The Past Two Weeks of Copenhagen

Since I've been busy with my studio project, I haven't had the time to update much on the site. However, I haven't had much time to do anything else either. But for those days when it was absolutely necessary to put down the pen and paper and relax, I was able to fit in a little bit of fun:

Joe and I visited the legendary Christiana awhile back. If you don't know about it, Christania is a small sector in Copenhagen where students, low-wage employees, and rebels against institutionalized government congregated in the 50's and 60's. It is a shanty town of hand built structures and a vernacular appeal that is extremely unique. Christania is also know the world over for being an independent "society" of people who don't want to be forced to live the way the government mandates. Those living in Christania did not pay taxes to the government, they protested with rallies, and led free lifestyles. This may sound extremely similar to the hippies in America around the 1960's. And it was. Christania was, up until about 5 years ago, just pushed aside in Denmark's eyes. Nobody touched it, nobody cared. But times changed. The selling of marijuana began to run wild, and up unitl 5 years ago it was known that it was the center of the weed world in Denmark. New laws against marijuana have caused the police to patrol the streets night and day to stop any illegal activity. Although it is very rich in its drug community, those living in Christania don't like hard drugs.
In fact, there have been cases where those who start selling hard drugs like cocaine, crack, heroine, etc... have been muscled out and sent somewhere else because that is not the style of Christania. It's a fun place to be during the day, too. If you're not into the hashish that's for sale, there are plenty of other things to do at the local cafe's and jazz clubs. It's actually a family affair during the day. Families walk through the area like a park. Kid's ride their bikes around, people taking walks, people just hanging around, that sort of thing. So, although the pictures paint what would be considered a run down, gang infested part of an American city, it is infact the character of the people that live there that really adds a sense of community and safety instead of an inner city ghetto.

On another note, last friday was a belated festalavn party at DIS. Some of the guys in architecture put together a cover band and played for the party. They played anything from the Beatles to Coolio. Ganster's Paradise has never sounded the same.

My last adventure of the past week was last night. First concert in Denmark, or Europe for that matter. It was a Damien Marley reggae concert. Damien is Bob Marley's youngest son. It was a great concert, almost front row. Five of us went, Wylie, Ian, Ryan, Ben, and Carmody. Good times, good times.

Waste some time with a game!

Hey, for those of you who get bored with my blog site, I've decided to liven things up a bit with the addition of a game on the sidebar to the right. If you don't want to listen to the music, just turn it off on the game. WARNING!! It is highly addictive. Play at your own risk as you may loose track of time and miss that all important thing you had to do just because you were playing a silly game! There, you have been warned... Enjoy!

Project is Finished!

My second project for the semester in studio in done as of today. I had presentation critiques and now I am done. I know its been awhile since my last post, and the project is why. It was a very good presentation, and my professors really enjoyed it. They did, however, say that I had too much detail to everything, and that I should have left it more conceptual in my presentation. But, it was a Kansas State level of work and at KState you don't leave your project in a conceptual state when it is ready to turn in. Everything has to be thought out, and you should try to get as many ideas as possible without cluttering the boards. So I took it as a compliment that I had "too much" detail. I'll be posting the rest of the pictures very soon, they will be available on my link to the project on the top, right hand side of the screen. I'll have complete computer renderings, along with model shots, and final boards. Until next time.....