DAY 3 EXCURSION: MUNICH- OLYMPIC PARK

OLYMPIC PARK- 1976 OLYMPIC GAMES
THE TENT-LIKE STRUCTURE IS THE MAIN DESIGN CONCEPT OF THE OLYMPIC PARK. THESE TENT STRUCTURES COVERED THE AREAS OF ATHLETIC COMPETITION FOR THE GAMES. THE STRUCTURE IS VERY IMPRESSIVE, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THAT THIS WAS DESIGN IN 1976. IT IS A VERY DETAILED CONSTRUCTION WITH AMAZING CONNECTIONS. THE STRUCTURE GIVES YOU THE FEELING AS THOUGH IT WOULD BE SOFT, KINDA LIKE SOME JUST DROPPED A BLANKET OVER THE BUILDINGS.

CLOSER VIEW OF THE STRUCTURE

LIKE I SAID, CRAZY DETAILED CONSTRUCTION

DAY 3 EXCURSION: MUNICH-BMW WELT

BMW WELT- COOP HIMMELB(L)AU

DAY 3 EXCURSION: MUNICH

DACHAU CONCENTRATION CAMPTHE VISIT TO THE DACHAU WAS VERY DEPRESSING. YOU WOULD NEVER THINK THAT YOU WOULD FEEL THIS WAY SINCE YOU HAVE NO CONNECTION TO WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED HERE. I GUESS JUST BEING HERE WAS ENOUGH FOR ME TO FEEL DEPRESSED. ALTHOUGH, I DID MANAGE TO TAKE PLENTY PICTURES OF THIS EXPERIENCE, I DID NOT POST THEM. FOR ME, THESE PICTURES DO NOT EXPLAIN THE FEELING THAT YOU GET WHEN YOU ARE HERE IN PERSON. THIS ART PIECE DEPICTS THE PRISONERS IN THIS CAMP AS THEY STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL.

DAY 2 EXCURSION: NURNBERG

NAZI DOCUMENTATION AND RALLY GROUNDS

DAY 1 EXCURSION CONT: ZAHA HADID BMW CENTRAL BUILDING

DAY 1 EXCURSION: BAUHAUS

MEXICAN, NORDIC EMBASSY > USA, BRITISH EMBBASY

MEXICAN EMBASSY
-ALTHOUGH WE DIDN'T GET TO GO INSIDE, THE OUTSIDE FACADE DID ENOUGH FOR ME. I WAS VERY IMPRESSED BY THE ANGLED FACADE.




NORDIC EMBASSIES
- THIS EMBASSIES COMPLEX IS MADE UP OF FIVE COUNTRIES INCLUDING NORWAY AND FINWAY. THE SITE PLAN OF THIS COMPLEX WAS IN THE SHAPE A HAND AND EACH FINGER WOULD BE WHERE A COUNTRIES EMBASSY WOULD BE LOCATED. THE DESIGN EVEN WENT FAR ENOUGH TO PLACE REFLECTING POOLS IN BETWEEN THE "FINGERS OR COUNTRIES" TO ACT LIKE THE ACTUAL OCEANS THAT SEPARATES THESE DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. WHAT CAUGHT MY EYE WAS THE MANY DIFFERENT SKIN SYSTEMS THAT EACH BUILDING HAD, SUCH AS GREEN METAL LOUVERS OR OVER LAYERING BLACK GLASS.
COME TO FIND OUT THAT ALL THE LOVERS ARE NOT ABLE TO MOVE, SOME ARE STATIONARY IN DIFFERENT ANGLES DEPENDING ON HOW THEY WANTED TO BRING IN NATURAL LIGHT INTO A SPACE.
NORWAY EMBASSY. FOR THOSE BACK AT LOUSIANA TECH, YOU SHOULD REMEMBER THIS BUILDING. THIS WAS DESIGNED BY THE FIRM SNOHETTA , WHO LECTURED SOMETIME THIS PAST SCHOOL YEAR. MOST PEOPLE PROBABLY RECOGNIZE THE MASSIVE STONE THAT WAS BROUGHT IN FROM NORWAY AND USED AS PART OF THE FACADE OF THE EMBASSY.

ON TO POSTDAM

OUR TRIP STARTED BRIGHT AND EARLY AT 8 AM. THEN WE TOOK THE TRAIN FOR ABOUT 30-40 MINUTES TO POSTDAM. WE ARE SCHEDULE FOR A FULL DAY OF HISTORY TO SEE, BUT WHAT WE DIDN'T KNOW WAS THAT WE WERE WOULD BE A FULL DAY OF WALKING ALSO.

FIRST UP: THE NIKOLAIKIRCHE

THE Nikolaikirche WAS DESIGNED BY SHINKEL. LIKE MOST OF HIS BUILDINGS, THIS TOO WAS RESTORED, INCLUDING THE INTERIOR, IN 1981. HOWEVER, THIS BUILDING DOES NOT HAVE THE FAKE LOOK QUALITY LIKE SOME OF HIS OTHER RESTORED BUILDINGS. HOPEFULLY, I WILL PICTURES OF THE INSIDE LATER, WHERE THE ARRANGEMENT OF ORIGINAL STAUTUES AND PAINTINGS ILLUSTRATE THE BIBLICAL PHASES OF GOD'S REDEMPTIVE PLAN FOR MANKIND.

NEXT: POSTDAM'S VERSION OF THE BRANDENBURG GATE. THIS GATE ISN'T AS STUNNING AND MASSIVE, BUT REPLICA JUST SPEAKS TO HOW IMPORTANT THIS MONUMENT IS TO GERMANY'S HISTORY AND HOW THE MAIN PARTS OF THE CITY IS ALIGNED AND LAYED OUT LEADING UP TO AND FROM THE BRANDENBURG GATE.

A TASTE OF GERMANY. THE BRATWURST IS VERY GOOD AND MOST IMPORTANTLY IT IS CHEAP. ON THE OTHER HAND, THIS SMALL BUN JUST DOESN'T DO IT FOR ME.

AFTER WALKING THROUGH THE FIRST PART OF THE ENORMOUS SANSSOUCI GARDENS, WE COME UP TO AN AMAZING VIEW OF THE SANSSOUCI PALACE.

THE ATMOSPHERE IS SO RELAXING AND PEACEFUL OUT HERE. THE DESIGN OF THE PALACE IS LAYED OUT ON A CENTRAL AXIS CONNECTING THE GARDENS TO THE PALACE.

THE PALACE SITS ATOP THE SANSSOUCI GARDENS, WHICH OFFERS THE KING A OVERVIEW OF EVERYTHING BELOW HIM. HOWEVER, WHEN THIS PALACE WAS DESIGNED, THE ARCHITECT MADE A MISTAKE. THE DESIGN OF THE PALACE WAS SET TO FAR BACK, THEREFORE IT CAN BE SEEN FULLY FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE SANSSOUCI GARDENS.

THE SYMMETRY IS ALMOST PERFECT, EVEN DOWN TO THE WATER FOUNTAIN. I APPRECIATE THE DESIGN, BUT IT IS JUST TOO SYMMETRICAL FOR ME.

THE ATTENTION TO DETAIL IS GREAT IN THIS PALACE . HERE IS A SCULPTURE THAT IS PART OF A NON-STRUCTURAL COLUMN. THE DETAIL IN THESE SCULPTURES IS AMAZING, ALMOST LOOKING LIKE REAL LIFE.

BABELSBERG PALACE

SCHINKEL

POST WILL COME AS SOON AS I CAN FIND THE PICTURES.....

Historical or Not?

OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS WE WILL START TO VISIT AND ANALYZE MANY OF BERLIN'S HISTORIC CONTEXT WHICH INCLUDES MANY CHURCHES ,PALACES AND MONUMENTS. MOST OF THEM, IF NOT ALL , HAVE BEEN DESTROYED BEFORE AND SINCE BEEN REBUILT TO LOOK LIKE THEIR ORIGINAL STATE. THEREFORE, THIS PONDERS THE QUESTION OF WHETHER OR NOT THESE BUILDINGS ARE IN FACT HISTORICAL. SO I GUESS FIRST ONE MUST COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND WHAT IS HISTORIC? HISTORIC IS DEFINED AS WELL KNOWN OR IMPORTANT IN HISTORY; A HISTORIC BUILDING. ACCORDING TO THAT DEFINITION, THEN THEY ARE HISTORIC, BUT ARE THEY AUTHENTIC TO HISTORY. I BELIEVE THAT THERE INTENTIONS ARE FAITHFUL TO HISTORY BUT THE BUILDING ITSELF IS NOT HISTORIC( OR NOT FAITHFUL TO ITS OWN HISTORY). FOR ME, THERE IS A DISCONNECT BETWEEN THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE BUILDING AND ITS HISTORY. IF I KNOW THAT A CERTAIN BUILDING HAS BEEN REBUILT, IN MY MIND I HAVE LESS OF A APPRECIATION FOR IT BUT I STILL APPRECIATE IT TO SOME EXTENT WHICH MAKES ME UNDERSTAND WHY IT NEEDS TO BE REBUILT. I THINK ITS OKAY TO REBUILT HISTORY AS LONG AS ITS TRUE TO HISTORY. I THINK WHEN THEY START TO DESIGN THINGS LIKE THE "MEDIEVAL DISNEY WORLD" IT BEGINS TO PROMOTE FALSE HISTORY(SIMULATION). HOPEFULLY THIS FALSE HISTORY DOESN'T EVENTUALLY REPLACE ALL THE THOUGHTS AND VIEWS OF THE ORIGINAL HISTORY.

FIRST UP: MARIENKIRCHE

THE CHURCH WAS THE FOCAL POINT FOR BERLIN AND ITS IS THE MAIN REASON WHY THE PEOPLE WERE HERE. CHURCHES WERE USUALLY ESTABLISHED WITH A PLAZA SURROUNDING. THE MARIENKIRCHE HAS BEEN AROUND SINCE 1270, BUT HOW MUCH OF IT IS STILL ORIGINAL. ITS HAS BEEN REBUILT NUMEROUS TIMES AND HAD ADDITIONS MADE TO IT. THE FOUNDATION IS THE MOST LIKE PART OF THE CHURCH TO EVEN COME CLOSE TO DATING BACK TO 1270. THE CHURCH IS A MIXTURE OF DIFFERENT STYLES FROM DIFFERENT TIME PERIODS. I WOULD DESCRIBE IT AS EARLY GOTHIC, WITH ROMANESCE MASONRY WHILE THE TOWER( WHICH CAME SOMETIME LATER) IS MORE NEO GOTHIC.
A CLOSE UP VIEW OF THE MASONRY WORK. HERE YOU CAN SEE A WAR WOUND,( A BULLET MARK) MOST LIKELY FROM ONE OF THE WORLD WARS.