Grace the Pensive

I'm back. And to no surprise, at least for me. I have this unfailing practice of starting a journal, to either replace it with another one or abandon it because of my ruthless tendency to be lazy. I guess that explains a lot about my life.

In any case, I've had this itch to write again, even if no one reads what I have to say. I just need to put pen to paper...so to speak.

To put the past months in a nutshell, I finally graduated with a bachelor's in architecture. Though, I'm not sure how much good it's going to do me with this economy. I'm back home on Maui with no job, no plans, and a lot of time to self-reflect. It hasn't even been a month since graduation and I already feel defeated by the wheels of life. But, I'm determined to make my way somehow, even if it's not with architecture. I just hope to be in the creative field for the rest of my life.

Picked up my uke and started singing and playing again. Maybe I'll post some videos and sing love songs...or sad songs.

So, today I was looking through my closet with the hopes of reuniting with 5 or so pairs of shoes that went missing over the past couple years. I suspect all the flip-flopping between school and home created some kind of unexplainable black hole in my room. I finally got the courage to dig around in my closet and alas, they were shoved in the back with the rolls of wrapping paper and felt that piles up each holiday season. Safe to say, I feel like finding my shoes is an indication that destiny has turned a new leaf for me. Watch out world, the days of Grace have only just begun.

Grace the Nostalgic

Nostalgia, according to my dictionary widget, is described as a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal association. I would say that's a close enough description to what I've been feeling ever since I've left Europe.

So, yes, Grace Lim is back in the United States. I left the States with feelings of resentment toward corporate America (tract homes, no regards for ingenuity and design, gross concern for MONEY MONEY MONEY), and I have returned with feelings of despair for the future of the US. Oh Starbucks, when did all your uniqueness take over every street corner in the country and become just another example of capitalism at it's best?

In any case, I shall come down from my soap box. Here are some of the pictures I was SUPPOSED to post, but didn't because I was either always on charrette after each trip, or didn't have access to free internet...lol.

So, our first trip outside of France was to the Netherlands. We visited the three areas: Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and Utrecht. By the way, if you didn't know, people in the Netherlands speak Dutch (think Holland, wooden clogs, flower fields, windmills...).

Rotterdam

Rotterdam is a fast developing city. The city devoted much of 2007 to recognizing Architecture (note the capital "A") and so there were a lot of interesting things to see. We unfortunately only spent one day and one night there and literally RAN through the city.

Here's the hotel we stayed at. Very cool glass facade...


This is a large pedestrian square that was across from the hotel. If you want to visit Europe, the Netherlands should definitely be one of your stops. Everything is REALLY CHEAP. They're kinda racist because historically, the Dutch were the ones who started slavery, but that's a minor thing of the past....


Rotterdam is home to many great architects...namely, REM KOOLHAAS. So, when I heard we were going to the Kunsthal by OMA, I was absolutely ecstatic. Too bad we didn't really go inside...


This was one of my precedents second year. Made me so proud. :-)


Transportation in the Netherlands used to be primarily by water because it's bordered by the North Sea and there are so many canals and waterways surrounding the area.


Bridges are normal, too.


As I mentioned earlier, 2007 was named the year of architecture for the city of Rotterdam. And they signified each Architecture with purple. Can you spot the purple here?


Here is West 8's Schouwbergplein.


This too, was marked.


More water.


More purple.


Amsterdam

So, like Rotterdam, Amsterdam is fast developing into a very design-based city (can't really say that for America...*ahem*). There are experimental developments, like Borneo-Sporenburg, where equal plots of land for rowhouses are commissioned to different architects who have the freedom to design unique houses under loose constraints. These are then sold to homeowners based on lottery, which guarantees a mixture of social and economic classes. This experiment was successful in bringing up community moral. Take that tract-home-cookie-cutter-no-brain-all-for-high profit developments of America!


The angular building on the left is another experimental housing block, which created dialog about self-enclosed housing blocks like the tall building on the right.


Another project by West 8: the Borneo-Sporenburg bridge.


How could we resist? The bridge is made up of ascending and descending stairs instead of a ramp, a safety precaution because of the rainy season.


Here is another look at the Borneo-Sporenburg development on a more collective view. See how non-cookie-cutter it looks even with some design restrictions?


Let's take a break from the new stuff and look at some of the older architecture gems that scatter the city. Here's a old hotel in the style of the Arts and Craft Movement.


Think...Glasgow School of Architecture. Curious design with LOTS of detail.






More of the city...










Amsterdam's Chinatown. Who would've thought!






Canal drawbridge.


Our instructor Gerald, is a fan of furniture design, and so he took us to a design gallery for Droog. Some cool stuff.








Utrecht

Now, out of the three areas of the Netherlands we toured, we had the most free time in Utrecht. We got to venture through the city more and encounter people who have never seen Asians before. I would have to say it's the least touristy among the three.


Our main focus was the Utrecht University. We visited the newer area of campus. The overall planning was commissioned to OMA, who designed the Kunsthal in Rotterdam. They also were commissioned the Educatorium (Educational+Auditorium).


OMA's designs are very diagrammatic. You can tell from just the exterior where the stairs and ramps are and where the stairs and ramps end, is where the program is.


The structure of the building is mostly tension cables...these things are MASSIVE. My foot is just a reference for scale.


The floor-wall-ceiling wrap-around.






Florescent lights integrated into the wall.


Looking down on the stairs. Aren't view spaces so awesome???


Here's the Minnaert Geology Building. It's...well...monolithic.


Here's the heating and cooling system. It's a fountain that drips rain water and recycled water from the roof to the indoor pool and equilibrates the indoor temperature. Ah-ha...science.


There are study nooks that line the wall of the many gathering space. These are so popular, it's almost impossible to grab a nook unless you sprint out of class.


All of the buildings are required to integrate some outdoor element in the building. This is a viewing garden.


And then, the University's main library, which is famous for it's automated windows that let in just the right amount of sunlight into the building to warm it up and protect the books from UV damage.




The interior circulation is a narrative of flight. The feeling of taking off into the world of books and then landing back down to reality.


Detail of the artwork on the windows. It's a print of a bundle of bamboo.


The bookstacks on display.


Utrecht in all its glory. Like most places in Europe, retail lines the streets and residences stack on top.


The last building we visited was the Schroder-Rietveld house. Another precedent I studied, this building is famous for it's architectural take on the De Stilj movement. Everything, from the exterior to the kitchen shelves, mimmick the famous Mondrian painting. These pictures were taken on the fly because we weren't allowed to take pictures from inside for copyright reasons, but our tour guide was gracious enough to turn a blind eye.












For some reason, Dutch people are REALLY tall. Our tour guide, Bart, is 6'9"! Haha...I'm so short...*tear*


One last look at Utrecht.


Beautiful flower stands.


And a beer date with my girls in a cute pub that plays John Mayer!




Well, hopefully I can keep updating my more pictures of Europe...no promises though. But, since I did take over 3000 pictures, what else could I do with them?