Having now returned to Chicago (and stable internet connectivity), I can now continue our record of travel. Perhaps reflection, memory, and substantial written and photographic documentation will provide a deeper recounting of our journey... keep reading to find out.
Very saddening news from Oslo since Friday. I find it difficult to reconcile the Norway with which we fell in love with what has happened. Our thoughts are with the Norwegians.
7.24.2011
6.25.2011
back in the EU
We survived the hoards of tourists at the Hermitage on Tues, had a leisurely sight-filled day on Weds, and yesterday made it through the St. Petersburg Metro with all our packs and people unscathed, had an argument with our bus driver Stanislaw in some English/Russian/Polish stew-like language about not having our "doopli-cot" and finally got on the bus to Tallinn. Whew!
A 7+ hour bus ride has returned us safely to the land of the ring of golden stars. Well, that "ride" was about 3 hours driving out of Russia, 2 hours at exit and entry passport control and customs (on and off the bus), and then 2.5+ hours driving to Tallinn. It's rather easy to see which direction the Euros are following... lots of "Project supported by EU funds" signs as we homed in on Tallinn, and increasingly smooth roads. The Russian countryside was less, shall we say... tidy.
I will still post info on the individual days our our journey, but spotty wi-fi and general exhaustion has made doing so on the go unfeasible... Just wanted to let everyone know that we are still on track and are now in Estonia.
A 7+ hour bus ride has returned us safely to the land of the ring of golden stars. Well, that "ride" was about 3 hours driving out of Russia, 2 hours at exit and entry passport control and customs (on and off the bus), and then 2.5+ hours driving to Tallinn. It's rather easy to see which direction the Euros are following... lots of "Project supported by EU funds" signs as we homed in on Tallinn, and increasingly smooth roads. The Russian countryside was less, shall we say... tidy.
I will still post info on the individual days our our journey, but spotty wi-fi and general exhaustion has made doing so on the go unfeasible... Just wanted to let everyone know that we are still on track and are now in Estonia.
6.13.2011
day five - 5.6.11
10:00 - We rode the T-Bane out to the southeast suburbs of Oslo to visit the Mortensrud Church by Jensen and Skodvin. It's been really lovely to arrive early at all these projects - seeing the building wake up and come alive... the same was true here. The building sits proudly on a rocky hill among the trees and the texture of the site continues to the interior. I loved this building - the way it uses industrial and rough materials (including the second-rate Bluestone) to create a sublime play of light and space... wonderful.
The central space - framed above by dry-stacked stone - is bordered by support spaces and the edge is articulated by a reveal of light, which skims the outer rough surface of the stone to great effect. The aisle slopes down, ever so slightly into the altar space - I can't ever remember experiencing such a sign of humility... amazing. Also surprising was a the shake and creak of the bell tower - the stresses of movement readily apparent as the members slacked and tightened along with the rhythm of the bells.
The local congregation was quite surprised to hear a group of architecture students had traveled all the way from Chicago to see their church - and the pastor even welcomed us in his opening greetings at the 11:00 service. We stayed for a bit - sort of mesmerized by the singing in Norwegian... What a beautiful way to start the day.
As the huge cruise liners rolled into the harbour (and dwarfed the adjacent Akershus Fortress) we started to look forward to moving out of the city tomorrow... Oh, and I want a Buddy (below, right) in this exact color.
The central space - framed above by dry-stacked stone - is bordered by support spaces and the edge is articulated by a reveal of light, which skims the outer rough surface of the stone to great effect. The aisle slopes down, ever so slightly into the altar space - I can't ever remember experiencing such a sign of humility... amazing. Also surprising was a the shake and creak of the bell tower - the stresses of movement readily apparent as the members slacked and tightened along with the rhythm of the bells.
The local congregation was quite surprised to hear a group of architecture students had traveled all the way from Chicago to see their church - and the pastor even welcomed us in his opening greetings at the 11:00 service. We stayed for a bit - sort of mesmerized by the singing in Norwegian... What a beautiful way to start the day.
12:30 - Back into central Oslo, we discovered the sublime grandiosity of Oslo's City Hall. I personally love the blocky bricky bigness of the exterior, balanced by a second reading of the masonry bonding (mountains, suns, forests!) and then the amazing interior. Although you would be forgiven to expect a heavy-handed symmetrical plan, you would be wrong. Here a light-filled central space covered on all sides with frescoes of Norwegian history and mythology sets the stage for a series of meetings halls and city chambers richly adorned, painted, and furnished - but most importantly, scaled to the proportions of medieval great halls.
14:00 - After a brief discussion of our class readings (interrupted by a nervous security guard in City Hall) we went our separate ways to explore Oslo this afternoon. Prof. Kowalczyk and I took a short harbour boat ride to the Viking Ship Museum - which houses 4 archeologically recovered ships... Ah, the Vikings - the lore and the woodwork make me almost forgive their barbaric tendencies :)
As the huge cruise liners rolled into the harbour (and dwarfed the adjacent Akershus Fortress) we started to look forward to moving out of the city tomorrow... Oh, and I want a Buddy (below, right) in this exact color.
today - 14.6.2011
We will be visiting the Wooden Church of Kärsämäki (Kärsämäen Paanukirkko) this afternoon - and wave hello at the live web camera around 14:00 local time (Finland is 8 hours ahead of Chicago). Catch a glimpse of us here!
Yesterday we learned that Alvar Aalto's unsung works (Rovaniemi Library) are as genius as the heralded, and that moose are roughly 3 times as large as reindeer (just in case there was any confusion).
Yesterday we learned that Alvar Aalto's unsung works (Rovaniemi Library) are as genius as the heralded, and that moose are roughly 3 times as large as reindeer (just in case there was any confusion).
6.11.2011
interlude
I am so woefully behind on posting - mostly due to lack of internet access, but also because we've been on the go for 7 days straight. We are currently in Tromso, Norway - and it is finally a bit chilly. Considering our current latitude, I can't quite believe how warm it is actually... We are all alive and well and completely overstimulated considering the many works of architecture and unbelievable landscapes we have experienced.
We arrived on the Hurtigruten this afternoon and will leave for Rovaniemi, Finland early tomorrow. We've been in the "land of the midnight sun" - by which, of course I mean north of the Arctic Circle - since Thursday morning (on the train from Trondheim to Bodo) and I must say, it is a bizarre phenomenon. Well, I supposed it's only bizarre if you assume a rising and setting sun is normal... It's currently 12:30am local time and it's bright as day.
In the past 7 days we have traveled throughout some of the most beautiful, diverse, incredible, befuddling landscapes in the world... I will post pictures soon, but they cannot possibly do the immensity of these places justice. Every fjord we pass over or through, every island we ferry or drive to presents an entirely new sense of place. As I attempt to catch up, I will also try to find the words to fully explain...
We arrived on the Hurtigruten this afternoon and will leave for Rovaniemi, Finland early tomorrow. We've been in the "land of the midnight sun" - by which, of course I mean north of the Arctic Circle - since Thursday morning (on the train from Trondheim to Bodo) and I must say, it is a bizarre phenomenon. Well, I supposed it's only bizarre if you assume a rising and setting sun is normal... It's currently 12:30am local time and it's bright as day.
In the past 7 days we have traveled throughout some of the most beautiful, diverse, incredible, befuddling landscapes in the world... I will post pictures soon, but they cannot possibly do the immensity of these places justice. Every fjord we pass over or through, every island we ferry or drive to presents an entirely new sense of place. As I attempt to catch up, I will also try to find the words to fully explain...
6.08.2011
day four - 4.6.11
9:00 - We returned to the marble "carpet" this morning, and eased our way up and around the roof/skin/wall of Den Norske Operahuset. Despite the industrial separation between the city and the Opera, it is a lively public space - vibrant throughout the day (and "day" is pretty much 24/7 here this time of year). As the crowd swelled and we waited for the lobby to open, we started to slow-roast between the intense (low and close) sunlight and the seemingly endless Carrara marble. Actually, I was surprised to see the many textural shifts in the skin - grooved, hammered, honed and moments of "plate shifting" really break up the surface such that the building looks and feels like the slow settling of a glacier - from both near and far.
The project was conceptualized by Snohetta as a building in 3 parts - the "carpet" (the marble skin/roof), the "wave" (the undulating multi-tiered wall/ramps which buffer the main stage from the lobby), and the "factory" (the huge back of house area with practice rooms, offices, storage, etc). It is rather wonderful that this enormous building, 2/3 of which is actually not open to the public, manages to obscure the "factory" in its siting, such that the public feels they have conquered the building (once one has reached the top!), yet the staff and performers have their own screened interior world.
As in the Copenhagen Opera, there was an Olafur Eliasson installation in the lobby (the tessellated volumes back light by LEDs) - we were all surprised to discover the optical illusion was created rather crudely - panelized and painted MDF and surface wiring with white electrical tape.
The project was conceptualized by Snohetta as a building in 3 parts - the "carpet" (the marble skin/roof), the "wave" (the undulating multi-tiered wall/ramps which buffer the main stage from the lobby), and the "factory" (the huge back of house area with practice rooms, offices, storage, etc). It is rather wonderful that this enormous building, 2/3 of which is actually not open to the public, manages to obscure the "factory" in its siting, such that the public feels they have conquered the building (once one has reached the top!), yet the staff and performers have their own screened interior world.
As in the Copenhagen Opera, there was an Olafur Eliasson installation in the lobby (the tessellated volumes back light by LEDs) - we were all surprised to discover the optical illusion was created rather crudely - panelized and painted MDF and surface wiring with white electrical tape.
12:00 - On the short walk to the Norwegian Museum of Architecture - a Serra stop... Apparently someone had recently thought it was an excellent place for a wee...
12:15 - One of Sverre Fehn's last buildings (complete in 2008) is the Norwegian Museum of Architecture. A beautifully subtle work - and a welcome change from the grandiosity of many of the large scale buildings we have seen thus far. We (as a group) ranged from confused to awed by Fehn's work here - the exhibition pavilion is especially intriguing. The protective concrete abutment mimics the huge fortifications of Askershus Fortress next door, and the "moat of light" surrounding the sublime pavilion was really powerful, especially considering the rather small scale (maybe 40'x40' square). A thin board-form concrete pavilion roof was supported by 4 columnar shafts (return air and structure). The materiality here was so rich - and the trompe l'oeil "masonry" in the old building created a lovely discourse (within the building and within our group).
We had some layered experiences here: a documentary on the building construction (in the second floor "library" with perspex covers on the books...?) was highly informative - never mind the Norwegian - and the current exhibit on new Norwegian architecture highlighted many projects we are (were...) about to visit - though I think someone should have thought twice about the big yellow "voting" flowers - highly distracting...
We had some layered experiences here: a documentary on the building construction (in the second floor "library" with perspex covers on the books...?) was highly informative - never mind the Norwegian - and the current exhibit on new Norwegian architecture highlighted many projects we are (were...) about to visit - though I think someone should have thought twice about the big yellow "voting" flowers - highly distracting...
After a late lunch, we walked through a collection of 30 (or more?) Norwegian fire engines (current and historical) in the main plaza behind the Oslo City Hall (the blocky brick building below left - I'll get to that later) - on our way to The Nobel Peace Center (Nobel Fredssenter). Let me just emphasize the fact that we are all in sunglasses and t-shirts. Oslo was HOT! 20 degrees Celsius at times - and the sun is intense... burning your retinas and skin... Of course the Norwegians can't get enough of the sun once it's plentiful, but I was certainly not expecting these record temperatures. Hoping things cool off as we head north...
15:00 - The Nobel Peace Center is another old building conversion (this time from a train station to the museum/exhibition space) - though I was disappointed in David Adjaye here. Prof. Kowalczyk and I did a bit of an Adjaye trek in London 2 weeks ago (Idea Store Whitechapel, Elektra House, and the Dirty House) - so perhaps we were wrongly expecting clarity.
The Peace Center was built to showcase specifically the Nobel Peace Prize and related exhibits, but where the project is published as distinct installations (perhaps better described as vignettes) it wasn't that way at all. The bright red gift shop and the Chris Ofili painting in the cafe were legible - and the centerpiece "Nobel Field" with the illuminated screens and LEDs (like tall grasses) was really excellent - but otherwise the infill spaces were confusing, ill-defined, and rather bland. I think the word is "meh"... Nonetheless, the hot sun and vibrant day (Musikkfest!) made for a lively afternoon to be in Oslo.
The Peace Center was built to showcase specifically the Nobel Peace Prize and related exhibits, but where the project is published as distinct installations (perhaps better described as vignettes) it wasn't that way at all. The bright red gift shop and the Chris Ofili painting in the cafe were legible - and the centerpiece "Nobel Field" with the illuminated screens and LEDs (like tall grasses) was really excellent - but otherwise the infill spaces were confusing, ill-defined, and rather bland. I think the word is "meh"... Nonetheless, the hot sun and vibrant day (Musikkfest!) made for a lively afternoon to be in Oslo.
The Nobel Peace Field and the entrance "wedge"...6.06.2011
day three - 3.6.11
10:30 - What was supposed to be an easy morning at the Danish Design Center prior to our 13:33 departure from Copenhagen Central Station, turned into a rather complicated affair. Most spent the morning waiting in line at the left luggage or bank or supermarket... but alas, this was our first trans-city travel. Hoping for better form next time (and smaller backpacks!). Nonetheless, we had a nice time camped out in the middle of the station - writing postcards and waiting to begin our northward "climb".
22:00 - After 8.5 hours and 2 trains (switching in Goeteborg, Sweden), we arrived in Oslo (oos-loo) at 22:00. The Opera house is a stone's throw away from the Central Station and in the amazingly bright evening light we trekked over to experience the marble "carpet" firsthand and first thing. Oslo makes us fully cognizant of how eerily clean Copenhagen is. Here we see the usual rough-around-the-edges neighborhood of the central train station... and yet the gleaming glacier-like Opera is a mere construction bridge away. The diversity of Oslo is also surprising - the people and the architecture. I think there many in the group quickly revised their preconception that Scandinavia is one homogenized culture... clearly it is not :)
We'll be back to the Opera tomorrow morning (more about the architecture then...) - and the overloaded and very tired students wanted nothing more than to fall into bed. Meanwhile Oslo was gearing up for an all-day music fest on Saturday and the Friday pre-party seemed in full swing. Let's just say the sun didn't set until about 11:45 and there was plenty of activity in the street even when it came up a few hours later. I swear the sun sets and rises less than 20 degrees apart here... can't wait until it doesn't even dip below the horizon!
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