Study Tour: Day 2, Western Denmark

After the bonfire last night,breakfast was hard to wake up for at 7:30 this morning. We ate and packed a lunch and boarded the bus for an immediate departure for the Trapholt Museum of Art. This museum, reminiscent of the Nelson Atkins museum in Kansas City, is sited embedded into a hill. As the rooms continue down the hill, the roof height retains a uniform elevation. As you progress through the museum, and continue down the hill, the ceiling gets higher and higher. Our main reason for visiting the Trapholt was to see their wonderful furniture display. They had pretty much every major Scandinavian designer represented and in most situations more than once. There was everything from veneer and tube steel chairs, to a room dedicated only to the modernist use of plastic in furniture. It was a great range and it is always fun to see all these pieces that one can only dream of owning. After spending a few hours in the Museum, we all ate our lunch in the shadow of Arne Jacobsen's summer home. He designed this home to be modular and prefabricated. And while this concept is kind of tired by now (sorry 804) one has to remember when this building was designed. Arne Jacobsen was working in the 30's-60s and was breaking new ground with this kind of work.

After lunch, we loaded back into the bus and headed to Aarhus University. AU is organized more like an American university rather than a common Danish one in that its campus, dorms, annexes, etc. are all on the same property. This is a far cry from the 45 minute bus ride I have to take every morning to get to the RAA (I'm thinking of buying a bicycle.) The buildings at first glance appear pretty non-descript. They are made of differing shades of yellow brick which gives them the appearance of deli-mustard, and retain a form akin to a child's drawing of a house: a right triangle, laid on its hypotenuse (wow not even going to pretend to spell that one right, thank god for spell check) on top of a rectangle. It is only upon entering do you get to see the details of the building. Undulating ceilings and angular rooms combine with underground tunnels and great open spaces. We weren't able to stay very long, mostly because we had appointments all over for tours and such so we hightailed it over to the city hall. This is another building designed by Arne Jacobsen. Every detail is thought out even down to the light fixtures and furniture. It must be nice to have a client willing to let you handle every such decision.

Our last stop for the day was a church located in Randers. It seems to follow the methodology of modernist Danish architecture in that all the good stuff is inside the building. The outsides of these structures tend to be on the non-descript side however, once you are in the building, the movements are spectacular. I think it has mostly to do with the fact that no one spends too much time outside due to weather, and cherish a good interior. Or maybe its just an aesthetic difference. Regardless, I am constantly surprised when I walk into one of these relatively un-exciting buildings only to be knocked back by its interior.

Tonight we are staying on the water, yet again, but this time in Aalborg.

Tomorrow we ferry to Stockholm and sleep the night there.