Embassies and Berlin Dome, June 17

Today we saw three embassies; the Mexican Embassy, the Nordic Embassies, and the Saudi Arabian Embassy. Embassies are some of the best ways to represents a country's architecture in a nutshell - like an architectural spark notes. Designed to reflect the landscape of Mexico, the concrete facade evoked a sense of a heavy material connected to the land.

Next on the list was the Nordic Embassy for the five Nordic countries; Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. This embassy is the only embassy to contain five countries as one embassy since the countries have many similarities. The complex is wrapped in a copper-plate skin that is angled to control the amount of light that comes in. Each country's embassy is designed by a national architect, giving each building a distinct design of each country. The highlight of the trip was the Norwegian embassy which was designed by the firm Snohetta, who came to lecture at our school earlier in the school year. A massive 120 ton piece of granite anchors the south corner giving a large presence within the courtyard.Norwegian Embassy

Danish EmbassyFinnish Embassy lattice
IKEA furniture boxes next to the Swedish embassy

I guess IKEA now makes embassies too

Saudi Arabia Embassy

Next on our list was the most prominent Protestant church in Berlin, the Berliner Dom. Built in 1905 under the Hohenzollern ruling, it was meant to be the foremost protestant church in the western world - a Protestant version of the Vatican City. This church had a beautiful interior that was luxuriously decorated on the inside and a dome so big, it nearly knocked me off my feet. At the top of the church, you could walk around the dome and get a 360 panorama of Berlin. I was in awe the whole time.

Monday, June 14

Unfortunately, I haven't written in my blog in a while and much has happened over the weekend and the last two days. The weekend started out with a simple excursion to Northern Germany to be outdoors in the woods. We went to Rugen island to a national park on the northern tip of the island with Lindsay, Trey, Melissa, Lea, and Kyle. We had an eventful weekend as we hopped several different trains around the island, saw a children's concert, and almost slid down a cliff. We ended up tired and bruised on the train ride back to Berlin. The next day was our first official day of class. Dr. Etheridge, the history teacher, started us off at the beginning of Berlin history, at the Nikolai Quarter, the old Medieval town of Berlin. Although, old is a relative term since the site was bombed in WWII and rebuilt later, none of the buildings are the original construction. Much of what visitors see today is a replica of what used to be there except for the Nikolaikirsche (church). Although the place is a "Disneyland" of a Medieval town, the place feels believable to the untrained eye.

First few days in Berlin

Unfortunately, no, I did not get fish and chips in Heathrow. 11 pounds is way to much for something that used to live in the sea.
But enough about Britain, this is about Berlin. The capital of the motherland of my people. Do you feel the pride of German nationalism yet? I sure do. I must have seen my dad 3 or 4 times. Immediately, I could feel the cold hand of a former fascist state that terrorized the continent of Europe being replaced by the hand with a reach for the future. And there was no better way to descibe this other than the architecture built after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Our first day took us through many of the government buildings along the River Spree. One of the first buildings we stumbled upon was the Government Chancellory. This building housed the Chancelor's Office and other government officials. Along axis with it were other government buildings that connected East and West Berlin and bridged the gap over the river. The majority of it looked very similar to a white version of the National Assembly Center designed by Louis Kahn in Bangladesh.
Another government building we saw was the Reichstag. Originally built in 1894, burned in 1933, and finally returned to the active seat of the German Parliament in 1999, it was redesigned by Norman Foster to restore the dome. It is an elegantly designed piece that serves as a beacon in the city. Norman Foster has done an excellent job with the renovation of the Reichstag.