Bienvenue à Paris!

Paris One | Notre Dame de Paris

After a rather interesting experience boarding the Easy Jet flight from Berlin, our small group arrived in Paris at dusk.  We were delightfully surprised to realize that our hostel was only blocks away from Notre Dame de Paris and many other Parisian delights.  In a haze from the days travels, we made our way to the cathedral.  Up to this point I had only imagined what Paris would be like, and was all at once in love with its romantic beauty.  My first encounter with the Paris of my imagination was one of the most iconic and breathtaking structures on Earth, and I couldn't have asked for a better introduction.     

This House

Berlin Six | Auf Wiedersehen

Here are the last few offerings of photo documentation from Berlin.  The city was abound with facades of every color and political proclamation, including the declaration above which translates to "This House Previously Stood in a Different Country", referencing the Berlin Wall.  Other punctuations in the facade narrative were not so politically charged and made statements through color and mural.  However, an old squat tenement found in former East Berlin had the words "Soldiers are Murderers" emblazoned on its facade, only steps away from a military cemetery.  Even buildings that are charged with such history as the Reichstag have taken on a new persona.  Once used for propaganda purposes in World War II, Germany's parliament building now emphasizes the transparency of government and accessibility to its people by means of Sir Norman Foster's glass dome addition.  Whether transparency in the parliamentary government is actually true is yet to be determined...  

Until next time, auf wiedersehen Berlin!

In Memoriam

Berlin Five | Eisenman + Libeskind

The following images are of The Holocaust Memorial (Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe) by Peter Eisenman and The Jewish Museum of Berlin by Daniel Libeskind.  Eisenman's project employs a field of concrete columns at different heights across an undulating ground condition to create a haunting labyrinth in which one is completely consumed by the columnar landscape.  Libeskind's museum, on the other hand, uses a serpentine building with pierced "voids" to articulate the emotion and experience of the Jewish people.  Neither space can be summed in words or images, but rather is an experience one must have.  Acknowledging the tension between Berlin's, and Europe's, violent past and hopeful future, the memorials convey different articulations of the Jewish experience through an architectural language.

Hamburger Bahnhof

Berlin Four | Museum für Gegenwart

Here, I believe, the images can mostly speak for themselves.  Above is from instillation db by Ryoji Ikeda.  In a stark white room, prints of pi are hung on the walls, as a speaker emits a high toned sound.  Images alone are not able to capture the experience of the space, but the clean, simple arrangements of objects in the room are only complimented by the monotone ring that accompanies them.  The following images are of miniature light models that were only accessable through openings in a wall.  

click through for more photos.  

A House for All

Berlin Two | Nordic Embassies

Designed by Alfred Berger and Tiina Parkkinen, the Felleshus/Pan Nordic Building was completed in 1999 and houses the embassies of Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland, and Sweden.  Felleshus in Danish translates to a house for all, apropos for a building harmoniously connecting the delegations of the Nordic region.  The embassies' spatial arrangement is consistent with their geographical positions, all of which are contained within the serpentine copper wall which surrounds them.  The entrance facade of the building is a composition of maple and glass, which opens to reveal an interior of concrete and glass details.  The Nordic Embassies are are a rich space of texture and light, and among the more intriguing spaces to explore in Berlin.

Click through for more photographs of the Pan Nordic Building.

Interbau '57

Berlin One  | Hansaviertel IBA '57

Boldly responding to the socialist developments of the GDR and East Germany, West Germany celebrated democracy and modernity through the International Building Exhibition Interbau.  Opening July, 1957, the IBA brought together world renowned architects for housing in the Hansaviertel neighborhood; which was nearly destroyed during World War II.  With designs from Oscar Niemeyer (above), Fritz Jaenecke and Sten Samuelson, Alvar Aalto, and more; Hansaviertel became a destination for over one million visitors.  With a chairlift meandering through the projects, the IBA was a spectacle of the modernization of the west.  

More photos of the Oscar Niemeyer project after the break, as well as projects by Jaenecke, Samuelson, and Aalto.

Architecture Austria

Wagner and Loos and Olbrich, oh my!  Vienna has been home to some of the world's most influential architects and, in addition, some of the most influential architecture.  Here we have a visual offering of several examples including the Postal Savings Bank by Otto Wagner; the Goldman and Salatsch Building by Adolf Loos; and the Secession Building by Joseph Maria Olbrich.  While refraining from becoming a weepy architecture nerd, it was incredible to be able to visit and experience buildings that we have been studying for so many years.  On that note, click through to see more photos of Vienna's amazing architecture.

Five Minutes and an Egg

This little piggy went to market... in Europe!  My very first trip across the pond and destination one was Vienna, Austria.  Sent overseas to research Berlin for our spring architecture studio, I was able to visit Austria, Germany, and France during a two week manic sight seeing expedition.  This first set of documented experiences follows adventures in Viennese food and represent the small amount of photo editing I have been able to do at the end of this semester.  Starting with the breakfast above which is known as 5 minutes (the toast) paired with a boiled egg and grapefruit half, through a small street market, where there were far too many tasty looking treats.  Click through for photos, with more adventures from Europa to come soon.