Day 49_Reflections on Lessons Learned

The trip has had so many memorable events and we've seen and done so many interesting things.  However, I would be remiss without some sort of personal reflection on lessons learned (in no particular order).

1.  So many places revealed good examples of how to incorporate modernity amidst old design.  Bike lane adaptations, the addition of new housing and other infill in old neighborhoods, reuse of things like industrial plants, churches and streets that maintain history and culture, but adapt to modern civilization.

2.  Look to the Moors for how to carefully design with water.  They were experts in physically and psychologically cooling people in hot places, using natural systems in their design, and minimizing waste.

3.  Always look to the river as a design amenity rather than a sewage outlet.  San Luis Obispo wisely discovered this when it re-oriented to the creek.  The Los Angeles River will also eventually use their amenity, but only after 100 years of building and incredible financial cost.

4.  Formal design structures the space, with soft planting softening it.

5.  Always create places for people to sit--because they will--despite the weather.

6.  Design can be all hardscape if you mix the patterns for visual interest.  Trees can be your only plant with this type of design.

6.  Though Europeans have historically been homogeneous by region, immigration is changing the face of Europe.  Like the U.S. where "American" is a mix of ethnicities, religions and ideas, individual physical characteristics within each country are changing.  Americans don't have a single look (though I could usually identify them by their clothes).  For Europeans, the same change is occurring.  It will be interesting to see what historic cultural elements are kept and what types of new places are incorporated by this blend.

7.  Pack very light so you can carry on all your luggage.

Day 48_Amsterdam

Amsterdam is a three hour train ride from Maastricht.  One thing you can't help but notice is the enormous amount of water everywhere.  And the water level is often higher than the road or nearby neighborhoods.  Dikes hold back the flooding, but it is amazing opposite to the Mediterranean which fights the other problem most of the time--lack of water.  Another obvious cultural standout is the number of people who ride bikes in the Netherlands.  They don't have snappy, bright colored ones with banana seats or any other suped-up versions.  Instead, most are black, single speed, that creak when they pass you (like the bike is trying to change gears).  I saw one that had the chain area duct taped to the bike, ghetto-style.  With this large number of bikers, design is responsive.  One of the newest bridges has a bike tire detail so that people can push their bike relatively easily up and down a steep slope.

In Amsterdam, I wanted a hotel near the airport to minimize my short night sleep.  I found one called Yotel Schiphol, which is actually IN the airport.  The size of the room is approximately 10' wide x 7' deep and feels like a boat cabin.  The bed is a bunkbed with a step to climb up; TV imbedded in the wall in case you are in the mood.  The bathroom is one long thin space with a shower, sink and toilet.  The curtain keeps the water from going into your suitcase, approximately 6" away. It is hard to photograph as you simply can't "get back" far enough and still be in the room.   I have to say I had a great night sleep there.  It was quieter than Nice, had softer bedding than Barcelona, and was just funny small.  Truly worth the 60 EUR fee.

Day 47_Maastricht

The Netherlands, Holland, Dutch...why does the country have so many different names?  Apparently, I stand corrected that the Netherlands is not The Netherlands in the same way that the United States is not The United States.  The names historically are derived from politics, linguistics and geography.  all are correct.  Anyway, that's where I am these days.

Conference went well on Wednesday followed by a lovely dinner with 15 various faculty from University of Washington, North Carolina, Penn State and Cal Poly.  Fun to compare how low their course loads are compared to ours--yet we have the same publication requirements.  Thursday we took a walking tour of Maastricht.  What is interesting is that we took almost the exact same route I took myself on Tuesday, knowing nothing about the city, its history or important buildings and neighborhoods.  I guess I am getting good at being a "local."  (I do have to say, however, that I usually had more historical and trivial information for my students when I took them on walking tours than the local landscape architect for our journey...).   On my first individual venture I came across a church which was colored deeply red on top.  On my guided tour I found out it was originally painted in ox blood, left uncolored on the bottom because "they liked it that way."  (Hmm...I usually do not allow my students to offer that sort of design justification.)  According to the story, this Protestant church would ring its bells when the Catholic church next door held its services and vice-versa.  Good Christian ethics at work in the 17th century.  Another unused church has become the city's most expensive hotel, like the bookstore in layout with freestanding stairs and rooms which do not effect the architecture.  Europeans are good at realizing these places have value, regardless of use change and should be preserved.

We took a bus out to the countryside to see an 18th century estate, which has the oldest Baroque garden in the Netherlands.  In the process of on-going restoration, it is a formal, clipped evergreen garden with modern overtones.  Apparently the last time Belgium and the Netherlands were at war, the nobleman who lived at the estate requested to be a part of the Netherlands rather than Belgium.  Consequently, his stone wall is the Belgium border.  I touched the wall so I could say I'd been to Belgium that day.

Day 45 and 46_Maastricht, The Netherlands

With the exception of perhaps Hawaiian, Dutch must be the language with the longest words.  My hotel is on Endepolsdomein (street) next to Heerderdwarsstrasse (street).  I asked at my hotel front desk clerk  if they have to use a lot of hyphens here.  Maastricht is an effiicient couple of train hours southwest of Duisburg and the location of my conference.  My trip is definitely slowing down from the frenetic pace of last month with me lazily doubling blog days into one.  Monday and Tuesday I was alone to explore this very ancient (first city in the Netherlands) and cultural city.   I had one place in mind that I wanted to see:  the bookstore Selexyz Dominicanen.  An abandoned Dominican church since 1794, it had previously been used for housing the city archives to storage for motorcycles and bikes.  In an inventive re-use of the building, it is now a bookstore where the freestanding, two story shelves do not negatively effect the 15th century architecture.  Grave stones in the floor of the church can be clearly seen, and the former apse if now a cafe.  While it may seen sacrilegious to create an altar-shaped table here, somehow it seems appropriate and reminds us of the building's former sacred use.  The height of the bookshelves brings you closer to the ceiling to examine the paintings and details that usually require a telephoto lens.

The city of Maastricht lines the Maas River with old bridges connecting both sides, some adapted to large barges which could otherwise not fit under the ancient stone arches.  The buildings are butted tightly together, San Francisco style, with each having its own architecture, but all having steeply pitched roofs.  (Usually the roof is the give away for weather in a place, as snow needs to quickly get off these roofs to minimize water and weight damage.)  The weather the past couple of days has been 6 C with light rain and wind--not great walking weather.  I popped into a cafe for an all you could eat soup bar which I was going to put on my ears to warm them.

Like many places in Europe, Maastricht is rather newly affiliated with The Netherlands, joining in the mid-1800s.  It has gone back and forth between being part of France and Belgium and the language shows it.  I was listening to several people, thinking it sounded French, then German words would be inserted.  The language seems to combine many of the past conquerors.

The Netherlands is known for its liberal drug laws and I saw a funny sign for a shop in town.  (And it was not in the shady section of town either.)

Day 44_Duisburg, Germany

I am slowly making my way to the conference in Maastrict, The Netherlands.   There were no direct flights from Gothenburg so I flew to Dusseldorf and took the train to Duisberg, Germany.  What a difference an hour flight makes.  The landscape in Germany is lush, green with lots of trees.  Passing small villages, a tall steeple highlighted the church in each town.  Modern wind turbines mix with ancient wind mills in this landscape of old and new.   (With Ryan Air, you never know where you are going to land.  I thought I was flying to Dusseldorf, but was actually an hour away in Weeze.  Be forewarned with Ryan Air that you will eventually get to the advertised city, but you will need to train or bus there after your flight.)

I came to Duisburg to see the most innovative park designed in the last 15 years.   Landscaftspark Duisburg Nord is a re-imagined park on a former 200 hectare industrial site.  Landscape architect Peter Latz built off Rich Haag's ideas at Gas Works Park in Seattle, re-using the industrial buildings and remnants in new ways.  This brilliant park combines industrial history, nature, recreation, leisure and culture into one place.  Latz's concept here was to heal and understand the industrial past, rather than try to reject it (as most designers would have sent everything on site to the landfill).  He allowed the polluted soil from this very large gas plant to remain on site and remediated it through phytoremediation (which is when plants pull the pollutants out of the soil).  Some of the park is intentionally planted while other parts are allowed to keep the weeds/seeds that were brought in over time by ship and train to the site.  Both are lovely.  The Old Emscher river, which was formerly a disposal outlet for wastewater, has been redesigned to now hold only rainwater  (wastewater is carefully separated and taken to the sewer).

Using the old equipment, you can climb high onto the plant pieces to see over the park.  Other elements from the factory include the gas holder used as a scuba diving tank and former ore bunkers are rock climbing walls.  Children's playgrounds have been woven into the site, cutting the concrete into doorways or steps.  Trails follow the former train tracks and sewer system.  Concert venues, amphitheater, restaurants are also on site using old buildings. With so much steel in the factory, new elements use more steel to tie the new design together with the old.   A sustainable farm highlights the past use of the site before the Industrial Revolution.  The park design is incredibly beautiful and you can see the way the natural world is being allowed to take over the industrial one. 

Day 42 and 43_Gothenburg and Mariestad

On Friday I had intentions of going to the Botanical Gardens, but the infamous Gothenburg wind and rain was the morning greeting.  The day was cold and dark and looked like January in California rather than late spring.  I decided to stay inside, tweak my lecture for next week, and work on a simple design for Michael and Andrea's garden.  Though I was content with the birthday celebration from my actual birthday, Michael and Andrea wanted a proper dinner that evening.  Nordgarden is a Michelin-rated restaurant in their town with fabulous food.  Lamb on a bed of risotto with kalamata olives and green beans was a memorable meal.  The Edstrom family has definitely wined and dined me for the week.  They have great South African wines in Sweden (which I have never seen in California) and I appreciate Michael and Andrea sharing them with me. 


We traveled to Mariestad on Saturday, having breakfast with Andrea's parents at their summer house.  Nestled on former agriculture land, the 1893 house is a welcome retreat for Andrea's family.  Last year, Andrea's father shot a moose on the property--and that was our dinner on Saturday night (with Vina Robles' Petite Syrah ((they have Paso Robles wines at their liquor store!))).  We spent most of the day at Sara's gymnastics meet for which she got a medal.  While the meet was interesting to watch, I couldn't understand a word from the announcer.  The numerous language changes during the past few weeks have become almost white noise since I rarely understand any of it.  I can't imagine how frustrating it must be for people to get around in the U.S. without English.

Day 41_Gothenburg museums

Museums are usually closed on Mondays.  When I worked at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Mondays were always interesting.  That was the day when patrons, or Hollywood royalty (entertainers), or the artists themselves, would come to the closed museum for a private visit.  My Monday visit to Gothenburg required a Thursday return in order to see two museums.  The Art Museum mainly includes Scandanavian artists, many of whom I had never heard of because they are only regionally known.  It was interesting to see how many had moved to France and Germany and were exposed to art movements like Impressionism and German Expressionism, then returned  home to put their own spin on the representation.  One of my favorite rooms was from a self-portrait collection.  In the 1920s, a young postal worker who appreciated modern art met many of 20th century's greatest painters when they were still unknown.  He collected their self-portraits, some 50 odd number, and donated them to the museum after his death.  I find it fascinating to see how people portray themselves.   I don't know that many of us really know what we look like or are honest in our assessment.  For me, caricatures often don't look like the person I think I am.

The City Museum was also very good.  It showed the history of Gothenburg from the Viking era to their vision of the city in 2050.  A Viking ship (found in the 1930s in layers of mud) is amazingly still in tact for being over 1500 years old.  The change from Viking to Christian rule around 1050 completely changed the culture, its religion and society seen through its architecture and artifacts.  Models of the city with its ramparts and fortifications during the on-going wars with the Danes (for nearly 1000 years!) revealed their jogging footprint in the canals today.  Nineteenth century emigration was highlighted, with lists of families leaving Sweden for the U.S.  I didn't see any Edstroms, but our name is rare.  The city of the future in 2050 highlighted the existing landscape with the anticipated new sustainable city.  Pulling the city across the bay and linking it to the island where businesses like Volvo are located, showed mixed use housing, green roofs and a clean bay, anticipating that the industrial role of the city will diminish.  Photoshop images showed how the city will keep its historic buildings and ancient city walls and weave the new design into the old infrastucture.

Having been in Sweden nearly a week, I have had the chance to really notice things, like looking at people.  My father is 100% Swedish and I never really knew what "Swedish" people looked like.  I see my father's face on so many men here, faces I did not see in the other countries.

Day 40_Kungsbacka. Sweden

Old and new--both beautiful in their settings.  I visited a modern castle, c. 1904, called Tjoloholms Stott located in Kungsbacka, about 20km from Michael's house.  Built by a rich Scotsman named James Dickson (whose grandfather started the famous Swedish East India trade company), this English Tudor-style manor is a located on a peninsula with panoramic views of the sea.  Walking around the estate, the house is centered on an island with formal, symmetrical gardens continuing this focus.  Simple, evergreen, structured with stone walls, these gardens remind me of Ireland where the focus is not on flowers but on form (plus they have short summers).  Woodland plants like ferns, bulbs and primula bloomed under the trees along the naturalistic edges by the house.  I walked to the worker's village, small cathedral, and school which the family built for its employees.   Now you can rent these cottages for a vacation with the school a cafe/restaurant.  Mr. Dickson never saw the completion of his estate:  after cutting his finger while opening a bottle of champagne, he wrapped the lead foil wrapper around the cut.  He died of lead poisoning--so don't do that at home.

Ten kilometers further was a small village called Askhult which has been preserved to about 1825.  This peasant farmer village grouped its houses around a central stone gathering space, with the agricultural fields skirting the edges of the community.  Usually four to five families lived here at a time--though only once in 400 years did one of the children marry each other (perhaps the togetherness of growing up was enough).  Some of the buildings were constructed in the 1600s and remain today, with small restoration efforts to their weathered oak siding and grass thatched roofs.  The houses are furnished with period appropriate domestic items--like looms, bedding, and their pots and pans--from the 1600s - 1800s.  While the modern Swede is pretty tall, these homes had ceilings around 5'6" (which is perfect for me since I am 5'5").  I guess they didn't eat as much dairy then.  The houses had few windows despite how long the dark winters last in Sweden.  It was interesting to imagine my ancestors in similar settings as my Swedish grandparents only emigrated from to the U.S. in 1910.  Ironically, my brother has returned.

Day 39_Gothenburg community

The sun rises at 5am and sets around 9pm right now so the days are long.  It was so bright so early thought I overslept today as I needed to get up at 6:30am to help with Michael's children.  Michael is in Belgium for work for a couple of days; Andrea is at an in-town retreat.  I am thrilled that I can help them and spend alone time with my niece and nephew.  Michael has always spoken English to his children so they are fluent, though shy to speak with me.  Without Michael and Andrea as translators, however, they have had to speak English to get what they need.  They have cute accents.

Michael and Andrea live 22km south of Gothenburg in a small community called Kullavik.  While the city of Gothenburg is dense, a short drive south becomes a rural community, dotted with homes and small farmsteads.  Most homes are white, yellow or red, often with stone walls surrounding them.  Groves of trees line the hills with large grass fields in between.  While visiting Gothenburg yesterday, I went into two churches that had cafes in the back--not in the foyer but actually in the church sanctuary.  When I came across the second one, I had to ask why (thinking perhaps the churches were no longer used as churches).  I was wrong.  The cafe provides a community space for those who come to the church as the Swedish believe church is about community.  There is no way to talk during the service, but the cafe keeps people engaged afterwards, especially if they live in rural outlying cities.  Because of the cold and rainy weather, they often cannot sit outside.

I spent most of the day working on a presentation for a conference next week.  Two papers were submitted in February and will be published in the conference proceedings.  Both are in the pedagogy or teaching theory track.  "Teaching Scenarios of New Normals:  Grounding Innovative Landscape Architectural Design in Futures Studies," is not as academic and boring as it sounds.  This presentation is on a new class I taught in the fall in which I used Futures Studies methodology, or an envisioning process based on innovative design and ideas, to stimulate innovation in landscape architecture.  It was a transdisciplinary study, meaning it looked at patterns and change across disciplines, to look for solutions in landscape architecture.  I had never seen it done before and thought it would be interesting, so my presentation will be on the course organization and results.

A couple things of note.  Swedish kronas are like pesos or lira where you need a lot of them to add up to a small amount.  The exchange right now is 7 kronas to the dollar, so my boat ride yesterday was 140 krona, but only $20.  I also like the signs around here as it reminds of my favorite store:  IKEA.   Somehow they look familiar because of my shopping trips. 

Day 38_Gothenburg city

Rocks, water and trees are the most prevalent thing you see in Gothenburg.  The port wraps itself around the city and the canals weave deeper into it.  I spent the day walking around the city, looking at the way it is designed and the architecture.  There is an austerity to the design which seems to match the weather.  By this point in the trip, I have walked around a lot of cities and this is the one where I feel the most safe.  There are no homeless or begging people that I have seen.  My brother said it is pretty hard to be homeless with the safety nets in place here.  When we were at the grocery store, there was a small scanner attached to the cart which you used each time you added food to your grocery bag.  At the time of checkout, you submitted the scanner.  Occasionally you are spotchecked (requested by the computer) to redo the scan to verify accuracy.  Things seem to be on an honors system for the most part.

A boat ride through the canals and into the bay was a day highlight.  In the 17th century, Dutch lived in Gothenburg and helped develop the canals to bring the products from the boats in the harbor to the merchants in town.   Some of the bridges are so low, the boat ride required us to duck to go under.  When we got out into the harbor the winds from the sea were bonechilling.  After an hour, I needed a large hot cup of coffee and of course an accompanying small dessert (Michael says they are called vacuum cleaners--which seems undignified when they are so good and pretty).

After work, Michael, David and I took a drive to the ocean which is only a couple miles from his house.  Homes are scattered in the hills and the overall feel is like Cape Cod to me.  Wave-softened rocks line the sandless beaches with views to uninhabited small islands.  My birthday dinner was kebob pizza, which is Middle Eastern type of pizza in which meat is thinly sliced onto a crust.  Delicious and a fun way to end the day.  Sara and David helped blow out the candles.

Day 37_Gothenburg neighborhood design

We started the day at the gym with a spinning class.  The music was Swenglish with a mix of Swedish and English lyrics and songs.  No ABBA though, so was a little disappointed to miss out on some Swedish culture.  My favorite spin instructor Josh would be proud that I am still spinning though on an international vacation at the moment.  A grocery store visit was the next highlight.  I like seeing what people eat in other countries.  The fish section of the store was huge.  Not only was fish available fresh or frozen, but you could buy various other fish things that were pickled, dried or in toothpaste-like containers for sandwiches.  Fruit like blueberries, imported from Spain, was around $15 for a small container, so we bought frozen for dessert.

We also visited Michael and Andrea's former neighborhood which I looked at with a community design eye.  Most houses here have red tile roofs and all have a ladder onto the roof that niches between the tiles.  Housing was focused inwards with nearby parking.   His development grouped homes around a central courtyard which was a play area (this one had a large sand box) with bench seating.  When they lived here, there were many children in this group of homes so parents could either watch their children from the house or take turns outside.   Daycare facilities and schools are generally located walking distance from the housing.  Daycare is an affordable $175 a month.  When children are born in Sweden, the mother stays home at 80% pay for the first year, with another 6 months of paternity leave at 80% pay.  Children generally go to daycare around 1 1/2 and most mothers return to work.  Sweden has set up a system that seems to work well for families making it affordable and easy to work.  Additionally, women can choose to work part-time up to 8 years to attend to their children's young needs.  The playground at the school was a natural setting which is a more common international design.  It included flexible play spaces with rocks and trees.  In the U.S. these rocks would probably pose a trip hazard and be removed.  Here they provide imaginative play while fitting into the natural setting.

Dinner was salmon and shrimp soup and included Andrea's brother Per and his girlfriend Johanna.  We discussed many interesting topics from politics, unions, taxes, to housing--me gaining insight from those who work and live under this system of government.

Day 36_Gothenburg. Sweden

On Wednesday in Sevilla it was 34 degrees Celsius (93 Fahrenheit); in Sweden today it is 9 C (48 F).  No matter as I have both warm and cold clothes with me and it's great to be with family.  Ryan Air was again an easy flight, but it is hard to read your book with so many commercial interruptions by their sales force, I mean flight attendants.  Michael, Andrea and my niece and nephew Sara and David all picked me up at the airport.  We went downtown to explore the city with lunch, a train ride around the historic core, a long walk down a wide allee, then a drive by Michael and Andrea's past homes.  It's a family tradition to drive by our old houses as the Edstroms love memory lane and houses.  Sunday afternoons my parents would drive through beautiful neighborhoods with all six of us in the back of the stationwagon, commenting on the architecture.

May 1st in Sweden is the big left Socialist Day, for lack of a better explanation.  There was lots of RED everywhere (commie colors?) and speeches that discussed taking better care of poverty in Sweden.  Michael says that their current government is right wing, which is still left of the Kennedys.

Gothenburg is a port town with a river through the middle.  The architecture includes many copper roofs which sprinkle the landscape in turquoise shades.  Spring is just starting here with most trees still deciduous, but bulbs are up.