I think I'll go with LANDSKAB...

This past Wednesday evening the international students went to the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Louisiana, Denmark. The museum exhibitions included original works of Andy Warhol, photographs and stories from the French female artist Sophie Calle, and many other traditional and modern Danish works of art (http://www.louisiana.dk/dk.) I really enjoyed Calle’s work, which focused on the idea of people, time and space. Her subjects were often not aware that she was essentially stalking them to document their life. The photographs were extremely interesting in terms of how unique each of us carry on with everyday activities, without ever knowing or realizing the simplest of our actions. I also appreciated the abstract and aggressive paintings of Asger Jorn, a Danish painter who is famous for his painting, Dead Drunken Danes. The best part of the Museum was its extension to the outdoor Sculpture Garden which provided beautiful views across the ocean over to Sweden.


Thursday morning Department 1 had critiques for our first project, a short introduction exercise to get us thinking and experimenting for the semester. The department continually stresses to think outside of the box and to be everything but modest, and as one of the professors said it best, “Give loss to your longings.” I can already tell it will be a great semester to push the limits and explore the profession - through media and conceptual design. After the day of discussion, I went to a lecture about Copenhagen’s urban design history and then went to the bike (cykel) shop because my chain had broken early that day. All is fixed, and I am off again biking through and exploring the city! The evening concluded with a dinner hosted by Department 1, during which I had the opportunity to meet more Danes within my department, eat some more interesting Danish food, and drink some more Danish beer.

At the critique Torsdag morning - after we put all our proposals together.

Some of the great classroom and working spaces at the Academy.

Good discussion during Department 1 dinner at the school.

Today we met at the school to discuss which sector of the Department we will be following this semester. Within Department 1, you can choose between three different scales and scope of work. Urban and city planning, smaller architectural design within the city context, and landscape. I have chosen to follow the “landskab” tract, which will focus more on reestablishing and re-identifying the landscape in the city context of Copenhagen.

The Department has scheduled many study trips this semester, the first one being this Sunday to Malmö, Sweden. During September 20-21, we will be back again in Sweden participating in a landscape architecture workshop with landscape architects and city planners from the United States, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. At the end of September those following the Landskab tract will do a three-day tour of Denmark, and in early October there will be a study trip to Venice, Italy.

I am really looking forward to these experiences ahead of me…