Field Study to Malmo

So, this past Monday we took a field study to Malmo, Sweden with my Urban Design theories class. It was a lot of fun. We started out with a boat tour of the new harbor which took off from Nyhavn (which translated means new harbor).

This harbor is known as the post card district of Copenhagen which you can see why from the pictures.

We got off in a new development in Copenhagen. It is mixed residential. The building was designed as a whole, but the facades were designed by about 30 different architecture firms.

This way it doesn't all look the same and it keeps it exciting. Those Danes sure know what they are doing. After that we boarded a bus and crossed over into Malmo, Sweden. That was quite a site to be driving over a huge straight.

We also got our first glimpse of the twisting torso from here which is designed by Calatrava.

He also designed the new Milwaukee art museum. The twisting Torso is part of a new development in Sweden that is mostly residential and is also really well designed. The life in the place is just like being in the old city center of Copenhagen.


Europeans just get smarter and smarter the longer I'm here. We than made a couple more stops on the way back to Copenhagen. One a small village placed next to a train stop and the other a beach that was created by adding sand to a low part on the sea. It sounds weird, but works well. The whole day was a lot of fun and it just went to show me how great design is over here. The US has a lot to learn from the Europeans.

Carlsberg: Probably the Best Beer in the World

So, this past Saturday my friend Luke and I decided to go to the Carlsberg Brewery. It turned out to be well worth our time. The architecture of it was amazing, which surprised me quite a bit. For instance we walked through what is called the elephant gate for obvious reasons as you can tell. We did a walking tour of the museum which was inside the old factory. We saw there huge collection of bottles that they sell around the world and found out as of 2000 they were the fifth largest beer company in the world. The best part of the tour though was the two free samples at the end of it. And I definetely agree with their slogan, it probably is the best beer in the world. The beer tasting was good because of the beer, but there were also a lot of people in the bar area from all over the world. When we first got there we had no place to sit, but then soon some people moved and we took up seats next to an old couple. They didn't have much to say, but gave us one of their free drink tickets. It always pays to sit next to nice old people. Once the old people got up three people about 20-22 year olds from France sat down next to us. We didn't quite know this at first until we asked the guy if he spoke danish so he could translate our chip bag for us. I had some suspicion that they weren't from Denmark because I could understand some of the words they were saying. Turns out he speaking French, but we had a great conversation with the three of them. They had some great tips for when we're in Paris, since that is where they are from. It's amazing the things that will bring people together from all over the world. It was a great day between great beer and great conversation.

the wild west

So, this past weekend all of the one semester DIS students had a study tour to western Denmark. We left on Wednesday morning and headed out to Jutland (that's the main peninsula). We traveled across the island that Copenhagen is on and then crossed over to another island. It was beautiful. There was a huge bridge and you could see forever. It was really nice to be out in the open air and away from the city for a while. On the larger island which in English is spelled sealand I believe we stopped at a little church. I think it was mainly to give us a break from sitting, but it also had relevance since we are architecture students. Anyway we continued on into Denmark and made some stops at another church and a sustainable community. Both were very nicely done. The excitement of Wednesday though came when we got to our hostel. It was right in the middle of Aarhus with a great view of the harbor front. It was a prime spot even if it was a little more run down. Oh well, nothing like getting used to hostels.
The next day we got back in the bus and saw mainly the sites in Aarhus. We went to the town hall designed by Arne Jacobsen, which was much disputed at the time, but now it is so well known it is on their register for historic buildings. We then saw the Aros museum which was amazing. It was built on the idea of a main pedestrian walkway that cuts through the center. There is a huge spiral staircase and a long walkway down the middle. The way the exhibits were set up were quite amazing as well. They had this one in the basement called the 9 spaces. It was kind of suppose to go along with the 9 layers of hell. It was amazing. After that museum we went to a couple more, but ended up in Kolding to see the castle and find our hostel. The castle was also quite nice. It had partially burned after it was burnt and was restored in the 1980's about. The restoration was really tastefully done. They kept the new and old parts separate basically so you could tell the difference between them and at the same time enjoy the full castle, it was nice. After that we went to the hostel which compared to the first night it was like staying in a hotel. We had dinner made for us, really nice rooms and were up on a hill overlooking the city. It was beautiful. The only down fall was that it was a 10 minute walk from the town center. Oh well.
The next morning we got up and went to the swimming hall in Kolding. The was a ton of fun. The building sits right on a body of water and has a beautiful shape. It was a lot of fun. We then again spent the day traveling around looking at buildings. There were none that were extremely inspiring except for a vacation community that was designed for patients with muscular deficiency's or something along those lines. It was built to be a get away for these people that didn't fell institution like. They did a good job. Apart from all the equipment needed for the patients the place was really homey. It was on the seaside and had a tremendous view of the bridge.
All in all the study tour was really well done. Everything seemed to flow nicely and it was good to get away from the city a while and actually see some hills. Of course nothing like the hills of southwest Wisconsin, but still something compared to Copenhagen. Here's some of the photos from the trip and look for more to be on flickr within the next couple of weeks.

Getting to Stockhom: Priceless

So, a couple weeks ago Kelly, Emilie and I had started planning to go somewhere this past weekend. We looked and looked for tickets to somewhere for cheap. We couldn't find much so on this last Wednesday we decided to just buy tickets to Stockholm, Sweden. Well it turns out that when you want to buy tickets for a Friday you actually have to put that in. Seems pretty easy to do, but Emilie and I managed to mess it up. We found this out when we got to the airport on Friday night after rushing there right after studio and not eating anything. We were a bit confused when we got there and they told us that our tickets were for the Wednesday before. We had no idea what to do, so we started scrambling because we still had return tickets for Sunday and a hotel reservation. We went through many ideas from renting a manual transmission car to catching a bus in the morning. We were desperate and would've had done anything. We ended canceling the hotel reservations and almost the return ticket when we caught a break and a really nice Swedish women working for the airline. She managed to change our itinerary from Wednesday to Friday for only 30 dollars more per person. We took it immediately and ran through check-in. We then needed to rebook a hotel, so I called back the company we booked through and convinced them that I actually didn't want to cancel the reservation in the first place. The agent had to put me on hold, while my phone was dying due to lack of battery power. I got the confirmed re booking as my phone died, what a streak of luck. Needless to stay we were all very happy and proceeded to laugh a lot, hug a lot and enjoy ourselves a ton.
Now, for Stockholm itself. One word is all that is needed to describe it Amazing. It is built on seven islands, with a lot of hills and water. It is absolutely beautiful and a nice little change compared to the rather flatness of Copenhagen. Though, I didn't notice that unlike the laid back easy going ways of the Danes, the Swedes seemed to always be in a hurry. Oh well, to each his own I guess. We had another little adventure when we got to Stockholm as well, we didn't know how to get from the airport to our hotel, so we took a cab. This cab ended costing 640 Swedish Kroner which is about 100 dollars. Quite the expensive cab, but oh well we made it to the hotel where we found out that we booked a quick sleep room which means that we share a shower with other rooms, kind of like a dorm. We also found out that two twin beds means they are bunked. It wasn't so bad with just the three of us the first night, but the second night after meeting up with some other friends that were staying with us it got a little crowded.
As for the sites of Stockholm on Saturday we took a tour of City Hall, rode a ferry over to another island and went through a ship museum which displayed a ship from the 1600's. It was fully intact and amazing to look at. On Sunday we spent the whole day at the Royal Palace. We saw the changing of the guards, the royal apartments, the armory, the oldest museum in Europe and a museum that gave us a peak at the foundation of the palace that dates back to 1288. Needless to say we learned a lot about Sweden's history which surprisingly didn't focus as much on wars with Denmark. All in all it was a fun weekend and now you know why getting to Stockholm was priceless. Oh and here are some pictures from the weekend and a short video from the changing of the guards.

Fredericksborg Castle

So, this last Sunday we took a break from working in studio to go on a tour of Frederickborg Castle which is about an hour outside of Copenhagen. It was well worth it. We started off with a drive along the Eastern coast heading north. It was beautiful. We then headed inland a little through some wood and field areas. As much as I love the city it was nice to get out of it for a while. When we got to the castle we walked through a very nice garden that gave spectacular views of the castle and other great buildings. We then met our guide in front of the main entrance of the castle. He proceeded to explain the history of the castle, which was rather fascinating. I learned many things about the history of Denmark, such as that it is the longest lasting state in the world. Inside the castle was amazing as well, we first went into the church which was a whole wing itself. Above the church is the Great Hall which is used for various events, mainly for large gatherings though as you can see from the size. We continued through the rest of the castle where there were a plethora of paintings, furniture and other artifacts. After we were done with the tour we headed back to the bust through a neat little town. All in all it was a very good day and a nice break from studio.