On my way home

After a hard day of fieldwork shooting in Havnestaden, a new residential district of Copenhagen, I get to bicycle home towards this setting sunlight.

How do I say..

Brilliant!

City break I

Monday morning

As winter approaches, beautiful sunny mornings are few and far between. A mixture of a "hyggelig" weekend, followed by a crisp autumn monday morning, good cafe latte, and camera in hand - the view of life in Copenhagen from my balcony is near perfect.

Lazy Danish Sunday

A Sunday Smile by Beirut

Focus

Let the sun shine

According to Wikipedia, DST or "daylight savings time is the convention of advancing clocks so that afternoons have more daylight and mornings have less". The result of this clock shift during spring time is the reversal of this action during the fall season. For most of my life in Canada, the date where my days falls backwards is usually the first Sunday in November. But this year in Denmark, I will be setting my clock back one week earlier this coming Sunday October 26.

Perhaps the days will linger as a result, but the disadvantages of daylight savings time prevail harshly during dark Danish mornings and gloomy bicycle rides to school. Already, there has noticeably been a difference in the last month as I force myself out of bed in darkness at 7:30am. So now, as I head towards the shortest day of the year coming in two months with only 7 hours and 2 minutes of precious daylight [source], the real fight against SAD (seasonal affective disorder) begins.

UPDATE

Biggest DST advantage: On this night, I will be partying for one hour longer!

Pluck me

Yellow VI - Home at last!

To view the rest of my "yellow" series, click on the following links:

Yellow I,
Yellow II,
Yellow III,
Yellow IV,
Yellow V

Pinnacle II

Seen in Hoorn, Netherlands

Pinnacle I

Amsterdam Docklands II

Hoop, Leifde, en Fortuin

The apartments of Hoop, Leifde en Fortuin, or Hope, Love and Fortune, is named after 3 windmills situated in the area in the 17th century. It is located on the north side of the Rietlanden district, an area which is a turning point between the city and the Eastern Docklands.

The housing complex was designed by architect Rudy Uytenhaak and consists of overlapping planes coated with different materials, including the black spots near the windows which is an artwork of Willem Oorebeek.

Incandescent inefficient

Mathematics of life

Intrusion II

Strategically placed?

But maybe not universally accessible, and definitely too high for me to reach.

Trials and Tribulations II

Being from Montreal, I'm pretty sure I know what a good bagel is. If you have ever visited Fairmount bagels, the 24 hour bagel bakery in Mille End, or even its' competitor, St. Viateur bagels located nearby, you would then agree with me that the best bagels come from this city. So, it is sometimes beyond my comprehension that internationally, the bagel is known to be part of American food and culture.

However, as the search for professional work in Copenhagen in design and architecture proves to be more and more difficult than I had imagined, the idea of exercising my bagel knowledge and claiming myself as an American bagel maker seems closer to reality. Somehow, while each month of my stay passes by and the image of myself as a designer falls more and more unreachable into the distance, the picture of myself as a Merry Bagel-maker at the Bagel Co. simultaneously becomes clearer.

After all, in reading the key criteria below, I would like to think that I fulfill the qualities necessary for becoming a bagel-maker. Of course, perhaps the part about "fondness for and familiarity with the U.S" could be improved upon. And finally, wouldn't I just feel so proud to work for a company with such a strong sense of American branding that head office is actually located on Amerikavej? Yes, this will be my road to success in Copenhagen!

But then, embedded in the first paragraph of the posting, an unfortunate statement lies, screaming up at me, "To be employed, you need to speak Danish and English fluently". As I am only 5 weeks fluent in Danish and yet still to pass Module 1, with 6 to go, it dawns upon me that this Montrealer with years of Fairmount bagel knowledge will not become a Merry Bagel-maker in Copenhagen. Next?

For better or for worse

First day of my life by Bright Eyes

Lasse II

Intrusion I

kleejourneys collaborates with Spacing

Spacing Toronto is a blog that is published by Spacing, an award winning magazine that presents journalism on "the joys, obstacles, and politics of Toronto’s urban landscape". Thanks to Dylan Reid, associate editor and writer, I am very pleased to report that kleejourneys has been given the opportunity to partake in the Spacing Toronto blog.

During my stay in Copenhagen, one of the many subjects that kleejourneys will focus upon, will be about public spaces within Europe, especially places that are created and designed by the community. Two days ago, I posted about the Rotterdam Skatepark and yesterday, this entry was cross-posted in Spacing Toronto (click here).

Please stay tuned for more observations and photography about public driven spaces.

For more information about Spacing, visit their website.

Skatepark, Rotterdam

One of the more interesting sites in Rotterdam, Netherlands, is the Skatepark occupying the midsection of Westblaak, a main thoroughfare in the city centre. The public skate facility opened in 2000 and includes 6700m2 comprising of 11 stainless steel obstacles for inline skating, skateboarding and BMX stunts. There is also a green area for relaxing and an on site restaurant.

The most important element of this park is the fact that it was the young skaters of the city who came up with the idea of the park. They also played a key role in the planning and design process of the facility by providing input and knowledge of their needs in such a space.

For more information about the park, please visit their website.

Jan Willem