Busy, Busy, Busy (just like Frosty says it)

These past two weeks have been busy ones!  Monday we had our first crit for studio, so last week was a rush to get our designs to a point then crank out drawings and all that jazz.  I was in the studio for almost ten hours on Monday for our nine hour crit... While it was exhausting, I was surprisingly engaged.  It was nice to see what the rest of the class had created and how each person's approach to relatively the same thing can be so different.  My crit went really well and I feel good about what I need to do next.  (We have been working on residential buildings around Checkpoint Charlie- see previous post for site pictures "Wie geht es dir?")

On Tuesday we had a field trip to one of Berlin's crematoriums.  This one is only about ten years old and functions also as a space for funerals and mourning ceremonies.

Crematorium by Axel Schultes and Charlotte Frank built at the end of the 90s.  Charlotte Frank met us there to show us around and speak with us.  It was really great to be able to hear about the building from the architect herself!

Chelsea and Shawn in the background.  This shows a bit of the monumentality of the building.

The main hall is filled with randomly spaced columns (although they are on a grid) that allow to larger and smaller gathering spaces in the hall so each person can mourn in a way that suits themselves.

The columns are attached to the ceiling by a small part in the lateral direction, as opposed to the ceiling just sitting on top of them.  This allows for southern light to come into the space.  It is also a good reminder that we don't have to do things a certain way just because that is how they have always been done.  The crematorium as a typology speaks to this, as well.  Why would we as architects want to leave this sort of space to be poorly designed by someone else when we can challenge the status quo and create something truly special?

I really enjoyed experiencing this building.  The spaces created by it are epic to say the least and do a wonderful job of creating a useable space with a positive response from the community given the connotations that surround this typology.

All the grave sites around the crematorium were so lushly decorated!  They were covered in ever green, dried fruits, colorful flowers, and even some pine cones and mushrooms!

On our way back from the field trip we all sat around this rather creepy looking suitcase.  A few minutes later one of us noticed that there was a "no suitcases" sticker (I'm guess it meant don't leave things unattended) right behind the suitcase! haha

Today were our two midterms and I am pleased to say that they are over and done with!  We really had no idea what to expect which led to some tension, but all in all I'm feeling pretty good.  German was ridiculously easy and only took about 12 minutes and history was not as bad as it could have been, I guess, but there really is no telling... we'll see how dear Jan grades. haha  But, the good, no awesomely exciting, news is that I am now free for 2 and a half weeks!  My next challenge is finding at least one pair of shoes to escort me on the coming two weeks of travel! Ah!  I'll let you know how it goes! :)

This Just In: I like coffee?

Ok, ok, I like froo-froo coffee with steamed milk and sugar!  Before I came to Europe I did not like coffee and really had no desire to start with it.  Not sure what switched, but I've had a latte and a cappuccino since then and this morning when I got to studio I was itching for another.  Now, I'm hoping this isn't an addiction yet, but I really like the culture surrounding coffee and today's cappuccino was thrilling!  I have yet to figure out, though, if the caffeine affects me...

It has been a crazy busy week as usual.  Last Thursday we took a little field trip to Onkel Tom's Hutte in former West Berlin.  The complex was designed by Bruno Taut (and a few others, but we focused on him).

This is our lovely instructor Jan who obviously loves Bruno Taut.

Following this chilly endeavor, my friend Chelsea and I decided to check out a food cart lot we had discovered the last week.  We opted for the Wareniki (pronounced va-Ren-eh-kee).  The are Russian (Russisch in German) dumplings and are mighty tasty!

This past weekend was our first overnight trip!  In Hamburg!  We left Friday morning and took the most beautiful and fancy train I have ever been on! The seats were great and the bathrooms had their own section separated by awesome Star-Trek-like magical automatic doors.  The whole thing was so sleek and wonderful and even at 229 km/h it was super quiet!  We got to Hamburg and checked into our first hostel!

My first experience in a hostel!  Woo!  It was so much nicer than I had thought and the breakfast was kind of the greatest thing ever!  German breakfasts are.  Warm, wonderful bread, meats, cheeses, yogurt, musli, yum!

Hafen City.  A new development along the harbor that will be built over the next 25 years. 

We took a tour of what had been completed and walked through what I will call the Starchitect district.  It was the weirdest thing- I felt like I was on the set of Inception the whole time!

That night I finally had some real German food!  This is the "Ham"burger I had in Hamburg, as well as quite possibly the best potatoes I have had in my life!!!  In case you want to dispute the legitimacy of my burger, I also had a bite of a Big Mac on Sunday... might have been my first ever.

Burgermeister!

We sought refuge from the hurricane in a church with possibly the most beautiful organ!  And, it was being played!  We spent a good amount of time here.  It was nice to take a break and listen to a nice concert and try to dry off.

We spent Saturday night wandering around trying to find this Scandinavian restaurant called Karlson's!  Much to our chagrin, it was just a lunch place and had already closed...  I'll just have to go to Sweden, I guess.

This was the crown jewel of the weekend!  The Fischmarkt!  There were all kinds of trucks selling fruits, vegetables, plants, fish, and baked goods, of course!  Chelsea and I saw and fell in love with the baskets in this truck and had to leave with one!  We used our broken German to negotiate and each left with a great Hamburg basket and a banana to boot!

Had a wurst!

The whole city was so beautiful and I finally saw more of the quintessential Europe!

Love it!

Sadly this picture doesn't showcase the wind or rain for the weekend... it was torrential!

And there it is!  The proof of my new coffee... thing. :)

Today my friend Heather and I went to visit the Topography of Terror, as we had to write a paper about it.  The museum contained all sorts of documentation from the Nazi Era and is set on the location of the old SS and Gestapo headquarters.  It really made me stop and think about where I am, the things that happened here, and what that means.  Really emotionally charged.

Ruins of the jail cells and SS offices.  People were often sent here prior to being sent to concentration camps.  Torture and executions were common here.

It is surreal to walk through these places and be confronted with such a strong history.

And to end on a slightly lighter note, I have included a picture of my most recent favorite thing: Milchreis.  Translated to Milk-Rice.  It is incredible!

I'll have to learn how to make this (meine Mutti told me how once) in case I can't find it in the US.

Wahltah Gropius!

Since last we spoke:

• My hair dryer exploded and forced me to buy a new one.
• My straightener freaked and burned a chunk out of my hair.
• I have quit using all electronic hair altering machines and have now been attempting to use my hair's ability to hold curl to my advantage.
• I ate blood orange yogurt.
• I received one of the biggest chocolate bars of my life!
• I acknowledged my love of blood oranges and the reality that it will therefore be hard to go back to the US!  (as with about everything else I have eaten!)
• I gained a new respect for German rules (see picture below)

Yes, that does say no crocks allowed on the escalator!  My kind of rule!

Last Thursday, we visited the Free University, Berlin to see Sir Norman Foster's library.

The "Rust Bucket" 

"Rust Bucket" and "Brain" - the library

I was so excited to see this library!  Back in the day, Erkin, my studio professor, showed it to me when we were designing our own!

Awesome!

Stair "core"

Had to prove I was there :)

This may be one of my favorite spaces I have ever been in!  Sir Norman Foster (the architect) described the library as striving to recreate the feeling of sitting under a tree with a good book on a cool summer day.  I think he achieved this nicely!

Friday, we took a day trip to Dessau (accent of the first syllable).  It was our first time really out of Berlin and it was nice to have almost two hours to just relax on the train and watch the world roll by.

Looks like home! ;)

We visited the UBA (German version of the EPA)

The whole building is designed with energy efficiency and "green"-ness in mind.  It requires only 30% of the energy it would take to run a normal office building of the same size!

I love that the Germans are not afraid of color!

View from above

Then on the Bauhaus!!!

Architectural Mecca!

It is so surreal to actually visit the places we have studied for years!

Sunset through the trees (reflected in a Gropius house)

My "Wahltah Gropius" pose!

On Sunday, I was super excited to finally make it to church!  It was such a welcome relief, although a bit different, as I had to have a translator.  A nice guy who studied in Australia sat behind me and translated into my ear the whole time!  I was excited, though, that I could pick out a few words I knew every once in a while.  Still, they speak so quickly it is hard to follow what I do know...  We sang mostly in English, too, which was exciting for me.  I recognized one of the songs sung in German so I got to pretend I knew what I was doing!  No better way to learn new words than to sing a chorus a few times!  I think I would learn a lot faster if we sang everything!