Sweden Day 2

Sweden day 2 was not as sweet as Sweden day 1...probably because we had to leave the beautiful countryside, cottage, and sauna. In Stockholm we had to stay in a hostel, which was actually not as bad as I thought it would be. First thing I did after getting my luggage to the room: find food! Next thing...More touring and sketching of course! 

Arkitektur-Museet

Sketch crazy!

The streets and canals of Stockholm

Look at these cutie patooties crossing a bridge!

I guess THEY say Stockholm is the Scandinavian Venice.

Sweden

One last free breakfast in the hotel in Oslo
On the bus
To an awesome little church to sketch
On the road to Sweden
Stop at Lars Larin Studio...I usually don't photograph art, but I couldn't resist this babe!!!


Lars Larin Studios

Miss my Casher boy!

Arrival in Sweden was so sweet! Being on a tour bus gets old and the countryside of Sweden was a great place to stretch out and relax. First thing we did after settling into our cute little cottage room: hit the sauna! AWWW!!! Amazing way to relax from all of the traveling, walking, touring, and school. The DIS group crammed as many people as we could into one sauna and took turns running back and forth to the lake to cool off. I'm a wimp so I only hit the lake once; it was chilly! No pics from this event. A new DIS policy. Here's part of the group at a nice sit down meal that was planned for us.

Lansmman's Garden

Good lookin crew? Hell ya!

Stu Stu Studio OOO

If you don't hear from me it's because I'm working in studio!

So effing tired of touring!

I have really honestly loved all of the places that have been scheduled for us to see on this study tour, but I am so tired of traveling in a group of forty people. Because my studio instructor was not on the trip I got to make my own schedule for the day. I hooked up with Ksana and went back to the Oslo Opera House to visit the building while not completely exhausted.

One of the theaters is housed in this wood structure.

Ksana and I on the marble steps at the Opera House.

We sketched for awhile and then walked to a plaza to people watch and enjoy coffee and treats! I felt that I deserved a nap on my free day so after sitting and chatting for awhile I went back to the hotel. I'm glad I got my rest because the next stop was a sculpture garden and then a house that both took FOREVER to walk to!!!

The grounds of this garden were gorgeous and the sculptures...well...you be the judge.

Villa Stenersen by Arne Korsmo 1939

This house was well worth the long walk!

LOVE the lil vestibule entry!

Here I am chillin at the house party!

Catching up on some reading.

Chillin on the upper deck with Kelso...she's just my size! 

Can you tell that I LOVE this house!?!?!?

After the house tour we caught the metro to get to a dinner spot planned by DIS; yes that means the meal was FREE!

George, myself, and Cory taking the metro...we're all super hungry!

After dinner we headed back to the hotel and had a couple drinks, in room 508 again, and then walked to a bar. WALKED FOREVER to get there! I got a beer and sat and chatted with a Swedish man who just moved to Norway. He is a non-fiction writer who had an interesting story to tell me. He had just been in the same bar the night before having a couple of drinks. He said he was there for awhile writing on his laptop. When he got up to leave a Norwegian man grabbed him by the neck and brought him to the ground saying that he was stealing someone's laptop bag.  Even though he was in the bar for awhile none of the bartenders who served him defended him or told the guy that the laptop was his! Messed up! I'm still not sure why he wanted to return to the same bar the next night, but I'm glad he did because he was WAY nicer than any Norwegian I have met so far!

He was so nice that he even took a pic with me so I could remember our lil chat!

Room 508

Our second day in Norway was just as busy as our first, but I was well rested so I was ready to soak everything in. No more walking dead for me! Before leaving on our tour bus we got FREE breakfast at our hotel. I am usually not that excited about free hotel breakfast, but prices in Oslo are even higher than in Copenhagen and I'm working with a budget. 


Our first stop was Hedmarksmuseet in Hamar, Norway. This is an archaeological site of medieval ruins that architect Sverre Fehn built a modern museum around so visitors can explore the site without doing any further damage. I did A LOT of sketching here! The connections and light in this place were so amazing! One of my favorite places so far.

Here's a picture of Mandi and I sketching. (Taken by the one and only Matthew Messner!)

The Connections...The Light!        COME ON!!!

We had a nice sit down lunch on DIS (FREE FOOD!!!) and then went back out to do more exploring and sketching on the site. I went into a large glass structure that housed the ruins of a cathedral. There were two Norwegian women who worked at the museum singing what sounded like hymns. The acoustics were so amazing! I was definitely in the right place and the right time!

Our next stop was the Holmenkollen Ski Jump. I would love to see someone actually do this jump because it is ridiculously high!

COME ON!!!!

We finished the night meeting in room 508 and having a couple of drinks before going out for dinner...and after dinner we had a night cap back in room 508!

Francie, Shawn, Kelsey, Mandi, Atalay, and Ashley. (There were about 10 other people crammed into this tiny room, but somehow they didn't make it in the photo)

Oslo, Norway

Last week at this time we were on our way to a study tour in Oslo, Norway and this week we are back in Copenhagen watching and reading the news of a bombing and shooting that took place in that area. We are hearing that the number of people who have lost their lives continues to rise, yesterday they were saying two and today 91. We know they have a Norwegian man in custody as a suspect for the shootings, so hopefully this will be the end of the attacks. A small group of DIS student were on a ferry to Oslo for the weekend when the attacks were occurring; it will be interesting to hear about their experience.

Check it out!

I know my photography leaves much to be desired so I would suggest checking out my fellow classmate's blog for professional pictures of the Copenhagen/ Olso/ Stockholm experience.

Visit the master's blog: Matthew Messner

Or check out his facebook pics (if strangers aren't blocked)

The Walking Dead

On Sunday morning we had breakfast on the ferry. Most of the group was hurting from the events of Saturday night, but there was no rest planned for the weary. As soon as the boat docked we got on the bus to get to our hotel in Oslo, Norway. When we got to the hotel we didn't even get a chance to put our luggage in our rooms; instead we put all of our luggage into one room and took off for a walking tour of the city. We walked to the new harbor front development in Oslo which was very nice, but obviously only planned for the middle to upper class population. Cute cafes dominated the ground floor of most buildings and large gorgeous lofts overlooked the harbor full of equally gorgeous yachts. After seeing how the upperclass live in Oslo we walked to the Nasjonal Museet of Arkitektur for lunch. 

Here I am waiting for lunch. (I'm not a zombie at this point)

Here's the yummy salmon salad that helped make me even more tired.

After lunch we toured the architecture museum; at this point I was truly a member of the walking dead. I could not focus or keep my eyes open and the day STILL wasn't over. After a couple of hours in the museum we walked to the Olso Opera House for the last tour of the day. This place is amazing! It's on the water's edge and is designed to emulate an iceberg. The wide planes of white marble that form the building's platform called me to rest. I laid down on the warm surface for awhile, but you know marble isn't ideal for napping on so I walked around exploring before our tour started. I was so thankful that our tour guide captivated me. She was a petite beautiful Norwegian woman with the most soothing voice and hand gestures. If I were rich I would hire her to tell me stories. As I said I was tired, but I didn't want to miss anything she had to say so I kept going!

I laid down on the large slab by the water.

When we finally made it back to the hotel I fell right to sleep without eating dinner or bathing! It felt SOOOOO great to finally stop walking around like a zombie!

Leaving for Norway

I woke up today at 11am!!! Brynda went for a run around the lakes by our flat and she saw the Copenhagen wake boarding team practicing for a competition, so I got up and ready to go super fast to go watch. The riders were being pulled by a zip line; it was pretty cool, but I didn't really get any good pictures. There was a yellow lab on shore that kept barking and following the riders along the zip line path. SO CUTE! It made me miss my Casher.

The only jump pic that I could get.

I was in serious need of a coffee and pastry, so we walked to a bakery in our neighborhood. I don't remember what this pastry was called, but it was SO tasty! 

This could get dangerous.

After my DELICIOUS breakfast I went home, packed my bags for Norway, and took a bus to catch another bus to catch the ferry. 

On the ferry! From left: Isaac, Bo (one of the professors), me, Mandi, Matthew, Steve, Kelesy, and Shawn.

The night we were on the ferry was super crazy. First, I switched rooms with another student so I could bunk with Brynda. The rooms were TINY and they slept four people, so knowing at least one of my bunk buddies was sort of a preference of mine. After I got settled in and ate dinner we realized there were five people in our room and the girl who switched rooms with me was not actually in THAT room. I know I am too nice at times, but I didn't want to make the girl I switched with move out of my assigned room so I had to search for a room with only three girls to find a bed. It all worked out in the end, but I was irritated. (partially my fault anyway for not double checking)

My first experience with a Norwegian did not end great. I have heard about negative interactions from others in the group and someone from a Swedish guy, so I guess people from Norway can just be rude. After hearing their stories I don't feel so bad for cussing the Norwegian guy out.

The night did get better. A group of other DIS students and I ended up hanging out on the boat deck all night and watching the sunrise, which was around 4am. I will post pictures of that experience later; only one person had their camera so I need to get the images from him.

My Summer Studio Project

Studio classes officially started this week!!! It looks like I ended up with the toughest studio professors and one of the larger projects, but so far things have been going well. We are being asked to design a kayak club on the canals of an area in Copenhagen called Christianshavn. Part of our research is to explore the Baltic canals via kayak. It was gorgeous on Wednesday, the day we were scheduled to go out, but because of the massive storm that hit the area last week the harbor was closed due to high levels of bacteria in the water. So, instead of going out on a beautiful sunny day we went out today, on a cold and rainy day! Me and many other females in the studio class were pretty nervous about the entire experience, especially when the first guy who got into a kayak tipped over and fell into the water. After getting into my kayak my nerves settled. We kayaked along the same path as the boat tour we took last week. It was just a lot more work (I'm already sore) and the perspective was more dynamic. We got to kayak under this building, the Royal Danish Playhouse.

After kayaking I went out to lunch with a girl from UC Berkeley and two girls from Taiwan. I love meeting and talking with people from all over the world! Speaking of all over the world...We leave for Sweden tomorrow, so after we ate lunch we went to the train station to exchange our currency from Danish kroner to Swedish kronor.

I really should have taken a picture of the meal my flatmates prepared tonight because it was AMAZING! Spaghetti, salad, garlic bread, and prosecco..the first FULL meal I've eaten in while!

Study Tour around Copenhagen

Grundtvigskirken

This MASSIVE church was built entirely out of brick between 1913 and 1940.  

The interior space of the church is gorgeous! I'm sure Sunday morning service here would be amazing!

Paustian

Our second stop was at Paustian furniture showroom by Jorn Utzon (same guy who designed the Sydney Opera House). This was my favorite interior space! Seriously, look at all that natural light! I sketched a quick section cut of the building and made a "future furniture" shopping list.

The bright furniture against the white surface materials looks so fresh and so clean!

Bagsvaerd Kirke

This church is also designed by Jorn Utzon. The man was a genius! The exterior of the church is very rectilinear and resembles a factory building, but as soon as you enter you see the very organic form of the interior sanctuary's ceiling curve overhead. It was a peaceful space to sit and sketch in.

Louisiana Museum

The title of this art instillation: Eyes. Ya right!

Crazy reflective space

I was SO tired from getting on and off the tour bus and walking around, so I laid in grass and enjoyed the shade (and a little bit of filtered sunlight).

My Commute

I try to walk to school most days, but because they have us so CRAZY busy all of the time I've been struggling with getting up in the morning so the bus is my second option. It's about a five minute ride and it's free!

Late night mom

Za (from UC Berkeley) Isaac and George came in at 1am smelling of beer and tequila. Za and Isaac are DIS student who live 2 flights down from me, but they forgot their key when they went out tonight so they'll be crashing in our living room. I made sure they had plenty of water and tylenol for the pain they'll feel later.

My flatmate presenting his team's project.

This is my flatmate George from Lebanon presenting his team's project. He doesn't pronounce his name with an accent, but I call him Hor- Hey any way. 

Project 1

For my first project I worked in a team with 3 other students. We had to research and build a model of what we found to be exemplary about the Stockholm Library in Sweden. The Library has a dark narrow passageway that ascends into this massive bright multi-storey rotunda lined with books. This is one of the first examples where the public could access books without the assistance of a librarian. We're going on a study tour in Sweden next week to visit this building and many others. Should be exciting to actually see it!

Project 1

We used free tabloid papers to represent the books that are stacked in the 360 degree rotunda.

Project 1

Our representation of the relief in the Library's entrance hall.

Project 1

Our completed site/ massing model of Asplund's Stockholm Library.

In studio working on Project 1

Shawn working on the section model of the Stockholm Library in Sweden by Gunnar Asplund.

In studio working on Project 1

This is my teammate Atalay working on the site/ massing model of the library.

I took this one for you sis!

My Team for Project 1

This is my team for the first project eating chinese food on the street! Mandi from San Clemente (amazing young lady), Atalay from Canada (amazing artist), and Shawn from Canada (he had the tunes). This was the best team I've ever done a project with as an architecture student.

DIS Mixer

We had a meet and greet night for school. This is me, my roommate Brynda and my flatmates from Puerto Rico Beatris and Heleda.  I have 6 flatmates total and one bathroom. So far so good!