The past week was fairly uneventful aside from our Wednesday trip to the Free University of Berlin and our Friday trip to Dessau. The Frei Universitat Berlin is famous for being the first library founded in West Germany after the wall went up. The university still free to this day but houses an incredible Library by our friend Lord Norman Foster who's also responsible for the Reichstag (go back a few posts to get that description). The library there is so cool. Its three concrete plates attached by two piers. Encompassing this structure is a bubble like shell that functions to provide and regulate the temperature. Like most of Foster's buildings its extremely eco-friendly. it doesn't require and heating or cooling for 60% of the year
Dessau was one of the first cities in Germany to allow the Nazis to come to power. But more famous than that is the Bauhaus (Bow-House). Built by Walter Gropius it embodies the functionalism in Germany. Some of the most famous architects taught there but oddly enough not one student ever achieved any acclaim. So what is the Bauhaus really. Honestly after learning about now for three semesters in a row I don't know. Its a collection of world famous architects who taught artists and architects that never really amounted to anything. And all these people just designed the ugliest crap from blinding lights to odd shaped chairs. Actually being there was really cool though. Since we've been force fed this building for so long seeing it and walking through it was pretty awesome. But also slightly disappointing because its just like four concrete blocks with relatively no purpose anymore. This influential architectural building that produced no one and achieves nothing spectacular.
The other building we saw was awesome though. By Sauerbruch & Hutton it is called the UBA which is the German acronym for their Environmental Office. You walk into this glass outer shell and you still feel outside because the whole mass of the building is still in front of you. This building is extremely eco-efficient and is better explained through pictures. The building uses recycled glass as soil and incorporates water and other features to give a natural feeling but all with a purpose to serve the ecosystem the building maintains.
Other than that I'm getting by here still adapting to cultural changes and getting accustomed to daily life. And attempting to speak German. I still miss everyone especially miss Erica but at least I get to talk to her almost daily.
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