Kobenhagen

After Amsterdam, I met up with two of my studio mates in Copenhagen. That time of year the city was in hibernation, but we still were able to some of unique architectural pieces including the royal palace, the famous Jorn Utzon church, the cathedral, the SAS building by Arnie Jacobsen as well as the expected old Europe streetscapes and squares.

One interesting socio-political condition is the district of Christianna, which is an independent, self-ruled community within the city limits. As one website states: "In 1971, when a swarm of hippies, squatters and political activists invaded an abandoned military base in the heart of Copenhagen (Denmark), few Danes believed the community would still exist today."
--from http://www.geocities.com/folkspraak/CHRISTIANA.html
Although how much longer it exists is uncertain as the newly elected government is very conservative and has already started moving in. Of course its all about money, as Christiana is adjacent to the expanding waterfront business district.

Amsterdam

Here are a few shots from my recent trip to Amsterdam. The studio trip to Madrid was followed by each of us parting ways to analyze other European cities. What we were looking for was titled "urban conditions" and described as instances where the systems of the city reveal themselves either through collisions, avoidances, or negotiations. Besides a plethora of hookers and marijuana, I was able to meet up with my old college buddy Jan who now resides outside of London.
Amsterdam is one of the most picturesque cities I have ever visited. The canals provide an open space and axial framing that makes you feel like you're walking the urban version of an English garden.

Manta video clips

I have a few posts up on YouTube of our tech project. The is an animation our group made to propose the behavior pattern for one of the windows.
The second video is of the mockup which was partially wired with behavioral lighting. In general the breathing originates as a general glow behind the wall with the mantas in front reacting like moths to a light bulb.

Manta's Revenge

Finally a break in the action so there's time to blog again. Our tech project- an installation on Hollywood Boulevard Memorial Day weekend- carries over in to the next quarter so the review was more of progress check rather than a project wrapup. Both groups in this class have a permanent staging area in the shop to produce mockups and prototypes. Our mockup for the review was fairly successful considering how few physical tests we have done. The basic unit is called a manta for its obvious resemblance. The window is filled with a lattice of these mantas with twist in the lattice occurring towards the back of the window to create a focus towards the entrance in to the theater. Images of the assembly and final mockup shown