WILFRED TRUMAN SHAVER SCHOLARSHIP 2002
S C H O O L O F A R C H I T E C T UR E
M C G I L L U N I V E R S I T Y
Metro station. Stockholm. Photo © RLC
SCANDINAVIA: ARCHITECTURAL LANDSCAPES
DENMARK, SWEDEN, FINLAND
TOUR JOURNAL
Tuesday, 21 May. Arrival to Copenhagen, A.M. We arrived as planned without any major incidents. The hostel is about a fast train rain south of Copenhagen. The first day of activities consisted of getting some food, picnicking since the weather was splendid...and then sleep for some 12 hours.
Wednesday, 22 May. Early breakfast and train ride to town as planned. We started with the famous mermaid and made our way back walking through the ramparts of Kastellet, then to Marble Church and Amelienborg, then the Nyhavn followed by the second picnick at the Royal Garden after which we visited Rosenborg, crossed downtown--saw Botero's monumental sculpures currently on display at Amargetorv- and rached the Glyptotek with only fourteen minutes to see the whole museum. We will return tomorrow or day after tomorrow. We had, however a chance to visit for one hour The National Museum. One of the architectural highlights of the afternoon was the visit to the Roundtower. We climbed the ramp that takes the visitor to the top of this observatory from which the panorama of the city is unequaled. Return to the hostel was efficient after a short visit to a Pizza Hut with prices that turned out to be a little exaggerated. More tomorrow
Wednesdayday, 22 May. Today's activities in Copenhagen included a visit to the Glyptotech, a wonderful building filled with some extraordinary collections ranging fom antiquity to the Impressionists. After the Museum, we spent one hour at the Danish Design Center, which is featuring an exhibition on Arno Jacobsen as well a very exciting show on Japanese designers. We also picked up the two station wagons in Malmo. Right now we are preparing ourselves for a b-b-q at the hotel that will be followed by an evening visit to Arken, the Gallery of Modern Art currently featuring the work of Colombian Artist Fernando Botero
Friday, 24 May. Yesterday, Thursday the 23rd, we had the opportunity of visiting the Royalæ Academy School of Architecture located in the former shipyards of the Danish Navy. The visit connducted by Prof. Bak was informative and gave us the opportunity of witnessing architectural students in this corner of the world totally involved in their design projects. They still have one and a half months to go. The visit to the School of Architecture was followed by a short stop at Cristania, the independent community located in the vicinity. We also visited the Church of the Saviour, the first Church erected by the Royal Aristocracy in the 16th C (To be verified). In the afternoon, we went to Malmo, where we visited the Eastern Cemetery by Sigurd Lewerentz (interventions between 1917 and 1969) and Mälmo's new Library by Larson. Arken had to be postponed for today. Here we are, visiting this Museum housed in a rather interesting new building, where Botero's work has been effectively displayed. A very impressive exhibition on all accounts. We will continue to Roskilde later on to visit the Viking Museum and then to Baegsvard to visit J. Utzon's famous church. We anticipate arriving to Helsingor in the late afternoon. There, we will establish our headquarter until Monday when our Sweden tour will officially begin.
Monday, 26 May. The various plans outlined above were carried without much problem during the past two days. J.;Utzon's work was a total revelation in real lif; as they say in French: chapeau. Yesterday, Sunday, was extraodinary on all counts, weather and site. The Louisiana Museum, south of Helsingor, must be one of the most extraodinary plays of architecture and landscape. Its collection of modern arts is superb. The adjectives lack: a true weeping place, and I must admit that couple of tears dropped as I walked through this magic landcape where the works of Serra alternate with Picasso's, Giacometti's, Shapiro's, DeBuffet's, Calder's, Miro's, and Moore's among many others.
We left Denmark this morning by ferry via Helsinor-Helsingor and then to Klippan to visit S. Lewerentz's St. Marks's Church, which undoubtedly is another tour de force by this great Swedish architect who needs more press outside Scandinavia. From Klippan we drove north towards Göthenburg. We arrived in mid-afternoon to our hostel in Åsa and drove to Göthenburg after settling inn. Individual sightseeing and super is the next item on the program. We will be returning to the hostal at 9:00. Tomorrow will be dedicated to the main architectural sites, which will include Asplund's addition to the City Hall, P. Celsing's Church in Harlanda to the northeast, and Erskine's Maritime Building in the docks area.
Saturday, 1 June. It has been almost a week since we posted an entry. We have done a lot of mileage and have seen quite an array of marvelous sites. Internet outlets have not been that easy to use due to time constraints. We are all doing just fine. Tomorrow we will embark in the afternoon to sail off to Helsinki, where we will arrive on Monday. More from Finland.
The arrival to Finland went as planned. Heikki was waiting for us at the ferry terminal and led us to the Hostel, initiating thus the visit to Helsinki since he took us on the panoramic route. This was followed by an extraordinary visit to the Miasma Museum by Steven Holl. Local architect Vesa Honkonen, who supervised the construction of the museum, conducted this very enticing tour. Our thanks to Erik Hietaniemi who coordinated the visit. After a fast lunch we toured parts of downtown Helsinki led by architect Heikki Kokkonen, our local contact, counselor, and friend in Helsinki and Gunnard Wederhorn, who gave us later in the afternoon a splendid lecture on the development of Tapiola. Yesterday, 4 June, we began activities at 9:00 as it has become customary. We visited Tapiola and the University at Otaniemi led by Gunnard and Heikki. We also had the opportunity of visiting additional and more recent urban developments between Espoo and Helsinki. After a fast lunch in Dipoli, the Student Center designed by Pietila in Otaniemi we finished our tour with a visit to Aalto's main building at the University and a visit to the University Church by the Sirens, which are both, at different scales true "tours de force." The afternoon or what was left of it was free. Today's activities included a visit to Aalto's cultural Center, the Architectural Outdoor Museum (Ulkomuseo) in the island of Seurasaari, followed by a guided tour to Aalto's studio. The afternoon has been declared free. Tomorrow at 9:30, we will initiate our tour of major architectural sites in Finland. (Thirty extra minutes will be granted to try out the traditional Sauna.)