Hannover

Our last stop was Hannover, and the architecture school where our local hosts were based. It was a bit like trading places for one week-- our architecture school for theirs-- with the odd similarities and contrasts.

The building was not so different from ours, with a sort of faded appearence.


Being a public university, and our class being a short summer workshop, we didn't have access to the "mod cons" we are used to-- internet access was limited, as were scanners and printers. We made do-- this was my group's workspace for the week.


Hannover did not have Thomas Jefferson, but it does have its own baroque garden, a la Versailles, pretty much across the street from the architecture school. We had a guided tour with one of the local professors. The planted form included a lot of allees, hedges, and trees that had been heavily pruned. These forms extend out from the garden into the surrounding urban landscape, including this unbelievably long allee of lindens that led to the school.


I noticed how the hedges showed differing degrees of transparency-- letting light through, or blocking views, in different ways.


Also near school, another street with planted allee led to the Kleingartens, the local version of community gardens. Compared to ours, these gardens are more like "country homes," although the small sheds are meant for day-use and not overnight stays. I have the sense that the American model is more about cultivating a productive patch, so to me, the Kleingarten seemed very expressive of each individual's personality-- the details were more homey-- like more imaginative front lawns (if the lawns included a lot of plants). Unfortunately, my camera batteries gave out at this point, so I don't have a good image of these places.

Berlin part 2

A few more images from Berlin:

on our ride through the Tiergarten...


we saw an amazing path (the trees came first)...


and sat with some beers and pretzels, with the late afternoon sun streaming through the trees.


We had one night in Berlin, and made our way to two interesting and relaxing spots-- the first was one of many "beach bars" in the city. The scheme is very simple-- sandy mounds, lights, music, a billiards table (!), brats and beer. Everyone sat on the ground, on wooden pallets or right in the sand, and talked quietly in small groups. It was more like being in a friend's backyard than having a night on the town in a busy metropolis, and I liked it that way.




On the last morning of our stay, I walked through Tascheles, an art space in a formerly abandoned warehouse, famous as a surviving example of the artist squat culture that arose after wall fell.

I was struck by how this eclectic, decaying building and its culture was quite central and visible, and welcoming to all-- not at all secret or peripheral as I imagine it would be in the States. Julie thought that this practice of re-using abandonded spaces might be more "normal" in an old (post-war) urban fabric, where it is not as easy to build entirely fresh...

dike and river

In Holland and in Germany, we saw how the dike landform becomes a place of travel. We drove a car, rode our bikes, and walked on the dikes-- they let you move through the surrounding landscape at the same time as being elevated above it. We also saw that the dike at the Elbe was a place to stay for awhile-- a pause on a journey.




At the Elbe, we watched huge container ships on their way out of the port of Hamburg. After we stood for awhile, the wake from the massive ship reached us at the shore.

Our home in the Altesland

During our visit to Altesland, we stayed at Harms farm, an apple orchard that was a bit like heaven (complete with miniature ponies). We worked and ate at long wooden tables, pinned up on the wall of the farmhouse, and slept in large tents(ok, so that part was not so heavenly, due to the cold!).

travels day 4: Altesland

Yes, more bikes!

We met the larger group of students and faculty and once again hopped on bikes to explore the Altesland, one of the most productive fruit-growing regions in Germany.

We had a gorgeous ride on top of a small dike that ran along a smaller river leading to the Elbe. The late afternoon sun turned the fields golden, from our (moving) vantage point we could see out over fruit orchards, people mowing, drainage ditches, and traditional homes with thatched rooves.

look left and right, but stay on the dike!



on the large Elbe dike:


typical Altesland landscape:


I liked this two-tone hedge:

Berlin memorials

We spent just one afternoon and night in Berlin, so had a quick tour of the civic and cultural highlights. We saw several poignant memorials to the city's troubled past:

remants of the wall in Potsdamer Platz


a memorial of book burning during the Nazi era


the memorial to murdered Jews

travels day 3: Berlin

A new city, new bikes...