TWO EAGLES IN A CLEAR BLUE SKY

Yesterday I took a day trip to visit the opening of Volgermeer Polder just north of Amsterdam, which I had been invited to attend by the Head of Landscape Architecture at Delft University.

So, what is a polder?

A polder is a low-lying tract of land enclosed by embankments (barriers) known as dikes, that forms an artificial hydrological entity, meaning it has no connection with outside water other than through manually-operated devices. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polder)

It turned out to be one of those “the journey is more important than the destination” days. In Amsterdam I caught a bus in the wrong direction, good start! Then when I climbed on board a bus headed in the right direction my public transport card was out of funds ... great. The bus driver was very friendly, could obviously tell I was learning things the hard way, and allowed me to travel that part of the journey for free. At the end of this 20 minute bus ride I had to try to reload my public transport card ... sounds easy, especially when I was able to find the appropriate machine in a supermarket foyer. The catch is they don’t take Mastercard. Right. Slightly disoriented by the mornings proceedings I went to an ATM thinking taking out some money would fix my problems, then I realised this was useless as there was no way to get the money on the card.

So, I just bought a daily ticket, to the price of 9 Euro, about $13. Expensive hey! This wasn’t the biggest challenge of the day, I still had another small bus ride and walk. The 6 minute bus ride was fine. After arriving at the town of Broeke en Waterland I only had to walk 50m to eat my packed lunch (bread, dip and a muesli bar) whilst beholding a picturesque Dutch agricultural scene. A vast, endless horizon of grass, some cows, canals and farmhouses ... oh, and clear blue skies.

Then, where to next?

I had been given directions by the receptionist at the hostel I was staying. A map showing the walk from the hostel to the first bus stop (it didn’t show the direction of travel which caused the first mishap), a series of bus transfers and a map showing the walk from the last bus stop to my destination. Now, I rarely get lost whilst travelling ... perhaps the result of having to find my way through the thick willow trees along Brandy Creek in Gippsland. BUT I had made a critical mistake of not checking the receptionists information with GoogleMaps which I usually rely on. So, when I pull out the map I have no idea which way to go because there’s no scale and I find it hard to read the path of the sun in the northern hemisphere. The smart thing to do would have been to ask someone, but you know how it is ...

So I walked a couple of kilometres through this picturesque Dutch landscape on a perfect sunny day, eventually winding up in the next town. The turn-off I was looking for never “appeared”. This walk was not in vein however because a 100 metres off the next town two huge eagles took flight from the paddock in front of me, they circled and circled and circled, being chased by smaller crows and spreading their grand, graceful wings. At this point I still wasn’t sure I was “lost”, so I took the chance to ask a boy waiting on the side of the road, after a minute his mum came to pick him so she checked the directions on her satellite navigation system The answer was short, go back to the town I had come from and ask someone. Hmm, that would have been easy the first time BUT I wouldn’t have seen the eagles.

I walked back, asked for directions from locals and finally found my destination. I had missed the presentation and formalities but as soon as I had been to the bathroom a young Australian guy introduced himself. This is part of the reason for coming, he is originally from Geelong and has been working at the firm responsible for this project for the last 6 years. “Let’s jump on a cart”, he says. We walk outside and to the end of a “red carpet” where a horse and carriage was waiting to take us for a tour of the 100 acre site. Wow, that’s service!

So we jumped on boarded and took a loop through the polder landscape. My new Australian friend told me all about the site’s history, from its form as a marshland 10,000 years ago, to being drained for agriculture around the year 1000, peat extraction for fuel from the 1920s to 1950s, this formed a big hole which eventually became a rubbish dump. So the most recent transformation involved the rehabilitation of this toxic landscape into a recreation park. As we ride around I’m clicking away with my camera as I had been all day, before I realised the memory card wasn’t in the camera. I had left it in my computer after downloading some photos onto my blog for Kate. I couldn’t do anything but smile and enjoy the ride.

Volgermeer Polder opening LINK

KEUKENHOF

IF ONLY WE STUDIED IN THE BAUHAUS

There seems to be many landscape architecture graduates, and probably more architect graduates, who because of the economic downturn are either jobless or don’t have jobs in their chosen profession. This may be the result of myriad factors but one must ask, if these graduates had been trained in the Bauhaus would things be different?

In the Bauhaus students had to learn a craft as part of their architectural studies, meaning that if they chose or were forced not to work as an architect, they could still make things and thus earn an income.

THE BAUHAUS

Extracts from: ‘THE BAUHAUS: MASTERS AND STUDENTS BY THEMSELVES’
EDITED BY FRANK WHITFORD


THE BAUHAUS ACCORDING TO WALTER GROPIUS

GOAL:
Architecture, painting and sculpture in a single form.


PRACTISE AND THEORY:
1. Craft: sculpture to weaving.
2. Drawing/Painting
3. Theory: History to materials


A HANDS-ON, WORKSHOP FOCUS:
‘a world in which things are built’ VS ‘the unproductive artist ... [there is] no such thing as “professional art”.’

‘The ultimate aim of all creative activity is the building.'

The goal of the Bauhaus is a ‘working community of outstanding artist-craftsmen [who can create] ... socially useful products’.


HAND-MADE VS MACHINE-MADE
‘the handloom alone provides so much scope and permits a concept to develop from one experimental stage to the next.’


LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE, ‘THE NEW EPOCH’ IN DIE FORM, 1930
‘Blind to all value judgements, all these things take their preordained course ... Everything depends not on the “what” but only and entirely on the “how”.’

THE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC OPEN SPACE

Coming to Europe you begin to realise how important public open space. Living in Australia its different because we spend so much time in our own backyards, and so public spaces are often extras rather than essentials. Whether you consider the Mayan cities of Mexico or the modern cities of The Netherlands people need open space, its where we live.

ROTTERDAM MARATHON

Rotterdam was alive today ... you could literally feel the energy. When I stood still on the huge suspension bridge connecting two major areas of the city I could feel it bouncing under the pressure of people running and walking over it - amazing. Musicians playing on the roof of a bus, you would think it was a festival ...

SUNSET DINNER

TREE SCULPTURE AND BOIJMANS ART GALLERY

Steel cage is a small circular soccer field with little goals built into the walls.

Final picture is of coat room/ bag storage at Boijmans Museum ... lock your bag in a cage, release a cord to lower a clothes hanger then wind up to store your jacket until you get back.

SAILING SHIPS IN SPRING

FURTHER STUDY AS A STUDENT OF LIFE (cont'd)

I visited the Boijmans Musuem in Rotterdam this morning, it was like a journey through time.

The first exhibition was a display of craft through the Middle Ages, so you're looking at beautifully made dishes made from bronze and brass, next to glass beakers, next to glazed tiles and carved timber furniture ... all 500 or more years old.

Then you walk into a room with a contemporary artwork by Wim T. Chippers, which was essentially a 3x12m timber board smothered in Peanut Butter ... imagine the smell! It was appropriately titled 'Peanut Butter Platform'.

Next, paintings and prints from the 17th through 20th centuries ... everything from impressionism to surrealism.

To complete the story, there is an exhibition presenting images and audio-visual displays relating to the latest science and technology. Most profound was a short documentary showing a sequence of ultrasounds of human babies, from a gestation period of 8 weeks to 34 weeks. In a word: phenomenal.

It reminds me of my experience of visiting the modern art gallery and technical museum in Prague. These institutions have incredible access to high quality material because much of what they are presenting, especially with art history, happened right here. In reality it makes Europe the perfect place to learn, and probably it has always been this way.

NOTE TO SELF: KENGO KUMA PROJECTS IN EU

Granada Performing Arts Centre, Spain

Ceramic Cloud, Reggio Emilia, Italy
Cava Market HQ, Campagna, Italy
San Pellegrino Therme, Italy

Sysla-mademoiselle, Paris
Besancon Art and Culture Centre, France

Tea House, Museum of Applied Arts, Frankfurt

MONOCLE WEEKLY: THE NEW WAY TO STAY IN TOUCH

I just subscribed to Monocle Weekly on iTunes ... so I plan to download the podcast they make on Global Affairs each Monday, upload it onto my iPod and listen at my earliest convenience. Cool hey.

They also have the daily Monocolumn.

Then of course, they have Sections (Affair, Business, Culture, Design) with interest-specific videos you can watch ... haven't worked out the rhythm in which these are created.

BBC, The New Yorker, The Economist ... all have their own weekly podcasts, so when you can't carry around you computer, you can still be connected. Welcome to the 21st century.

AFRIKAANDERPLEIN MARKET COOK-UP

After visiting the local market I had the first opportunity in one month to cook something myself. This was also made possible by staying at the house of some new Dutch friends, whom were not unfortunately present to share the feast - next time!

So, on the menu:

Raw herring, with finely chopped onions, salt and pepper, olive oil and a drizzle of lemon juice. Raw herring is a typical Dutch delicacy, although this being the first time I have de-boned fish my dish certainly would not be up to local standards.

This was sided by tiny baked potatoes, beetroot and onion with lots of olive oil, salt and pepper.

Finished with new-season strawberries, from Spain (still not sure if this is a good or bad thing), with sugar on top.

INTERNATIONAL PILLOW FIGHT DAY, AFRIKAANDERPLEIN, ROTTERDAM

Website

ROTTERDAM

An afternoon out in Rotterdam, visiting a couple of market places/squares by West8 (website), The Netherlands Architecture Institute library as well as some guerilla knitting.