The Other Side

On Tuesdays, we don't have classes, so obviously I was out and about discovering Berlin yesterday. It was the first sunny day since we've been in Europe and I definitely took advantage of it. Sarah, Jeri, Erblin, Kemal, and I decided to head west to the Charlottenburg district of Berlin to check out the Olympic Stadium. It was constructed for the 1936 Olympic games, where Hitler famously walked out as Jesse Owens won four gold medals. In 2004, the stadium was renovated to what it looks like today. Let me tell you; it was pretty amazing to walk into this enormous (and empty) stadium. The tectonics of the roof structure was also incredible. We spent about an hour or two just walking around the stands, around the stadium's exterior, and around the top. We froze our ears and hands in the cold (but sunny) weather. Completely worth 3 Euros to enter. Sadly, the bell tower was closed for winter so we couldn't get a bird's eye view of the stadium.

Nearby were the Unite d'Habitation apartments by Le Corbusier. Every architecture student should know these apartments since they've been drilled into our minds since freshmen year. I've attached an image that we know so well.  These are the interlocking L-shaped apartments that are two stories.  We entered the apartment building, checked out the lobby, took the elevator to the top floor and explored the stairwell, but sadly, we didn't get to experience an actual apartment. I can't judge the building until I see the interior! But from the look of the hallways, it felt very cramped; Kemal was too tall for the doors (he's about 6'4").

When we finished with the apartments, the rest of the group decided to go to studio, so I ended up flying solo to Schlossgarten. I walked by the Schloss Charlottenburg (apparently a museum?) which is a huuuuuge palace that was built for Sophie Charlotte, wife of King Friedrich I of Prussia.

Behind the palace is an enormous park with fantastic landscaping that was similar to Andre Le Notre's work. I tried going to the Neue Pavillon by Karl Schinkel, but it was closed for restoration. I walked as far as the carp pond, which was filled with all species of ducks, and then walked back to the U-Bahn along Schlosstrasse.

My last stop of the day was the Ludwig Erhard Haus by Nicholas Grimshaw, which I believe is a stock exchange building. It's a pretty impressive building with its arched form and steel and glass construction. I only walked through the lobby, but I could peek an atrium through a side exterior window.

Today I had the opportunity to visit Norman Foster's Philological Library on the Freie Universitat campus. It was an addition placed in the middle of one of the existing courtyards. It's an interesting exterior, but I loved the interior much more. Sadly, the librarians wouldn't let me enter with my camera (they were mean librarians) but luckily Jeri had a pocket-sized camera, so I snapped a couple shots with that. On the inside, the floor slabs are shaped symmetrically with its edges forming waves. As you go up the floors, the slabs are offset a few feet so there's a tiered effect. Very cool library; I would actually study here.

That's all for now. Until next time...