The Fountainhead

Every second Tuesday, some guys+girls at school arrange movie nights in the auditorium. They call themselves DAFF: De Arkitektstuderendes Film Forening? Great initiative. The last movie was "The Fountainhead" with Gary Cooper and an actress with grand body language, Patricia Neal (actually married to the Roald Dahl). Cooper plays Howard Roark, a struggling fresh architect with great visions. But of course, life ain`t easy for young Mr. Roark, nobody understands his point of view nor architecture. He faces many years of hard work, he even gets a job in a quarry to make ends meet. There, the beginning of a very strange and complicated love with our heroine, Dominique takes place, and last out through the movie in rather "unexpected" ways. (While watching acting by Ms. Neal, I think to self: Drama, so underrated! Why do no one gaze out in eternity during conversations or fall with great gestures or gallop in anger (to slap a man in the face with a whip (not recommended))? I`m already practicing different neck positions and head+eyebrow moves). Well, movie. You should see it. It`ll teach you a lesson about future and expectations, but most of all...about belief, hope and weird love.

Vegetable Sport

Squash; sounds like a walk in the park. But believe me, it`s hardcore workout. Never ever been so exhausted as when finishing off an hour of this activity. After a short session of googling "squash fashion" I can announce that it`s no such thing as "squash fashion", ergo you may wear whatever you like. Me, I decided to go old school and reintroduce a popular "sportdevice" from the 80s: Sweatband.

1. Front wall, 2. Side wall, 3. Upper outline, 4. Service line (originally called the cut line), 5. Service box, 6. Quarter court. 7. The "tin" acting as net, used to be sheeted with metal, to make sound when hit.

Going Strong

Couple of days ago, my water bottle decided to have a party in my purse, everyone were welcome. To my surprise my hip hop-phone survived alright, I hadn`t guessed him to be a party brake. It turned out that my veteran camera was the one with most impressive drinking skills. He could only inform me that his memory card was out of business, and that all the pictures had been transformed into “failure files”. First thought: damn. Second thought: new camera…nice. But then someone told me to let the whole thing dry, and then turn it on. It worked. All pictures back as “functional files”, and veteran back in business. Since 2004, this piece of equipment has documented many places:

Sicily, NYC, Porto, Tokyo, Beijing, Namsos, Oslo, Stockholm, Copenhagen, London, Barcelona, San Sebastian, Toulouse, Boston, Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Yokohama, Gibraltar, Mallorca, Istanbul, Heidal, Århus, Berlin, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Delft, Helsinki, Skagen.

Golden moments, man.

Whip It

This man is legend. He controls his environment like I`ve never seen man do before. His name is Mr. Lim, and he just had a workshop at school. Give this man a physical whip and he will be president in 4 years, now he only got an imaginary one. To be honest, imaginary works as well. I don`t think the students in Institute 1 have ever worked so long hours for a “fun” workshop. And the most impressive, was the fact that Mr. Lim had table discussions at 0130 am. He`s like a Duracell rabbit on speed, he survives on Pringles, water and grapes (“I only eat carbs once a week”). When he`s not travelling around the globe doing workshops, he`s bossing Studio 8 in London, teach students at the Bartlett or heading off to China where they have some projects running (“Yes, I travel a lot. I don`t like airplanes, it`s a constant circulation of germs because of the air-condition”). This little man coordinates his surroundings as a puppeteer choreographs his puppets, even with matching moves, clapping and pointing his small Malaysian hands. He tells you when to speak, and when not to speak. He basically made 13 projects in 5 days, thinking as 100 different minds, and in the end, he gives you his honest opinion on the result. “When something is black, I say it`s black. When something is white, I say it`s black..I mean white”. Put your hands together for CJ. I`m a fan. My teacher took notes, while smiling to self. It`s going to be a tough semester. Quotes:

(Saturday night 10 pm) Clap,clap,clap…everybody, everybody…I have great news! You have 9 extra hours! We managed to postpone the crits on Monday, from 9 am to 6 pm! Great news, people.

No, no, no. You stop speak. Boy in red shirt speak.

Eat faster, you can eat slow on Tuesday!

Oh, you genius! You`re like famous Danish architect…Arne Jacobsen, I call you Arne from now on.

No! (us: but…) No! No! No! Bad idea.

Go Basic

If in doubt, a house needs: a chimney, a roof, floors and, if I read this drawing correct, one facade. Basic elements from the book: Pamphlet Architecture No. 9, also a catch from yesterdays discount heaven. Trying to do some actual work, but so far, no success.

Garden City

Today, the school library had a sale. The discount was 100%, and all you could carry. Great deal, but I guess the selection were all the books no one have searched for in 30 years. That`s fine by me. Even though, I had to draw a line somewhere, "Wasser im Stadplan" didn`t make it back to the studio. This picture is a redevelopment of different types of terrace house plans in Denmark. Cut and copied from the book: "Rækkehuse, et sammenlignende studiemateriale af 18 danske rækkehusbebyggelser". Inspiring title, and obviously made by a group of students at Kunstakademiets Arkitektskole in 1977.

ABC3D

The last month, I`ve been out of control when it comes to buying books in Architegn, the bookstore on school grounds. One of several, is the book “ABC3D” by Marion Bataille. It`s basically just the alphabet, with an extraordinary twist: the letters pop-up/rotate/reflects in mirror and are being dragged out of the sheets. In many ways, book tectonics.

Airport Heaven

There is something extremely cool with airports. You`ll find them in all major cities (and not so big cities), they all consists of the same logistics, they are all designed for movement and they are all based on the fact that queues are something you should learn how to cope with (A tip: travel during evening hours, the queues are almost nonexistent). Anyway, the best part is the infrastructure and airport vehicles. If I have some spare time while travelling, I usually find a comfy chair and watch the scenery of airport paraphernalia perform the purpose for what they were designed. These fascinating vehicles have of course funky names, just listen to this: Pushback Tractors, Unit Load Device, Follow-Me Cars and Airport Crash Tenders (to name a few). The fact that these remnants form the 80s (based on the design), are part of the high-tech world of aviation, is for me: Great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7bVD-cUFTw&feature=PlayList&p=FE2B8C95F0FA20E9&index=0&playnext=1

Suit You

Mr. Byrne wearing most likely the biggest suit in human history. I love this look. The way his head turns into pea size is remarkable. You could probably use the jacket as short time accommodation, depending on level of desperation.

City Paradise

1: Open your preferred browser, 2: Go to YouTube, 3: Search for "City Paradise", 4. Watch animated movie by some french guys, 5: Enjoy. I`ve saved it as a favourite, and have my 6 minutes of joy at least once a week. I just can`t get enough.

Plan A Section

If you ever want a "house-of-latex" theme, call me. This is a long time dead gas station transformed into a pimp my ride, band rehearsal+recording studio and/or hangout for all the wannabe badasses on Nørrebro in Copenhagen. Made in latex (sort of).

A Pretender

I`ve been moving every 6 months 5 times now, (Amsterdam/Red Light District, Tokyo/Sendagaya, Århus/Janus La Coursgade, Eckersbergsgade and Banegårdsgade) and this is my current location. It`s a room with a view, and the soundtrack of "downtown" Århus. The buses were at first a source of irritation, but when my roomie told me to pretend I`m in New York, everything "corners like it`s on rails".

In Store

All you need to open up a store: 5 buckets, a wooden rectangle, if you`re fortunate, a fence (preferably wrought iron) and a kid. Not to mention your product for sale.

PS. the new font size is dedicated to Mr. J

WhiTe

If you really really want to wear ALL white, there`s only one option for you; Tennis. This fashionable man is Renè Lacoste. French guy, playing tennis in the 20s and beginning of the 30s. Running around like a gentleman in his "crocodile"-outfit, winning 7 grand slams. Way to go. When/If I ever "reactivate" my tennis career, I will definitely invest in a 20s outfit like this. And win 7 small slams.

Facts: Tennis is "performed" on a tennis court, the surface can be used to play both singles and doubles. The size of this court is: 23,78 x 8,23 m. for singles matches, and 23,78 x 10,97 m. for doubles matches. Additional clear space is needed, in order for the players to run around catching balls. Total size: 36,7 x 18,3 meters. (36,7 x 18,3 m = 671,71 m2. You could probably build 13 family houses on a plot like that in Tokyo.) The net is 1,07 m. at the posts, and 0,914 m. high in the center. The court is usually of grass, clay or concrete. Surprisingly, grass is the fastest type of courts. It`s similar to golf greens. The most famous grass tournament is the Wimbledon in London. They slowed down their courts in 2001, and players have said the courts have become: heavier and high bouncing. If this is good or not, I don`t know.

USS Flatiron

The Flatiron Building in NYC (Broadway and 23rd) took a turn and went into space. The iconic building is 87 meters high, divided on 22 stories. It`s actually named the Fuller Building, but because of the way it was built (steal) and its shape, "the Flatiron" occured.

Human Touch

To quote another (old, but not that old) wise man; Bruce the Boss: "Ain`t no mercy on the streets of this town". For some reason, cars reminds me of my parents. My mom wants to become a rally driver, and my dad believes he is one. Summer hollidays were spent feeling sick in the backseat of a car, into the wilderness of domestic and international countryside.

http://www.brucespringsteen.net/songs/index.html

Weapon Of Choice

A wise (probably old) guy once said: "A succsessful plan should look like a machine gun". Here you have a number of underlays for next project. My favorite, number 4 on top row, from the left. Or the Uzi.