Anyway...here are some images...
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Live from Dessau -- Episode 10
YAY!!!! I just finished all of the boards for our final presentation tomorrow and it is such a relief. I wanted to post them on here so that everyone could see what I have been working on so diligently for the last couple days. This post won't be long cause I slept on the studio floor for 2 hours last night so that I wouldn't miss a 10 o'clock test....sigh, the life of an architecture student!
Anyway...here are some images...
Anyway...here are some images...
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Live from Dessau -- Episode 9
So I have a really busy couple of days coming up. Finals week approaches and we only have three days of class let to finish our projects and get our models built. I have a paper in history due on Monday as well as the soapstone sculpture that I have been working on. Anyone that likes working with their hands should try soapstone carving as a hobby. The stone is very soft and can be manipulated with simple wood carving tools, but it gives a look and feel that is very unique. My cube sculpture is almost complete; I think a few more hours should do the trick.
I don't have any new photos to most (cause I have been in studio), but I did want to link a couple of websites that are always very influential to me. My two favorite architecture offices are BIG and UNStudio.
Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) is headquartered in Copenhagen and it was a visiting lecture by Bjarke Ingles himself to UK that really made me believe in architecture. Go to the website and look at all of the different projects and presentations that they put together, you won't regret it.
UNStudio is in Amsterdam and I will be lucky enough to visit the studio at the end of my program in Dessau. My studio professor from last semester worked for the firm for 13 months before coming to UK and his teaching style and architectural theory is larger influenced by their practice...and in turn it has largely influenced my young architectural mind.
Check out both of these sites to see what I love about design!
I don't have any new photos to most (cause I have been in studio), but I did want to link a couple of websites that are always very influential to me. My two favorite architecture offices are BIG and UNStudio.
Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) is headquartered in Copenhagen and it was a visiting lecture by Bjarke Ingles himself to UK that really made me believe in architecture. Go to the website and look at all of the different projects and presentations that they put together, you won't regret it.
UNStudio is in Amsterdam and I will be lucky enough to visit the studio at the end of my program in Dessau. My studio professor from last semester worked for the firm for 13 months before coming to UK and his teaching style and architectural theory is larger influenced by their practice...and in turn it has largely influenced my young architectural mind.
Check out both of these sites to see what I love about design!
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Live From Dessau -- Episode 8
It has been a long time since my last post, but there has been a lot of work going on and little time for blogging. Our final review is less than two weeks away so our weeks have not been very eventful, other than studio work. One of the days a few of us went to the Hugo Junkers technical museum to try to get a little more perspective on the culture in Dessau when the Junkers factories were still running. They had full-size planes
This Friday we went to Weimar to visit the original Bauhaus site. It was cool to see the place where the Bauhaus movement actually started and to see work spaces where Walter Gropius worked and Oscar Schlemmer painted.
After touring the Bauhaus area, we walked through a garden in the city and saw a house that was designed by Walter Gropius. It was a home for a family with 2-3 children and still had original Gropius handles on the doors and original woodwork inside. The living room was located at the center and was awarded the most space in order to focus on creating community within the family.
In order to get a little history in our excursion, we headed to Buchenwald Concentration Camp . It was a very humbling experience, and one that really makes me appreciate the time and area in which I live. I'll take this opportunity to thank everyone again for all you've done to make this trip possible!!
This Friday we went to Weimar to visit the original Bauhaus site. It was cool to see the place where the Bauhaus movement actually started and to see work spaces where Walter Gropius worked and Oscar Schlemmer painted.
After touring the Bauhaus area, we walked through a garden in the city and saw a house that was designed by Walter Gropius. It was a home for a family with 2-3 children and still had original Gropius handles on the doors and original woodwork inside. The living room was located at the center and was awarded the most space in order to focus on creating community within the family.
In order to get a little history in our excursion, we headed to Buchenwald Concentration Camp . It was a very humbling experience, and one that really makes me appreciate the time and area in which I live. I'll take this opportunity to thank everyone again for all you've done to make this trip possible!!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Live From Dessau -- Episode 7
Alright! As I promise, there are a ton of pictures to be shared from the weekend in Munich and this week.
So Friday during the day our class went to Berlin to meet with Prof. Omar Akbar and tour the city. Prof. Akbar is our Architecture and Society professor and he wanted to show us the different urban developments in Berlin. It was a good trip, and my third time in Berlin since we have been here. The UK group hopped on a train at 4 headed for Munich. It was a six hour train ride, but the dining car and comfy seats made it pretty tolerable (I had always wanted to eat dinner on a train riding through a countryside). The scenery was amazing, like something out of a movie (Sound of Music maybe..). We passed numerous castles and small villages, it was so relaxing after a hectic bike ride through Berlin that morning.
We got to Munich around 10:30 and made it to the hostel at 11:00. Lauren Davis and Lauren Early (arch. students from UK that are studying in Florence, Italy) were waiting for our group in the lobby of the hostel and we all rushed over to say hello. We checked into our room and then headed out for a late bite to eat and to catch up with our fellow travelers. We shared stories from Germany as they told us about visiting Rome and Pisa; what a great opportunity we have all been blessed with!
Saturday morning we all got up kind of early and hit the city. We walked around for a total of 6 hours and got to see a lot. My favorite part of the day was when we stumbled upon a little festival in one of the courtyards of the city. There were children of all different ages performing traditional German dances and groups of people watching and clapping, it was just a really good time. It made me feel like I had really arrived in the heart of German culture!
Afterwards we went to and architecture and design museum, which was fantastic. The Pinakothek Musuem housed exhibitions of architecture, art, design, and works on paper.
It was nice to walk through a museum and really get a glimpse into the minds of designers around the world, but even better to know that I was part of the same conversation.
One of the coolest displays showed soccer stadiums from around the world and had tiny models of each. This is a picture of one of my favorites.
Saturday evening we went to the world famous Hofbrauhaus beer-garden. The site dates back to 1589 and over 4 million people visit each year. This is also where we watched the USA-England soccer match, which was a lot of fun.
There was a huge group of people out on the patio and the restaurant had set up a large projector and screen for people to watch the game on. Surprisingly, there was a significant American presence on the patio, which made the atmosphere that much better. We tied, which for us seemed like a win, and everyone was really excited.
The trip back on Sunday was a little longer...like 8 hours. Luckily I slept for a majority of the time, only waking up to change trains. Between Sunday and Thursday, studio week took up most of my time. Thursday evening a large group of us met up with some German students that have graciously befriended us and had a cookout. It was a nice way to wrap up a hard week of work.
In about 45 minutes we are going to watch Germany's second world cup game, which is conveniently followed by USA's second game...so I have a full day of watching soccer ahead of me!
So Friday during the day our class went to Berlin to meet with Prof. Omar Akbar and tour the city. Prof. Akbar is our Architecture and Society professor and he wanted to show us the different urban developments in Berlin. It was a good trip, and my third time in Berlin since we have been here. The UK group hopped on a train at 4 headed for Munich. It was a six hour train ride, but the dining car and comfy seats made it pretty tolerable (I had always wanted to eat dinner on a train riding through a countryside). The scenery was amazing, like something out of a movie (Sound of Music maybe..). We passed numerous castles and small villages, it was so relaxing after a hectic bike ride through Berlin that morning.
We got to Munich around 10:30 and made it to the hostel at 11:00. Lauren Davis and Lauren Early (arch. students from UK that are studying in Florence, Italy) were waiting for our group in the lobby of the hostel and we all rushed over to say hello. We checked into our room and then headed out for a late bite to eat and to catch up with our fellow travelers. We shared stories from Germany as they told us about visiting Rome and Pisa; what a great opportunity we have all been blessed with!
Saturday morning we all got up kind of early and hit the city. We walked around for a total of 6 hours and got to see a lot. My favorite part of the day was when we stumbled upon a little festival in one of the courtyards of the city. There were children of all different ages performing traditional German dances and groups of people watching and clapping, it was just a really good time. It made me feel like I had really arrived in the heart of German culture!
Afterwards we went to and architecture and design museum, which was fantastic. The Pinakothek Musuem housed exhibitions of architecture, art, design, and works on paper.
It was nice to walk through a museum and really get a glimpse into the minds of designers around the world, but even better to know that I was part of the same conversation.
One of the coolest displays showed soccer stadiums from around the world and had tiny models of each. This is a picture of one of my favorites.
Saturday evening we went to the world famous Hofbrauhaus beer-garden. The site dates back to 1589 and over 4 million people visit each year. This is also where we watched the USA-England soccer match, which was a lot of fun.
There was a huge group of people out on the patio and the restaurant had set up a large projector and screen for people to watch the game on. Surprisingly, there was a significant American presence on the patio, which made the atmosphere that much better. We tied, which for us seemed like a win, and everyone was really excited.
The trip back on Sunday was a little longer...like 8 hours. Luckily I slept for a majority of the time, only waking up to change trains. Between Sunday and Thursday, studio week took up most of my time. Thursday evening a large group of us met up with some German students that have graciously befriended us and had a cookout. It was a nice way to wrap up a hard week of work.
In about 45 minutes we are going to watch Germany's second world cup game, which is conveniently followed by USA's second game...so I have a full day of watching soccer ahead of me!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Live from Dessau - Episode 6
It is the middle of the fourth week of class at the Bauhaus and time seems like it is flying by. It has gotten hot in the city of Dessau!! It is a pleasant change from the rainy and cold weather that we had been having for the first three weeks. On Sunday we went down to the Elbe River and sat out in the sun and read, listened to music, etc. It was a great time. Monday started with some rain clouds, but we quickly chased them away and this entire week has been beautiful. Well that is really all that has happened this week, our big trip to Munich is on Friday so I will have plenty of pictures and stories to share at the beginning of next week. For now...random photos of Brian!!!
This is me sitting on stairs done by Rem Koolhaas and OMA, really cool!
Don and I looking at something interesting...I'm pretty sure it was just a street sign.
Just my face...
Don, me, and Jenna waiting for a tour to start at Zollverien
Jenna, Don, me, and Cody waiting for our tour at the Neues Museum.
This is me sitting on stairs done by Rem Koolhaas and OMA, really cool!
Don and I looking at something interesting...I'm pretty sure it was just a street sign.
Just my face...
Don, me, and Jenna waiting for a tour to start at Zollverien
Jenna, Don, me, and Cody waiting for our tour at the Neues Museum.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Live from Dessau - Episode 5
So I know that it has been a really long time since my last post, but that is because we have been traveling a lot with the school and doing a lot of work (we had a review on Tuesday and then left for Essen early Wednesday morning and just got back today..)
So lets begin...
Last weekend our group went to Berlin for a weekend of fun and sight-seeing. The train took about two hours and I got a lot of reading done (I am currently 3/4 of my way through The Fountainhead) and found some time to sleep too. We got off on the wrong stop in Berlin and walked for a good while until we found our hostel. It was my second time in Berlin in as many weeks and so instead of heading straight for a bratwurst stand, I went to a Mexican restaurant that I had wanted to try the first time and hadn't gotten the chance(I miss Clamato's in Lexington). After dinner, our group walked around the city for a while and then it was time to hit the hay. Saturday morning we got up and went to the Neues Museum for an Egyptian exhibit that included the bust of Queen Nefertiti!
Lunch followed, and this time I took full advantage of a bratwurst/crepes cart located outside the museum. Crepes may be the best thing in the world...A thin pancake filled with, in this case, Nutella and bananas...they are awesome!! Several groups split off and went to other sites in the city, but then we met back at the hostel at 6 to get ready for dinner. Cody and Marge had met a couple of Germans that were in Berlin for a bike race on Sunday so they joined our motley crew Saturday evening for a meal at the Sony Center. They invited us to come cheer them on during the race, but when Sunday morning rolled around, we found ourselves a little too tired and very ready to get back to our temporary home in Dessau. This is a picture inside the Sony Center:
Because we took the weekend off for some fun, everyone had to get back to work on Monday in order to prepare for a preliminary review of our concepts for the summer project on Tuesday morning. All of the Kentucky students represented the university very well in this initial phase reviewing our program concepts (what the space will be used for) and basic design concepts. Tuesday evening I went to see Prince of Persia at the movie theater (finally..), but it was not nearly as good as Robin Hood. It was, however, a nice way to relax after a couple days of work.
Wednesday morning we had to meet at 7:30 to get on a bus headed for Essen. I was pretty much asleep for the entire trip, except during our 30 minute lunch stop. I hopped back on the bus, passed out again, and woke up in Germany's culture capital for 2010: Essen. We started our tours immediately. The first site was a large park and office complex that is being constructed on the west side of the city. Previously, it had been a large factory for coal mining and producing steel, one of the largest factories in the world. The picture below is of the new headquarters of the steel company.
The next day we went to another coal mining site outside of Essen. Zollverein is a beautiful site and is currently being used as a center for culture and events. For example, instead of miners and factory workers, the spaces are filled with cafe areas, musical performances, and museums. This is an image of one of the main shafts on the site.
On Friday, we went to an academy for learning and research in Herne. It is a remarkable set of structures within an enclosing envelope and one of the most sustainable buildings in Germany.
The enclosure was a wood frame with glass paneling. Instead of using shading techniques to limit direct sunlight and glare on the interior, photovoltaic panels were used to both texture the glass and provide shade.
Our final stop on the way back to Dessau was at a factory built in 1911 by Walter Gropius (former director of the Bauhaus) It was the first building that Gropius completed on his own and is still running to this day.
We got back to Dessau around 7:30 pm on Friday...
At 10:30 pm on Friday I was back on a train! This one headed for Leipzig to celebrate Ainsley's birthday in the city with a couple other UK students. We all stayed in a hostel near the train station and then went shopping on Saturday. It was a nice way to cap off the weekend, but I was definitely ready to get home for a shower and some rest and relaxation. Now we are all sitting in our studio room chatting and facebooking with friends and family from home, and exhaustion is definitely hanging in the air. I think I am going to head back to the apartment and read a little before heading to bed. Hopefully the blog will be more consistent from now on. This week will be a little slow until Friday when our class is heading back to Berlin (yay!!) and then our UK group is going to Munich to meet up with some UK girls that are studying in Florence, Italy (but traveling in Germany that weekend). I am really excited for the trip and will have some more pictures and stuff to share.
Goodnight everyone!!
and here are some other pics from the trip..
Herne
Herne again...
Zollverein
Berlin
Berlin again...
So lets begin...
Last weekend our group went to Berlin for a weekend of fun and sight-seeing. The train took about two hours and I got a lot of reading done (I am currently 3/4 of my way through The Fountainhead) and found some time to sleep too. We got off on the wrong stop in Berlin and walked for a good while until we found our hostel. It was my second time in Berlin in as many weeks and so instead of heading straight for a bratwurst stand, I went to a Mexican restaurant that I had wanted to try the first time and hadn't gotten the chance(I miss Clamato's in Lexington). After dinner, our group walked around the city for a while and then it was time to hit the hay. Saturday morning we got up and went to the Neues Museum for an Egyptian exhibit that included the bust of Queen Nefertiti!
Lunch followed, and this time I took full advantage of a bratwurst/crepes cart located outside the museum. Crepes may be the best thing in the world...A thin pancake filled with, in this case, Nutella and bananas...they are awesome!! Several groups split off and went to other sites in the city, but then we met back at the hostel at 6 to get ready for dinner. Cody and Marge had met a couple of Germans that were in Berlin for a bike race on Sunday so they joined our motley crew Saturday evening for a meal at the Sony Center. They invited us to come cheer them on during the race, but when Sunday morning rolled around, we found ourselves a little too tired and very ready to get back to our temporary home in Dessau. This is a picture inside the Sony Center:
Because we took the weekend off for some fun, everyone had to get back to work on Monday in order to prepare for a preliminary review of our concepts for the summer project on Tuesday morning. All of the Kentucky students represented the university very well in this initial phase reviewing our program concepts (what the space will be used for) and basic design concepts. Tuesday evening I went to see Prince of Persia at the movie theater (finally..), but it was not nearly as good as Robin Hood. It was, however, a nice way to relax after a couple days of work.
Wednesday morning we had to meet at 7:30 to get on a bus headed for Essen. I was pretty much asleep for the entire trip, except during our 30 minute lunch stop. I hopped back on the bus, passed out again, and woke up in Germany's culture capital for 2010: Essen. We started our tours immediately. The first site was a large park and office complex that is being constructed on the west side of the city. Previously, it had been a large factory for coal mining and producing steel, one of the largest factories in the world. The picture below is of the new headquarters of the steel company.
The next day we went to another coal mining site outside of Essen. Zollverein is a beautiful site and is currently being used as a center for culture and events. For example, instead of miners and factory workers, the spaces are filled with cafe areas, musical performances, and museums. This is an image of one of the main shafts on the site.
On Friday, we went to an academy for learning and research in Herne. It is a remarkable set of structures within an enclosing envelope and one of the most sustainable buildings in Germany.
The enclosure was a wood frame with glass paneling. Instead of using shading techniques to limit direct sunlight and glare on the interior, photovoltaic panels were used to both texture the glass and provide shade.
Our final stop on the way back to Dessau was at a factory built in 1911 by Walter Gropius (former director of the Bauhaus) It was the first building that Gropius completed on his own and is still running to this day.
We got back to Dessau around 7:30 pm on Friday...
At 10:30 pm on Friday I was back on a train! This one headed for Leipzig to celebrate Ainsley's birthday in the city with a couple other UK students. We all stayed in a hostel near the train station and then went shopping on Saturday. It was a nice way to cap off the weekend, but I was definitely ready to get home for a shower and some rest and relaxation. Now we are all sitting in our studio room chatting and facebooking with friends and family from home, and exhaustion is definitely hanging in the air. I think I am going to head back to the apartment and read a little before heading to bed. Hopefully the blog will be more consistent from now on. This week will be a little slow until Friday when our class is heading back to Berlin (yay!!) and then our UK group is going to Munich to meet up with some UK girls that are studying in Florence, Italy (but traveling in Germany that weekend). I am really excited for the trip and will have some more pictures and stuff to share.
Goodnight everyone!!
and here are some other pics from the trip..
Herne
Herne again...
Zollverein
Berlin
Berlin again...
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Live from Dessau - Episode 4
Our first week went by in a blur and the second week is already half over! I cannot believe how quickly the time seems to move here. Our project is going to be really fun and really challenging for an eight week session. We are responsible for the maintenance and restoration of a large building complex that was severely damaged during the second World War. Hugo Junkers used the site to construct metal air crafts and he is an icon in the field of aviation. There are two significant structures on the site, the daylight hanger and the lamella hanger. The lamella hanger is significant because of the method of construction. It was built entirely from parts that Junkers used in his aircraft manufacturing and has a completely open floor plan because of the material system.
This is one of the hangers on the site...
This is my friend Ainsley at the site...
This is the other hanger that we will be restoring.
Okay now for a quick note on recreation in Dessau. One of the most fun things that I have done here is seeing a movie at the theater in German. Some friends and I went to see the new Robin Hood movie and it was completely in German with NO SUB-TITLES!! I understood maybe 5% of what was being said, but really enjoyed being in the theater trying to figure out the dialogue. I am planning on seeing more movies while I am here...I think next up is Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. (Action movies are easiest to watch because everyone can pretty much understand what is going on.)
In a few minutes I will be hopping on a train to go to a small conference for the program. There is a lecturer from Harvard there so hopefully I will not have to listen to the lecture via a translator like I have so many times already :).
Our first German language class was today and it was a lot of fun, so hopefully in another couple of weeks I can start blogging in German and English!
Sorry for the choppiness of this post, but getting acclimated has taken a little longer than I thought. So many thoughts are memories running through my mind from just the first week and a half, its hard to narrow then down and know what to type.
I hope that everyone is enjoying the blog and I will do my best to post pictures later this evening!
tschüs!!!
This is one of the hangers on the site...
This is my friend Ainsley at the site...
This is the other hanger that we will be restoring.
Okay now for a quick note on recreation in Dessau. One of the most fun things that I have done here is seeing a movie at the theater in German. Some friends and I went to see the new Robin Hood movie and it was completely in German with NO SUB-TITLES!! I understood maybe 5% of what was being said, but really enjoyed being in the theater trying to figure out the dialogue. I am planning on seeing more movies while I am here...I think next up is Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. (Action movies are easiest to watch because everyone can pretty much understand what is going on.)
In a few minutes I will be hopping on a train to go to a small conference for the program. There is a lecturer from Harvard there so hopefully I will not have to listen to the lecture via a translator like I have so many times already :).
Our first German language class was today and it was a lot of fun, so hopefully in another couple of weeks I can start blogging in German and English!
Sorry for the choppiness of this post, but getting acclimated has taken a little longer than I thought. So many thoughts are memories running through my mind from just the first week and a half, its hard to narrow then down and know what to type.
I hope that everyone is enjoying the blog and I will do my best to post pictures later this evening!
tschüs!!!
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