Study Tour #1: Day three: Adjö!... almost.

02 July 2012, Monday

(Adjö = goodbye.)

the skylights underneath the fountain above in Sergels Torg.

After having the first half of the day to ourselves in lovely Stockholm, it was time to resume the study tour once again with the rest of our class. So we meet in front of the Kulturhuset at Sergels Torg, where another case study presentation was given, followed by an hour to sketch the living hell out of the public square (Sergels Torg) and surrounding (urban) architecture. After about the second sketch, I give up and go to the Design Torget store to wander. I met a few others in that store, too. It's no secret that sketching isn't a hobby for many of us. Even if we are designers. And especially when it is forced upon us.

After our "sketching hour" we meet again in front of the Kulturhuset to have lunch on the rooftop (thankfully paid by DIS... well, not quite, since our tuition/fees packages everything up nicely). It was getting rather chilly- appropriate for such Scandinavian weather; at least I was able to enjoy the sun's warmth for a day and a half. Lunch was incredible: salad, salmon, pasta, potatoes, and bread. As simple as the food might seem anywhere in Scandinavia- it is some of the best food I have ever had. Probably its just the "grass is greener on the other side" concept to foreign things. On second thought, I'm 90% sure it is that. Wait, let's break that 90% down:
It is about 50% of the foreign food aspect
and about 40% because of my tight budget and the limited food items I buy with it while travelling.

And it really looks like food that Ikea would serve, just better.

Millesgarden, looking towards Stockholm.

After lunch, we make our way, via our tour bus, to the Millesgarden, a former property/residence of a Swedish sculpture artist. And guess what- we sketched some more. Beautiful property, beautiful view of Stockholm, beautiful late afternoon sun. We had a sketchbook review on site, so we all passed our books around the circle of students. But it was apparent that some (most) students didn't care because some students would accumulate up to 5 sketch books at a time because others would just, literally, flip the pages and pass them along. I understand the pain though. After just a few sketchbooks, you're tempted to take out a lighter underneath the tender pages of each sketchbook. I'm not joking.

We had just one  more site to visit. One more before boarding the ferry to Finland. I could taste the mist of the Baltic Sea. Last stop: the Stockholm Public Library (Stadsbiblioteket), as designed by the Swedish architect Gunnar Asplund. Our enthusiasm about Stockholm had already reached negative levels, and all of us were ready for that ferry bound for Finland. The case study was presented for the library, we all sketched- or bummed out- for an hour, a few took 'sketching' lessons from a fellow classmate (she had a very unique touch to sketching), and then we all boarded the bus headed off to the ports.

Stockholm Public Library 

We didn't know the amount food that was awaiting us on the ferry.
We didn't know- or rather, we didn't yet comprehend- the amount of architecture by Aalto that awaited us in Finland.

Adjö Sverige!... for now.