Hitting the Rails

Well folks, it's that time of year in beautiful Copenhagen. Time to put away the X-acto knives and tracing paper and go off gallivanting for two glorious weeks. Armed with just my EurRail pass, Sven, computer (for a change) and of course my trusty backpack, I will be wending my way south through Europe, and updating everyone along the way. 


Stay tuned and get excited, because I know I am.

Museum-izing

This weekend I took advantage of Denmark's policy of making all national museums free to the public. The national museum is right around the corner from my apartment, so that was naturally where I headed. 
They have an extremely impressive collection of ethnic treasures from around the world. 

Kayaks from Greenland.

Some sweet fur underwear.

Jewelery.

This is currently my top contender for a Halloween costume.

I then moseyed on over to the Black Diamond. On the way there I took a jaunt past Christiansborg Palace where a sort of Renaissance Fair appeared to be taking place.

Complete with jousting.

An installation at the Black Diamond.

On the stairs.

Looking down from the 5th floor.

And looking out over the harbor.

Kulturnatten

Culture night in København: a night when of 300 cultural venues around the city open their doors to visitors from 20:00 to 6:00. Buses, metros and admission are free with the purchase of a ticket. Sadly we didn't make it for even close to the whole night, but we did go some fun places.

On the way up the Round Tower church (Trinitatis Church). Apparently there's an observatory at the top, but we never made it there. The 2 hours wait just wasn't worth it.

Some cute dog-type animals at the zoo.

København...

From the spire of The Narwhal.

Inside the vaulting at the Narwhal, aka Vor Frelser Kirke.

On Site

We have received our new assignment, and therefore our new site for studio. For the rest of the semester I'll be hard at work designing a waterfront community and culture area. Pretty rad eh? It's a cool site, right near a very up-and-coming area of København called Ørestad. The buildings there are extremely interesting and daring and advanced, but from an urban development standpoint it looks like the community is doomed to fail, do to a lack of integration. But that's another story entirely. Here are some pictures of our site:

The Gemini Silos.

Oh hi there Skanska. Nice to see you again.

Interesting shape.

AD-X Part IIX: Home Again, Home Again

Many hours were spent on a bus this day. MANY hours, broken only by a stop for delicious lunch at a castle. And who ever said DIS didn't treat us well?

Oh Sweden.

Very nice.

Fall foliage.

And walking trails.

And architecture students walking on them.

A few of us formed a card playing club to while away the hours. Good times. The ferry back to Helsingør was the scenic highlight of the day however.

Amazing sunset.

Don't we look epic?

AD-X Part VII: The Last Hurrah

After breakfast we went on a walking tour of Gamla Stan, the oldest part of Stockholm. It's really quite beautiful, situated on a hill overlooking the water. The streets are possibly the narrowest and most winding I've ever seen. Think Copenhagen, reduced by 50%.

The palace. It is large and impressive.

The buildings are also very colorful.

A small group of us then walked to the City Library, which is a pretty cool building. It would be a great place to go hang out and read, assuming I could read Swedish that is.

It's round.

Jennifer and I then made our way out to the Kastellet which is on a small island overlooking the cruise ship docks, going through the rad-est subway station ever.We met some very jocular Slovenian guys there who were traveling through Europe for a few months. 

Super duper.

Quaint and picturesque, just like most of the city.

Our whole group then convened at Moderna Museet and the Architecture Museum, both of which were very interesting. 

Glass sculptures.

Another sculpture.

Dinner was on DIS at a classy restaurant in Gamla Stan. Very hyggelig. Also very delicious food. We found out after the fact that the traditional Swedish meatballs were in fact made of reindeer. After dinner some of us went out to a club to listen to some techno. Good times.

Gamla Stan by night.

Jenn and I at dinner.

AD-X Part VI: Taking Stock... Holm

Disembarking from the ferry was just as unpleasant as last time, and in fact made worse by the fact that we didn't get breakfast on it. Luckily the excellence of the breakfast we received at a nearby hotel more than compensated for the wait.

Snazzy stairs too.

 After that it was off to Woodland Cemetery, which is apparently quite famous. I personally disliked the chapels there, but the grounds were breathtaking. I wouldn't mind being buried there, surrounded by trees. 

Very picturesque.

Stylish decorations.

Apparently Greta Garbo approved of Woodland Cemetery.

We were then deposited in an up and coming area of Stockholm called Hammarby Sjöstad. By a completely serendipitous twist a small group of us wound up in the same tiny waterfront cafe as our instructor. It was quite fun to interact with a real live Dane in that kind of setting. Grand conversation naturally ensued.

Your eyes are not deceiving you. That is in fact a ski area. In Stockholm.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent listening to a presentation by one of the planners of Hammarby Sjöstad. Then it was off to the hostel where we promptly fell into coma-like slumber until it was time to figure out our dinner plans. Team Classy was assembled when we discovered that Zinkensdam Hostel has a kitchen for the use of its guests. The three of us braved a Swedish grocery store and prepared a vegetarian feast, and all was right with the world.

Hey there dinner preparation station.

AD-X Part V: Off to Sweden

Once again we were up early and on the road to Myyrmäki Lutheran Church. It was a very interesting space- quite light and airy.

Good location too.

And great lighting.

We then stopped at Hvitträsk, the home and studio of the Saarinsen architects. The house itself was nice enough, but the really amazing part were the grounds. The house was built on a large hill above a lake. There is a lakeside sauna and some fantastic trails around the lake. Let's let the pictures speak for themselves.

Artsy.

The view from the dock.

The trail to the point.

Water. In case you couldn't tell.

We then headed back to Turku via a cemetery.

It starts getting dark very early in the wild north.

Several fun filled hours were spent waiting for our return ferry to Stockholm, the Isabella this time. To pass some of the time we went to a canal boat bar to compare our sketchbooks out of the wind. After a little exploration of the town, we boarded the boat for our return journey.

AD-X, having a glorious time waiting for the bus.

AD-X Part IV: Helsinki

As today's title may lead you to believe, we spent the day in Helsinki. It was our first day without organized activity, but there was a sketching scavenger hunt to do, complete with the promise of prizes. The four-fifths of our room from Samsø reassembled for the occasion and spent the day feverishly sketching, just for a change. 

G'day Helsinki.

Kiasma Museet by Steven Holl. As the architectural experts we all are, we were almost unanimous in hating this building.

First stop on the hunt: Finlandia Hall. Designer, Alvar Aalto.

Next up, Temppeliaukio Kirkko, the Rock Church. Appropriate as it's literally carved out of the bedrock.

It's breathtaking inside.

The Helsinki Lutheran Cathedral, and the last stop.

The square below the cathedral was full of bears of the world. Every country had one of these snazzy guys representing them.

Helsinki, as seen from the Ateljee panorama bar where we all regrouped after our day of exploring.

In conclusion, Helsinki is a wonderful city, seemingly even more laid back in areas than Copenhagen, yet at the same time more urban feeling. It's definitely somewhere I would like to return to and explore further.