So strange, so beautiful

Wonderful, dreamy and peculiar they are, jellyfish - and you never really get to look at them properly. They are quite abundant in Danish waters, but hard to study in detail. Imagine my delight, when we visited the fantastic Monterey Bay Aquarium*, where an entire section is dedicated to them. These are common types in the Pacific area near Monterey, not odd or exotic varieties. I didn't write down the names, but just stood there, hypnotized, in front of the giant, backlit tanks, in the dark rooms, that made them gleam like jewels, and every tentacle, detail and colour stand out. Stunning!

 

*Check their Live Jelly Cam! 

 

Summer is coming to an end, and I am slowly starting to digest all the impressions from our long trip in July and August (we travelled on the US West coast), not to mention roughly organizing hundreds and hundreds of photographs, something I am always very keen to get done, but sadly do in short bursts of wild energy and determination (and then I don't get much done) and at very odd intervals.

I have thousands of unsorted photos in folders and folders, and they are both my treasure and a constant source of feeling behind. I think this is a very common problem, and sometimes I consider making dogma rules for myself, such as being only allowed to take ten photos per day, or doing a daily delete-session. Because sorting images for me is a big job: it actually means getting rid of all the redundant ones, only keeping the one or two of a certain scene I actually like, and it also means doing the big or small photoshop corrections on each image that may need them. And only then do I consider a folder of images sorted and done. And I do actually enjoy looking at my old photos, I frequently spend hours getting lost in them - I'd think rather have that than Netflix, any day. 

But what a job. Sigh. 

Summer Break

This blog will be taking a very official break (after a longer period of not very frequent posts - sorry about that, readers, I do hope you have found some of the old posts useful).

My family and myself will be making an old dream come true: the classic California roadtrip - from Seattle to San Diego with an lot of interesting stops on the way (Portland, Mount Shasta, Napa Valley, San Fransisco, Los Angeles - and a lot of smaller places like Monterey, Big Sur, Solvang, Palm Springs, Joshua Tree. Wow!).

It will be a big adventure, and I know I will be back with lots of new energy, power and inspiration, after a busy and a bit too challenging spring. And - perhaps best of all - an entire month spent in the company of some of the people I love best. Not too bad, huh? 

See you in late August, and a happy and peaceful summer to you all.

Architecture bucket list: Saarinen/Bertoia chapel at MIT

In my childhood home we had four large coffee table books (from a time before such books became common). They were bound in crimson pleather, and must have had colourful dust jackets, that must have gone missing at some point. To me, they were just 'the red books'. They were photo books with themes such as 'Fantastic Buildings of the World', 'Nature's Wonders' - and that sort of thing, you get the picture. And that was just the point: they were full of the most stunning full colour pictures, from LIFE magazine and National Geographic, as far as I remember. I clearly see, that much of my curiosity, my lust for travel and interest in architecture comes from getting lost in those books, hours on end. 

The books themselves are gone now, but I regularly have a moment of "where on earth have I seen this before, I know this from somewhere....? Aaaaaah, of course. I saw a photo in The Red Books!" 

This is exactly what I thought, when I saw an image of the wonderful hanging sculpture/room installation/altar backdrop, Harry Bertoia made for Eero Saarinens small chapel at the M.I.T. campus in Massachusetts (built in 1955). In one the aforementioned red books, there was full page of this fantastic cascading sculpture, and it was a particular favorite of mine. The utter simplicity of the idea, the way this feature in the space is almost alive and magical, like a waterfall of light or snow or flower petals.....

The windowless round brick building itself, is very simple (but has lots of lovely details in the brick- and wood work). The only natural light comes from the giant skylight above the altar, which is simply a white marble cube.

Now see for yourself (and there are a few links and a bit more info after the pictures).

All images are sourced from this very well written article from archdaily.com - read the article here, if you want to know more about this small, peculiar and stunning building:

AD Classics: MIT Chapel / Eero Saarinen

Jens Risom 1916 - 2016

I just learned that the distinguished Danish furniture designer, Jens Risom, died peacefully in his Connecticut home, aged a 100 years. 

He was truly one of the giants, and instead of a long text by me, go study the wikipedia article here.

To honor his memory, I will post some images from a stunning article Dwell made in 2012, about his modest Rhode Island summer house.

This house is really a gem - and it is something else as well: it is so incredibly Danish. Let's bear in mind that Jens Risom lived in the United States almost all his life, and is - by the way - much more acclaimed and well known in the USA. But this house shows just how deeply rooted he was in Danish design tradition and the whole Scandinavian mindset.

The house was built in 1967 from cheap prefab modules he found in a mail order catalogue, and was so ingeniously and beautifully carried out, that LIFE magazine dedicated a whole photo article to this crazy cheap house, built by the rich and famous furniture architect.

I will let the images speak.

(credits and a few more links at the end) 

All images are from Dwell, except the last one, which is by Tony Loung.

Dwell also did a little film (just five minutes) there, it is directed by Gary Nadeau, and it's just great!
Check it out, here on Vimeo - and imagine how lovely those summers on Block Island must have been. And listen to Jens Risom (aged 97 when they made the film) and his thoughtful words about design and about how to plan a perfect, little no-nonsense house.

Just for fun, I'll add this photo I found, from that LIFE article, back from when the house was new!

Spring favorite # 3: Vivian Maier, street photographer

I went to Dunkers Kulturhus in Helsingborg and saw the exhibition of the photographs of the mysterious Chicago and New York nanny, Vivian Maier (1926 - 2009), who turned out to be a world class street photographer, but only received the recognition she so enormously deserved, after her death - and by sheer chance. 

The story of this private and unusual woman, who earned her ways as a nanny for wealthy Chicago and New York families for more than forty years, but simultaneously managed to take hundreds of thousands of sublime photographs of street life in the 50ties and 60ies - is quite amazing. 

Check out the documentary 'Finding Vivian Maier', it is a really intriguing story! (It's on Netflix at the moment).

Here is a very small taste of her wonderful work (starting with one of her many odd self portraits). So full of human empathy, so gentle - and yet sharp and unflinching. And her mastery of graphic composition, is almost like a thing secondary to that fantastic eye. I will never stop being curious about just what it is (besides a certain technical knowledge) that makes a great photographer. She sure was one. 

See much more on her official website - and be prepared to browse for a long time!

January and Breeze Blocks

January has almost flown by in it's own dull way. I am very busy at the moment, and have less time for blogging than usual, but rather than pausing the blog, I'll just post whenever I can - and that's that. This is my space for sharing my paper craft craze, and also my drawer for keeping whatever I stumble upon, and somehow can't stop obsessing over.

Recently I have been dreaming about other times, places and warmer days on Instagram. I do that often, except when the place nauseates me with all it's peppy, staged wonderfulness, that has little to do with life as we know it. But who am I to criticize, I do that shit myself. I am in this dilemma most days of my life.
 

But Instagram is a great spot for curious souls to congregate and dream a bit, no matter the collective navel gazing. I like accounts with historic images, old architecture, and travel photography. And I have made a delightful and completely random discovery. 

I have fallen in love with breeze blocks, or as they are (apparently) more often called in US: cinder blocks. And what are they? Well, lightweight, ornamental building blocks, that allows the light and wind through decorative openings, one might say. 

They are an architectural detail I have often noted, and admired, and much seen in mid century modern architecture, but with roots in Arabic/Mauric and even Asian culture, at least the way I see it. And if you love geometric patterns, you must love breeze blocks.
 

When I was in Miami last year, I noted their practicality - the way they're adding a shading, cooling layer to a facade or in front of a patio or balcony. Apparently they are also a practical building material in areas with high winds or hurricanes.

I mostly love them for their abundant variety - when you get into the topic, it's unbelievable how many different kinds you have been able to get in the thirties to seventies, alone in the USA.

I've discovered that there are a lot of breeze-block heads out there: check Instagram or Pinterest!

My favorite spot - from where I have reposted all these images below - is @breezeblockhead, with images from all over the world, curated by the Australian architect Sam Marshall.

Se the bottom of the post for individual photo credits.

Images from top:
1: Brisbane by @endless_summer_studios, 2: by @kunstambauddr, 3: by @joegaldo, 4: Parker Hotel, Palm Springs by @meloccomoorearchitects, 5: Motel Mexicola by @concrete_swan, 6: by @breezeblockhead, 7: Barcelona by @stoptheroc, 8: by @jeremywilliam123, 9: by @rorythearchitect, 10: Palm Springs by @judeeeoliva.