on sunday i went to utrecht. it is in the middle of the country closer to amsterdam. i went to walk around the downtown area and to hike out to the university of utrecht that has some pretty awesome buildings by some SUPERDUTCH firms (OMA, wiel arets, neutelings riedijk, others).
it was a cloudy day and i enjoyed the city center of utrecht. lots of people were out on sunday afternoon shopping and sitting in cafes. it feels medieval and almost italian. the church tower is visible from everywhere and the cathedral was quite impressive even though half of it was destroyed some time ago so it exists as half a sanctuary and then a tower. it feels fortified because the canals are set a whole story lower than the street (whereas in delft they are on the same level), so you have another walkway down along the water and catacomb-like spaces for storage or business. lots of restaurants set up in these subterranean spaces and put tables out along the water which at night seemed like a beautiful place to eat. the city definitely seemed magical at night. in one block i passed a music venue that hosted a diverse set of acts from sun o))) to maceo parker and marcus miller, art galleries, a good jazz record shop (i could see a vinyl copy of "water babies" on the shelf) that looked like it also had a hair salon in the back (very trendy), a good-looking greek restaurant, and a comic book store.
outside the main island area it gets more normal but still nice. it was a long walk out to the university but enjoyable as there was a lot to look at. along one of the main routes out of downtown i ate at daily wok, the euro-version of wagamama for some cheap noodles. as you continue out of town, the housing gets more standardized but still with big trees and restaurants in old train stations. i made a detour to see a famous house that wasn't very impressive in person and then kept walking.
once you get close to the beltway, you get into campus land with student housing in squat 2-story brick apartments, a big soccer stadium, and a nice campus for the utrecht college. there is a nice dormitory there that acts as a sound wall between an adjacent highway and the rest of campus. it is a long thin building where each student room gets a floor-to-ceiling window inside their brick bay unit. it is nice because it is sculpted to be a wall, with brick serifs coming off each end of the building, tapering to a point but still with windows as if the building isn't a new building but inhabiting a shell of a cathedral or fortress (there is an old fortress on the campus so maybe it is a reference to that).
i finally got to the university of utrecht only as the really interesting library by wiel arets closed at 6. the place was deserted and no buildings were open. i looked around as the sun was getting low, checking out some of the main buildings i didn't recognize and then rem's educatorium and a research building with snakes in the facade. the dorms were quite varied, from a very cosmopolitan high rise to a very eastern-bloc building made of prefab pods once painted and now weathered. it was interesting though as the campus was on farmland so you have these large projects and then across the bike path, the odor of cows and rabbits hopping down into creekbeds. i took a bus back to the main train station to start over and walk the downtown area (all the way south to the museum this time) again as the sun set.
like i said, the city is much more luxurious at night when people sit outside to eat and the lights reflect off the canals. it is quite a romantic scene. on one dock i passed a thai restaurant next to a north indian restaurant next to an italian pizzeria with tables along the water. i was very impressed with utrecht.
i really liked this bench.
my favorite canal/street, oudegracht.
the rietveld schroderhuis (1924). not that impressive in person. you can see all of the layers of paint. like other early 20th century experiments in modern construction, it seems flimsy. as an object or a set of planes in space it seems interesting but i don't know about as a home. i didn't see the interior though so maybe that is nice. i kept walking.
finally on campus at the university of utrecht.
the wiel arets library (2004) i had seen in some books. the paneled facade seemed pretty cool and the interior, from what i had seen, looked nice though i didn't get to go in because it closed. it takes this one pattern, shown below, and uses it both for an impression in the cladding and on the glass, maybe as a strategy to keep direct light down on all the precious books inside. very herzog & de meuron but it does the job.
also had this pool bowl entrance to a restaurant on campus. on top of the restaurant was a basketball court.
the educatorium by rem/OMA (1997). the diagram of this building is really evident. it is another ramp building and seems pretty successful. it would've been nice to see the interior.
a smaller funky building whose diagram is also evident, directly across the street from the educatorium. it is by UNstudio (ben van berkel), sort of a proto diller & scofidio type thing. i don't know. i don't know what happens inside either. it has some pretty nice circulation though.
building by neutelings riedijk (1997). i have trouble pronouncing that firm's name. i have been saying it out loud for the past 23 seconds. it has sprayed concrete as a facade with some odd tremors-esque worms crawling around. i don't know what happens inside, it is probably a lab building.
this building (the tower) is too sexy to be a student dorm. it should be relocated to miami.
again, i have no idea what is going on here. i think somebody was inspired by a shipyard. this is a dorm. i saw people in the windows cooking though i have no idea what goes on in those beams that go across. too industrial.
modular student housing. sort of crappy and weird. they are spined together and the walkways are covered but outdoors. heating bills must be really high.
ok. now you're tired and you're just playing with glass, jack. get on that bus and get back downtown before the sun sets completely.
good, i made it back downtown.
then i walked around for a bit and looked at all of the restaurants i couldn't eat in because i am poor. plus it is no fun to eat by yourself at expensive restaurants because there is no experience or environment or umwelt or milieu without (a) friend(s) to partake with. luxurious settings like that are meant to be enjoyed and that is hard to do by yourself, especially for me because i immediately devour my food without poise and am done too quickly to harvest pleasure from the experience. plus i didn't have a book and i didn't feel like drawing. oh, and i am poor. there are some good-looking restaurants though and a couple funky bars. i walked by one with a lot of rockers hanging out and a band that sounded like dinosaur jr. warming up.
the netherlands is the venice of europe.
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in other news, i finally named my laptop that i bought over a month ago. her name is worknesh mega. she is named after a lion i met in ethiopia because both animals are golden and powerful. at first i didn't really like the windows set-up but i optimized some things and now it is comfortable.
also: i found the veggie products at the supermarket. they are kept in the back in between two types of carcass. why would they be there? why would vegetarians even want to venture among the graveyard that is the meat section? regardless, i had veggie burgers yesterday and am planning to cook some tempeh this weekend too.
also: i went to a jam session last night for the school jazz association at a bar and played well on electric bass. the bar was tiny and filled with students. people there were pretty amateur but it was fun to shred a bit. they play the same tired stuff people in america play. people liked how i soloed though, even calling out for a bass solo, getting quieter, and then clapping. i laid down one jerry jemmott line from king curtis's "memphis soul stew" and everybody was feelin' all right. i met some people to play with, even playing this afternoon on a double bass at the cultural center for a while. we'll see how this goes.
school is OK. you can only check out 10 books at a time from the library and even when you do, people stare at you funny like you have a problem or are actively sprouting a second head from your original one. it is weird. the faculty closed at 7 pm today so i had to go home then. i went to a really good lecture this morning by philosopher patrick healy. he is teaching a class about the philosophy of image and its relation to architecture. he gave a mesmerizing talk about schinkel and berlin and the origin of museums as cultural spaces. he talked like a preacher. i looked at the clock a lot but it was honestly to wish that it was moving slower.
