A very full day pt. 2

Leaving PariserPlatz, we officially visit the city's Holocaust Memorial, designed by Peter Eisenman.  It is actually virtually next door to our apartments, so the students have had and will continue to have many chances to experience the site at different times of day/night.

The site is a field of solid stelle, each a different size, with some angled in various directions.  harder to see in the image below is the undulating ground surface, which allows for people to disappear and reappear as the walk along the paths through the stelle.  The entire place can be eerie, solemn, or simply disorienting, depending upon the person.

Leaving the memorial, we walk towards Potsdamer Platz.  along the way, we stop at the Otto Bock Science of Health Museum, a white cube banded in undulating curves which represent muscle fibres.

11:30, time for our tour of the Berlin Philharmonie!

Lunch comes scattered in Potsdamer Platz, then we walk around the platz...

And down Linkstrasse, following a series of buildings by noted architect Richard Rogers.

Then to the edge, to a tower designed by Renzo Piano.  It has a beautiful and complex articulated skin, and water features at its base.  Many great detail shots I see the students taking.

And our daily group shot:

Finally, over to the New National Gallery, designed by Mies van der Rohe; one of his final buildings.

The students now have the weekend free.  Some will still probably choose to see at least some of the other sites Mr. Puljak and I will see this weekend.  Others will relax, or maybe travel to other parts of Germany.  We will have to follow their blog and see.

A very full day

So here is the first batch of places and buildings we saw today.  With many of these, part of the goal is to start to compare different works by the same architect, or different solutions to the same building type, or similarities between different buildings which have some identifiable trait/aspect in common; all of which we may see unfold over the total trip.

Our first embassy: The United Kingdom

On to Pariser Platz.

Inside the DG Bank.  Frank Gehry had to restrain himself on the exterior, but creates a jewel of a conference room and atrium inside.

And the students took lots of shots.

Right next door to the bank is the Akademie der Kunst (Academy of Art) by Gunter Behnisch.  He is one of the great living German architects.  Known for his collisions and angles, he too had to restrain himself outside, letting it all happen in the interior.

More to come later.  I'm off to find dinner.

Friday Morning

So this morning, we'll be off to see some of the local plazas.  We will go to PariserPlatz first, next to the Brandenberg Gate.  Then over to the Berlin Philharmonie and PotsdamerPlatz for the entire afternoon.  Lots of stuff to see, study, and photograph.  Post-report later tonight.
-D. Caldwell

The Reichstag in the evening

So we all met back up this evening at 8:30PM to go to the Reichstag Dome.  Designed by Normon Foster, the dome is the most visible part of a completely renovated Parliament building that had been in a poor state for much of the last half-century.

The Reichstag in 1920

and in 1945...

And Now...

So we all went up to the dome and saw the entire city at dusk.  All the students were snapping pictures, and I hope that at least some of their blogs (see links) reflect this visit.

Here are a few of my shots, mostly abstract fragments of the dome sunscreen, and mirrored funnel.

And a few of the group, taken by Mr. Puljak:

And thus the day ends, until tomorrow.

First Full Day

So we started our first full day in Berlin in late morning, giving the students a chance to sleep a bit and get over lingering jet-lag.  After we went through various safety issues, just in case,

we headed off to lean the train system.  Berlin has a rather extensive system of underground and above ground trains to traverse the city.  We rode on the various types, explained the way they name they train lines, how to read the schedule, proper etiquette on and off, etc.

We started at the Berlin Hauptbahnhof, an immense train station with several levels of food and shopping.

Then on to a long-ish walk along the river Spree, through the new government complex.

Finally, back to the apartments for some rest, and a visit to the local supermarket for some of the students, stocking up on sandwich and snack supplies.

--Caldwell