14 June 2018
Today I have been in Gothenburg for two days. Yesterday I was lucky enough to be on the same flight as two other students from my program, so we were able to find our hostel and explore the city a little bit. We went to the Gothenburg Museum of Art where we saw the most beautiful exhibit by Chiharu Shiota. Her work focused on doing everyday tasks for so long that it became unpleasant; one room was completely covered in intersecting red string. We also stumbled upon Trädgårdsföreningen, a 19th century park with a giant greenhouse. It is known to be the best preserved 19th century park in Europe.
Today I met with the rest of the students on this trip and began our program. Since our design build will incorporate a sauna into the public space, we visited a non traditional one in Gothenburg’s harbor Frihamnen. It was designed by Berlin collective RaumlaborBerlin, a group that one of our instructors, Olof, has worked with in past years. Sauna culture is extremely important in Sweden, and this was definitely an enjoyable first true sauna experience. The interior of the sauna was one of the most intriguing parts for me personally, as the inside was lined with a thin wood that unintentionally curled up from the steam in the sauna. The result was an extremely non traditional interior but one that had so much movement and life that it was almost as special as the view.
Tomorrow we travel to our home for the next two months.
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