Reflection

Well everything has come to a close. Today is my last full day in Copenhagen and we celebrate with an exhibition of all studio projects and a social with all architecture and design students and faculty. It will be a long day.

I presented my final project for Urban Design studio on Wednesday. Besides the board falling down during my presentation, it did not go as bad as I was expecting. I got some great feedback, both negative and positive, which is what we look for in projects like this. I did not get the grade I was hoping for, but considering I had no idea what I was doing half the time, I'll take it.

I was thinking about everything I have learned this summer and the major point is that I have no idea what I'm doing. Compared to other students I met and worked with, my skills need major tuning. I am an average person when it comes to my skills. I'm not putting myself down in anyway, I know I have my strengths, but this summer showed me my weaknesses and nothing puts things in perspective than feeling completely incompetent. It has been a great learning experience and that is what this summer was all about. This experience has not only taught me a lot about myself, but also about my generation and my peers. We are a generation full of love and compassion, yet when it comes to large matters within our world, we seem almost insignificant. Our world is facing some of the biggest challenges yet and my generation is going to be the ones to face them head on. We're going to change world so watch out...

To have had this opportunity to study abroad has been amazing. I am so incredibly blessed to have the family and friends supporting me no matter what. I've met some great people, seen some incredible sights and eaten delicious food this summer and I already cannot wait to come back. 

Until next time Copenhagen. Thanks for being my home this summer. 

Urban Design studio - Some of the greatest, most talented people I've met.

Final Urban Design project - Square of All Senses

View from the tallest spire in Copenhagen - Church of our Savior/Vor Frelsers Kirke

Sunset over Nyhavn... Will miss this city immensely. 

Countdown Begins

Well tomorrow begins my second to last week in Copenhagen... Crazy how fast this summer went. Even crazier the amount of stuff I have to accomplish before I leave July 30th. My list of places to go keeps getting longer and the list of stuff to do for my Urban Design project does the same. These last couple weeks have been incredibly hectic with project stuff. Site plan and sections and concept sketches and today started building the section model. Our last Visual Journal class was Tuesday, so glad that is over, my sketching abilities have stilled not improved after that 3 hours intensive drawing studio, but I guess I should keep practicing.

On Thursday I went to Grundtvigs Kirke, an Art Deco almost style church in northern Copenhagen. It's famous for the amount and style of brick it uses. Brick and brick and brass and a beautiful pipe organ. After that I went back to studio for a bit before getting lunch at the Glass Markets - traditional, delicious Danish Smørrebrød. My days have been filled with studio work ever since. Spent all day in studio yesterday and today, but rewarded myself with a visit to the National Museum today. It was an interesting museum, filled with more about other cultures than that of Denmark, but it was still a beautiful museum. 

Video called some family yesterday - my brother has an insane amount of facial hair. I can't wait to pick on him in person for it. My niece was 2 months old already on the 11th, nephew turned one on the 13th and other niece is 6 today! They're all growing up so fast! Can’t wait to see everyone when I get back.

Jimmy Johns and Puppy Dogs

Two things I miss about home - Jimmy Johns and my sweet, sweet puppies. Of course I miss more than that, like family and friends, but MAN have I been craving a #1 from JJ's and some cuddles with my pups. Especially after a frustrating Thursday.

Thursday, my bike lock wouldn't unlock. So, I had to go to the bike rental place - 25 min. commute each way - to get oil for the lock. That didn't work. So then I went BACK to the rental place, had to get a new bike, still yellow and has a bell, which is nice. After getting the new bike, I went and got my hair cut which was nerve racking, but then had to go BACK to the bike rental place because the handle bars and seat kept swiveling while I was riding... Needless to say I did not get much accomplished on Thursday.

Friday we went to Malmo for class to see Bo 01 - a sustainable community near the harbor. I had seen the neighborhood before when I had visited Malmo previously, but it was more interesting to gain more information about it and the area. Like, the Turning Torso was inspired by a dead dogs' spine... Crazy how people get inspired. After class ended, some of us stayed behind and went to the Form Design Center and walked to the castle which was kind of disappointing, but the park surrounding it was beautiful.

Today, I went to the Louisiana Museum, a modern art museum about 30 minutes north of CPH. It was an incredible experience. The exhibits were beautiful, the building itself is an incredible structure and is integrated into the surrounding environment so so well. There's trails leading to the water with docks and rocks you can step out on and walk across. Incredible.

Tomorrow is going to be a work filled day for a project check-in on Monday... This will be interesting...

Side street in Malmo

Windmill near the castle in Malmo

Kusama Infinity/Illumination Room at Louisiana Museum

View from Louisiana Museum - modern dock

The Yellow Bike and Jan Gehl

Things have been pretty calm since returning from study tour. We have started our studio project - redesign project of a square in Copenhagen - full swing. These last couple of weeks will go by extremely quick.

After studio on Monday I decided to rent a bike for the remainder of the summer. I now have a bright yellow bike with a cute basket on front. Tuesday, I rode to Banana Park, a cute little park with soccer field, playground, rock climbing and a large rubber banana protruding from the ground. I thought it was pretty clever that Hannah was at Banana Park with a banana colored bike.... That's just my sense of humor I suppose. Leaving the park, it was time for some ramen then riding around the city with some classmates. It started pouring rain and by the end of the day my pants were soaked all the way through and my rain jacket provided no relief anymore. Definitely fun though.

Today was not as exciting, but still raining. Visited Gehl Architects this morning during class. They're a firm based out of CPH and have firms in NYC and San Francisco. They focus on making cities for people, projects pertaining to the urban development of cities and how the people use them. A well known project would be the redesign on Times Square in 2005 - removing vehicle traffic and adding space for pedestrians. Such an inspiring firm and what seemed like a great work environment. The founder, Jan Gehl, was a professor at the architecture school in Copenhagen and has wrote several successful books/reports. He's very well known within the urban design realm and in Denmark as a whole. We were lucky enough to see him, in passing, in a glass phone booth - pretty sure he probably felt like an animal in a zoo the way we were all looking at him. Pretty great experience to see an operating firm in CPH. A quiet and rainy week - hopefully the rain will pass...

Study Tour - Sweden

After another all night ferry ride and some intense karaoke, we arrived in Stockholm, Sweden. The first day was incredibly exhausting. First stop was at the Woodlands Cemetery and the Resurrection Chapel, the cemetery is massive and beautiful and I discovered later that Gretta Garbo is buried there. The second stop was the Artipelag museum. A beautiful building from the exterior and on a incredible nature site. The museum itself though was pretty disappointing, cool interiors, but nothing more than that. The final stop of that day was a disappointing Hammarby Sjostad which is a "green" urban development area that was incredibly dirty.

Woodland Cemetery

Resurrection Chapel

Artipelag

View from green roof of Artipelag

The second day in Stockholm started with a trip to Stadsbiblioteket - Stockholm library - which was built the same year my Grandpa Roy was born. Second stop was Sergels Torg and the neighboring Kulturhuset - a geometric square with underground shopping and the neighboring culture house.

Stadsbiblioteket Exterior

Stadsbiblioteket Interior

 The Vasa museum was the next stop - a museum based around a ship that set sail in 1628 and sank about 600 meters from its starting point. After a stop for cake and coffee we ventured to the Modern Art museum where there was a Yayoi Kusama exhibition going on - so cool. We were then "set free" but I stuck with BB and Robert to see the Royal Chapel and then get a quick beer before dinner at Herman's - a vegetarian buffet with a great view. After dinner we went to the Fotografiska museum where there was a Gretta Garbo exhibit. That night was spent at the Ice Bar and Laughing Duck bar - a great way to end our stay in Stockholm.

Kusama Infinity Room

Vasa Museum

Gamla Stan

Royal Chapel

We left Stockholm early Saturday morning. A 3 hour bus ride brought us to Naturum Takern, a nature sanctuary that was built out of wood and reeds. With a bird watching tower and walking trail, it was a great way to end the long study trip. Even with some hard times, this trip has brought me some new friends, new experiences, and of course, 2 new countries.

Naturum Takern

Trail at Naturum Takern

Naturum Takern

Study Tour - Finland

Bright and early on Saturday, June 25th, myself and 21 other students started an 8 day traveling adventure. With our mighty leader BB and her sidekick Robert we embarked on an incredible trip across Finland and Sweden to see some remarkable works of art, architecture and design. Saturday was spent mostly on a bus with a stop at Sankt Petri Church in Klippan, Sweden and a small town where they make candy canes.

Interior of Sankt Petri's

That night, we spent on a ferry from Sweden to Turku, Finland. We stopped in two towns that were deserted because it was Midsummers so we headed towards Petajavesi Old Church. A beautiful wooden structure built in 1763. It's still in use and the original bells are still in the tower. After the church, we were back on the bus to Jyvaskyla where we had dinner, bowled and then swam in a FREEZING cold, yet gorgeous, lake then a few of us hiked up to a ski jump and gotten eaten alive by mosquitoes. 

Petajavesi Church

Lake where we went swimming

Monday was spent in Saynatsalo at the Town Hall and Experimental House, both designed by Alvar Aalto. Saynatsalo was the building I studied for the first assignment and it was such an incredible experience to witness this structure with my own eyes, the brick work is impeccable. The Experimental House was Aalto's own home and the guest wing is still owned by his descendants. We then had lunch in Jyvaskyla then boarded the bus to Helsinki.

Experimental House

Saynatsalo Town Hall

The first night in Helsinki we walked to the Rock Church which was built into a rock structure, the Chapel of Silence, another incredible wooden structure, and the Academic Bookstore designed by Aalto.

Rock Church

Chapel of Silence

First full day in Helsinki was spent walking to different areas - the Senate Square, a Cathedral, Helsinki University Library, Central Station and the Kiasma Museum. The library was a natural light filled space that I could have spent HOURS in and the Kiamsa Museum had a lot of interesting modern art pieces. 

Helsinki Library

Central Station

Woven Ernesto Neto struture

Exterior of Kiasma

The afternoon was spent at Hvittrask which was a villa/studio that Gesellius, Lindgren and Saarinen all worked/lived in for a period of time. Our evening concluded with a meal of reindeer, mashed potatoes and lingonberries then an hour and a half spent in the smoke sauna and jumping in the lake at the Green Window. Such an inspiring experience. Definitely my favorite part of Finland. Our last day in Helsinki was chaotic. We had some free time in the morning which was spent seeing Finlandia Hall from the outside, visiting the Artek showroom and the Design Museum. After that we headed to the Chapel of the Holy Cross and St. Henry's Ecumenical Art Chapel. Both are incredible structures - absolutely breathtaking. The last stop in Finland was Aalto's Paimio Sanatorium where we had a very enthusiastic tour guide of a semi-creepy building. Finland was incredible, definitely one of my favorite places. The time spent within the natural environment was beyond breathtaking. Next stop, Sweden!

woods near Green Window

Lake we jumped in after sauna at Green Window

St. Henry's

Chapel of Holy Cross

Session 4

Well, my final, and most intense, class session has started! The first project was completed in a group of four. We were given a building that will be visited on our study tours and were to build a model as well as prepare a presentation explaining and showcasing the building. My group was given Säynätsalo Town Hall in Säynätsalo Finland, designed by Alvar Aalto. This was a great learning experience since I had never built a building model before. We finished up the project this afternoon and present first thing tomorrow morning!

While I wasn't spending my time working on the model this weekend, I went to Tivoli and to Malmo, Sweden. Tivoli is an amusement park in the center of Copenhagen, much different than that of amusement parks in the states. Trees, fountains and grass everywhere while the rides intertwined throughout the park. Such a cool place to spend a Saturday afternoon. Sunday morning I went to Malmo Sweden, actually to meet my Aunt so she could take some stuff back to the states for me, but I stayed for a few hours and explored the downtown area. Walked along the water and saw the Turning Torso - magnificent. 

Solid weekend at home in Denmark. Next Saturday we leave for our week long study tours - Finland and Sweden watch out.

What looks like the beginning of sunrise at 2 am Saturday...

Moon at 2 am Saturday... Same time as right pic.

First class sketch - Serial Perspectives - Pretty proud of myself.

Säynätsalo Building Model

Candy Floss for dinner at Tivoli!

Tivoli!!

Turning Torso in Malmo