Back in Berlin: Thursday June 24th

We got back from the excursion the previous night, so we started after lunch, just going to a few places to round out the week.

Topographies of Terror:
This is a site which contains the ruins of the old Gestapo dungeons, just a few blocks south of our apartments.  The site is large, covered in gray gravel.  It was almost like a desert, especially the heat coming off the ground.  At least the ruins had shade.

Jewish Museum by Daniel Libeskind:

 

This building is probably one of the most anticipated visits of the Berlin Program.  This is the building that put Libeskind on the international map.

From the interior windows into the voids...

In the last void area is the art work "fallen leaves"

Walking on the faces creates an eerie clanking echoing in the void.  Several students were emotionally affected by the piece.

The main stair is a dynamic, angular space.

I expect well-considered blog entries from the students on this visit.  We'll see.

Excursion: Day Six

On the road again...

The drive from Stuttgart back to Berlin is long; we started out at about 7:20AM.  We stopped in Wolfsburg for  a few hours to see some buildings, and then on to Berlin.


Phaeno Science Center by Zaha Hadid

Very interesting form and concept.  I was really looking forward to this building.  But the execution of the experimental concrete makes the final product something of a "white elephant."  Some nice windows though.  And all the college students turned in to five-year-olds when we got inside.

Wolfsburg Civic Center by Alvar Aalto
Not much to look at from outside.

But inside, Aalto's use of interesting skylights and curved sections bring a wonderfully airy quality to the interior spaces.

Heilig-Geist kirche (1962) by Alvar Aalto
It is in a church like this you really begin to see why Aalto is held in such high regard.  His ability with light and the sculpting of interior form in response to movement and light is quite impressive.  These two buildings are my first time in an Aalto space, and I am quite happy with the experience.

Up into the spire.

Excursion: Day Five - Other Stuff

Just quickly, some of the other places we visited in Stuttgart.

Weissenhof prototype Modernist housing
This one by LeCorbusier

Staatsgallerie by James Stirling

Excursion: Day Five - Mercedes Benz Museum

Yes, another car museum.  These are the companies building contemporary digital spectacles.  And they are full of beautiful cars!

The MB Museum = highly anticipated.

It has a very complex double helix of ramps and stair for two distinct paths of discovery.

Dramatic spaces...

The walls often twist into floors and ceilings, adding to the sense of movement.

You cannot really understand this building in photos.  Having been through it, I'm not sure I understand it still.  I want to go back and explore it again and again, let it soak into my brain.

Excursion: Day Five - Porche Museum

We started in Stuttgart at the Porche Museum.  Unlike the BMW Welt, this is not a curvy building; actually all angular. Most of the museum floats above the entry lobby base on angled legs, containing stairs, structure, etc.

And we ascend...

The interior is an angular spiral of cars and white Corian.

Orange Porche!

Abstract fragments , moving in the transition...