At DIS, Wednesdays are left completely open with no classes scheduled to allow room for Field Studies with your classes. This Wednesday I had my first Field Study with my 20th and 21st Century Danish Architecture class and it was amazing; we went to Bagsvær Church and Frilandsmusee.
Bagsværd is an incredible church that was begun in 1921 and finished in 1942 (which for the time period was long, but for its material was fairly quick). It is built entirely of brick, more specifically yellow brick, which was very unusual for the time but a native color to Denmark. Red brick was more commonly used because it was more prestigious and expensive, while yellow brick was cheeper and was not used as a facade material. The architect wanted to celebrate the Danish culture and thus used the bricks made of clay native to the land. Cost was probably a factor as well because this building is HUGE. When you walk inside you suddenly feel so small and the entire room just swallows you in the most mesmerizing way. All last year in history, my professor showed pictures of these tall, monuments cathedrals and churches but no matter how many pictures you look at, nothing prepares you for what it actually feels like walking inside. It was the most incredible and liberating feeling. To make it even better, the organist was practicing, so the church was filled with beautiful music. The experience makes me want to travel just to visit amazing cathedrals across Europe. *sighs* Why are there so many cool things in Europe and so little time?
Frilandumusee is also extremely cool. It is an open air museum of old houses. The museum curators traveled to Western Denmark and found old, old houses then took them apart and rebuilt them on the piece of land built by the museum. This creates a walking tour of Denmark in the 1700s and is a very eye opening experience. To understand how the buildings were designed to withstand the cold, howling winds and and limited sunlight was genius. I am surprised how much people today rely on central heat and air when there are much more economical and sustainable ways of designing buildings. But that, I suppose, is what these Field Studies are for. To open your eyes to things and give you a new perspective.
Mission Accomplished.
Bagsværd is an incredible church that was begun in 1921 and finished in 1942 (which for the time period was long, but for its material was fairly quick). It is built entirely of brick, more specifically yellow brick, which was very unusual for the time but a native color to Denmark. Red brick was more commonly used because it was more prestigious and expensive, while yellow brick was cheeper and was not used as a facade material. The architect wanted to celebrate the Danish culture and thus used the bricks made of clay native to the land. Cost was probably a factor as well because this building is HUGE. When you walk inside you suddenly feel so small and the entire room just swallows you in the most mesmerizing way. All last year in history, my professor showed pictures of these tall, monuments cathedrals and churches but no matter how many pictures you look at, nothing prepares you for what it actually feels like walking inside. It was the most incredible and liberating feeling. To make it even better, the organist was practicing, so the church was filled with beautiful music. The experience makes me want to travel just to visit amazing cathedrals across Europe. *sighs* Why are there so many cool things in Europe and so little time?
Frilandumusee is also extremely cool. It is an open air museum of old houses. The museum curators traveled to Western Denmark and found old, old houses then took them apart and rebuilt them on the piece of land built by the museum. This creates a walking tour of Denmark in the 1700s and is a very eye opening experience. To understand how the buildings were designed to withstand the cold, howling winds and and limited sunlight was genius. I am surprised how much people today rely on central heat and air when there are much more economical and sustainable ways of designing buildings. But that, I suppose, is what these Field Studies are for. To open your eyes to things and give you a new perspective.
Mission Accomplished.