Louisiana Museum of Modern Art

Louisiana Museum presented an exciting modern art collection and some architectural exhibits (july 2011). Located not too far from Copenhagen this museum was built in 1855 and used to be a summer home of Hunt Alexander Brun - check out the views or the backyard that is currently a sculpture park. :) He was married three times all to the women named Louise (hence the name).
 

The House as a Border

What is a home?

Backyard

Some funky stairs

exhibit

Light exhibit

totally want to have this room in my house

Views from one of the wings

My Awesome Bike

 

Biking in Copenhagen is great!! Recommend it to anyone as a means of transportation if you are staying here for a longer period of time or even shorter. Statistically 36% of people in Copenhagen bike (cars take 33%). I got mine from Dronning Loises Cycler (location noted). Make sure to stay away from the pedestrian streets. The pedestrian streets and plazas are full of people rain or shine. The plazas used to be parking lots and the city closed them down to accommodate these spaces, talk about taking a stand!

Moroccan

So who would have thought that I will stumble upon a Moroccan restaurant in Copenhagen. The a la Menthe was delicious and cute, you could see some pictures here. The prices were pretty much comparable to any restaurant in the center, but the atmosphere is much more relaxed and the amount of food is more than a belly can take!

Architectural Challenge - bathroom

Food for thought: How to design a compact bathroom? The space is about 4'6" x 4'6" it has everything. The drain for the shower is under the sink, the floor is seamless and has to separation therefore the toilet is on the shower floor. So what to do? Think about it :)

Things I do on a weekend

Since I am participating in an architectural program here in Copenhagen they don't give us much room to breathe or to explore on our own. But that said this entire past weekend we got to create this sick model of Koldinghus in a team of four people.

A little more history about Koldinghus if interested please read: It always have been a royal palace since the Middle Ages, throughout the years and centuries the castle has been added on and expanded. In 1808 it burned down and slowly became a ruin with no particular use. Today it is a museum that showcases art as well as the history of the castle itself. The castle is brick bus as you see in the model they added a mask that is made out of wood to emphasize the difference between the old and the new. The roof was also destroyed in the fire so when they build a new one the columns started to represent trees that used to grow in the ruin. The "leaves" in the middle (that took forever to build) create a modern take on the vaulted ceiling, but also add an interesting notion to the space. Here are some more pictures. 

Copenhagen - Harbor Tour

Moving onto Copenhagen, the Harbor Tour reveals all the modern buildings of the city. The projects range from new construction, renovation or rehabilitation. The Skuespilhuset features a gorgeous harbor walk with no railings! The torpedo factory and old barracks are both remainder of a military base and have been converted into apartments and offices. Well and the rest of the new architecture is just bad ass and will be posted more later.

Skuespilhuset

Copenhagen

The Opera House

Torpedo Factory into housing

Old reused barracks

The Black Diamond  - Library 

Modern Amsterdam II

The ARCAM - the architectural centrum of Amsterdam has a great illusion for the eye. On one side it seems like the building is skinny and small, but as you wank to the other side it reveals its true side.

Borneo Houses are modern row houses in Amsterdam located on Borneo Island. Each house is different and provides great geometric shapes and neat ideas. Pick a house you would live in :) There is over 40 of them.

ParkPop - Den Haag

We went to the ParkPop festival in Den Haag - on June 26th. The festival was great, full of people, activities, music and sunshine (finally) :) The city on the other hand slightly disappointed. So go there for the festival!!!

Nightlife

Walking through the Redlight District at night was definitely an experience; the masses of people are incredible even in a cold weather. As for actual places to go: Eatcafe Festina Lente back at Jordaan district was fun, just a small, cozy place filled with local people.

Self Service

Self Service kiosks - very fun thing - to save on a cost of service you can get hamburgers or other fast food from a machine. I still wonder who puts them in there is the first place. Since it is a bit cheaper ... or maybe they are just old? Still fun to explore :)

Amsterdam Design Stores

Be sure to check out Droog design store located not too far from the Rembrandt House. Their innovative ideas will get anyone convinced to create eco friendly furniture.

 Make sure to also visit The Frozen Fountain back at the Jordaan Neighborhood. The design store is great and full of great furniture, but the interior of the building is also worth a trip. A classic Amsterdam row house is transformed into a modern vision, full of depth, skylights and gardens. Make sure to sit in the Moroso chair although its simple by design it won't disappoint on comfort. 

Moroso Chair

Cheese Day - Alkmaar

For anyone who has ever been in love with cheese or food in general Alkmaar is the place to go. A complete heaven for cheese, bread, and chocolate lovers! Also in itself it is a very nice charming little town!

On Friday mornings in the summer months the city holds a cheese ceremony where all the cheese gets distributed to different companies. The runner each have different hat colors representing different company and different kind of gouda cheese.

After all the cheese eating events and markets there is always a need for something else, and the city does not disappoint. With all the bread stores and chocolate stores. Go to Bon Choco and try the Brownie Creme the best thing to end the day with.

This is how we ended the day!