01 November 2010

Excerpt from my sketchbook…

14 Oktober 2010, 14:21

“…writing from the 12th International Architecture Biennale in Venice, Italy. The people, the food, and the culture are extremely different from Copenhagen, and the experience so far varies drastically from my past weekend in Oslo, Norway. The weekend with Jesper (from Sweden), Nick (from the UK), and Simon (from the UK) was simply epic. The Pearl of Scandinavia delivered us to the beautiful sight of the Opera House after a 15-hour journey. The ferry was fully equipped with bars, a steakhouse, nightclubs, and a KidZone, all of which we enjoyed thoroughly. Our night was beautifully-collegiate. Beer, beer, and more beer. There was a convenience store on the ferry, so we pick up multiple “slabs” of Carlsberg (pridefully brewed in Copenhagen). We enjoyed many a good rounds of drinking games, which led to a rough next morning. My dismay turned around when I pondered upon a local butcher. The store was immaculate in terms of its vernacular quality. The smell of meat, the cheeses, the wines…everything was exceptionally Nordic. I asked the owner if a book had been written about his establishment, and he said, “You should write it.” He could sense I enjoyed the history, tradition, and quality of his products. I purchased some reindeer sticks and my day was made. It’s the little things I guess. Greatness. We hit up the architecture museum for a quick browse (as I think we all were more interested in the books at the museum bookstore than the actual exhibit itself), and then headed to the Oslo Opera House for a good 4-5 hours of architectural observation. So many elements of design present, I could hardly begin to discuss to give it justice. That evening we ended up going to the Oslo Ice Bar, found a nice place for dinner, and eventually pondered into what we taught was a young, hipster bar. About 10-15 minutes in we realized the woman were a little too aggressive and battled us many times for getting serve first at the bar. We thought we could use our male charm to get drinks from the female bartenders…but then we realized we were in a lesbian nightclub. The next day we ventured up to the Holmenkollen Ski Jump, which is where the Nordic World Ski Championships are held each year. This structure defied any structure permitted to be built in the United States. We headed back the hostel in time to board the ferry and return to Copenhagen. The returning ferry ride was more tame in nature than our first experience getting to Oslo. We all enjoyed the sunset and wrapped up the weekend by sketching in our sketchbooks. The colors of the sunset highlighted the Norwegian Fjords and was an amazing way to conclude an excellent weekend with good food, good architecture, and good new friends…”

Watch the video of my weekend in Oslo @:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2YJmZfNKIQ.



1 comment:

  1. Love the ice bar scene. On the plaza observation, would be interesting if you added lines of movement through space so there is a lapse of movement through space over time.

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