the church was warm and beautiful. It was like heaven. Then tour busses pulled up and loads of people came pouring through the church’s doors. The number of people spoiled a bit of the magic, but still the space was spectacular.

After our “free” afternoon we met back up with the group at a bar on top of a hotel with a great view of the city. My group did not win the prize (new sketchbooks). Oh well.

Tonight one of the other tour groups is supposed to arrive in Helsinki. It will be nice to see them – it feels like we’ve been away forever even though its only been four days.

Study Tour

Yesterday we began our first study tour through Sweden and Finland. We had a lot of driving yesterday followed by a ride on a huge cruise ship (the bus came too.) Today we saw three buildings: Alvar Aalto’s Paimio Sanitorium, a hospital built for tuburculosis patients, the Petajavesi Old Church, an old wooden church with a big bell tower, and the Alvar Aalto museum.

It is strange visiting all of these buildings that I learned about in Jerry Larson’s history class like Paimio Sanitorium. After having studied it, I was underwhelmed by the sanatorium. There were certain things like the staircase and the signature Paimio chairs that I did like. The Paimio Sanatorium was built at the beginning of Modernism. The style has evolved a lot since then. At the time that the building was built it was innovative, modern, and revolutionary. Now, however, it seems a bit ordinary.

Tonight we are staying at a hostel near a sauna. We went to the sauna earlier tonight with groceries and everyone cooked dinner over an indoor fire. Cooking took a lot longer than we all expected, so a lot of people just gave up on their food and used the sauna. There were tons of leftovers on the fire when we left.

The sauna was a traditional Finish sauna next to a lake. We were supposed to go into the boiling hot sauna for as long as we could stand it, then run outside and jump in the freezing cold lake. I went into the sauna a couple times but never got up the nerve to jump in the lake. Everyone said the water felt great though. Maybe next time.

Project 1 = DONE!

Today we presented our models for assignment one. We finished at about 5:45 this morning, so I was not entirely coherent for the critique. Nevertheless, I think it went well. I was happy with our model – the lighting especially. The Trapholt Art Museum has several skylights that really photographed well in our model. Our studio professor seemed to like our model too.

I am ready to catch up on sleep before we start our big study tour tomorrow.

Field Trip!

Today we went on a field study to Northern Copenhagen. First we visited a furniture warehouse, Paustian, with some of the most beautiful modern furniture I have ever seen. Next we went to Grundtvig’s Kirke by Peder Vilhelm Jensen-Klint. The church was truly astounding. It is made entirely of brick (6 million, to put a number to it). It is in the style of traditional Danish churches with stepped gables, but at a much larger scale. Next we visited a Danish co-housing community. All of the families live in small houses. There is a larger community house in the center where the families take turn cooking dinner for all of the others each night. In theory I think that I a great idea and a great way to build a strong community. Apparently it works too, since the community that we visited has existed and thrived for decades. After the co-housing visit we went to another church, Bagsvaerd Church. I was skeptical when I saw the outside – it looks a little banal from the outside. The inside, however, is the opposite. A wildly undulating ceiling plane with hidden light sources makes the interior space almost magical. Finally, we went to the Louisiana Museum. I had heard great things about the museum before coming to Copenhagen. The museum definitely lived up to the hype. There was an exhibit on green architecture and interesting permanent art exhibits. My favorite part of the museum, however, was the outdoor. The museum is located right next to the water and there were several gardens and forests around the building. I was walking on a path in the forrest with two others and we stumbled across a huge slide. We each rode on it about 15 times before we had to head back to the bus.

I really enjoyed today and I am looking forward to our Sweden/Finland tour in a few days. Unfortunately, I have to get back to studio to work on my Trapholt Art Museum model due on Friday. I am hoping it won’t be too late of a night.

Modeling

This weekend we began working on our first assignment: a model of an existing building that we will visit on one of our travel tours. My group was assigned the Trapholt Art Museum located in Western Demnark. We decided to build our site model out of foam to make use of the handy and oh so fun hot wire cutter. Apparently we did not use the hot wire cutter correctly –the first words out of our studio professor’s mouth were “you’ve never used foam before.” Not exactly the reaction we were hoping for. We still have a large model to build, so hopefully that will turn out better than our site model did!

On Sunday I went to a nearby park, Faelledparken, to find a game of pick-up soccer. I found a group of 8 men playing and joined in. Most of them, I found out after the game, were not Danish. One was French, one was Russian, one was Vietnamese, and one was American. The told me about other pick-up games in the park. I’m plan to play whenever I can – it’s a great way to meet local people outside of DIS.

Open Air Museum

Today we visited Copenhagen’s open-air museum, a museum dedicated to the Scandinavia’s historic building traditions. The AC was broken on the bus, so the ride there was blazing hot. At the museum we saw several very old houses transplanted from their original site to the museum. After a morning lecture on sketching we were charged with the task of sketching anything and everything of interest to us at the museum. My sketching skills were definitely rusty to begin with, but as the day wore on they seemed to improve.

My favorite building of the day was a house built with a seaweed roof. The roof looked outrageous, almost like a giant sheep dog sitting on top of a house. Despite its comical appearance, the roof preformed well. Somehow it managed to keep out the water, though I am not convinced that it does not just act like a giant sponge and breed all sorts of bugs and fungus inside of it.

I had heard rumors that the other bus had air conditioning, so I made sure to get on that bus on the way home. The rumors were true and the ride back was much more comfortable. Copenhagen weather has been much warmer that I had anticipated, but I am not complaining. I much prefer hot summers to damp, rainy ones.

After the Open Air Museum, DIS hosted a welcome party in the courtyard. There were hot dogs, drinks, and lots of people. After the party, I walked around exploring Copenhagen with a group of people for a few hours. I am still amazed at how late it stays light outside.

First Day of Classes

Today was our first day of school. We met this morning at Frue Plads, a square near DIS, and took busses to the Royal Academy of Fine Arts for a brief orientation and introduction to the architecture program. After lunch we had an hour-long lecture on the history of Copenhagen, followed by a boat tour around Copenhagen’s many canals. We saw much of Copenhagen’s architecture, including the opera house and the Black Diamond by Danish architects Schmidt Hammer Lassen.

After the tour I walked around downtown Copenhagen for a while. There are several pedestrian only streets that seem to be constantly filled with people. Shops line the streets. Unfortunately, the prices of everything are out of my range. Copenhagen is an expensive city!