24.10.09

Long weekend to København

So last weekend, I took the night train to København (Copenhagen) and back (the 16th-19th). Partially for me, to see the city, get away, and explore Europe, and partially because I've gotten us onto a project at work to take on the Copenhagen Bike Share Competition.



-Train to Moskwa - So, part of my train went to Moscow, thankfully, my part went on to Denmark, my intended destination



-The clear clean waters and picturesque city of København



-Danes on bikes - catching bike culture with the city, doing double duty for vacation and project research



-Some fancy courtyard - I didn't pay attention the entire time to where I was



-Waterfront panorama - this is the view of the main waterfront, on the main river, in front of the library



-København Library - one of the architectural highlights (of modern architecture) in the city



-Library atrium - so Danish, all clean lines, natural materials, and either black or white



-Main entrance to the library - (I think)



-Library atrium looking out - really frames the view across the river



-Old meets new - This is where the old part of the library attaches to the new



-Super big round ring light



-Waterfront buildings - so many nice old water/harborfront buildings



-Side street - the archway at the end of the street looked cool, a bit communist looking even



-Postcard perfect - this is one of the main streets that ends up on the postcards for the city



-København Opera House - the other main modern architectural highlight of the city



-Skuespiller Huset - (theatre), also a highlight of modern architecture in the city



-More waterfront buildings - this one looks like its converted into apartments



-Bike parking - at the Theatre



-Opera House from across the water at Ameliehavn - an impressive, and almost intimidating view of the building



-More old waterfront buildings



-Big statue/fountain - info/details unkown



-The Little Mermaid - probably the most iconic/famous part of København, but also the least interesting, and anti-climactic



-Churchillparken - an old fort in the city



-Medieval looking buildings in the city



-Fast Cargo - The Larry vs Harry flagship store for the Bullitt (Worlds Fastest cargo bike), sadly, closed while I was there, which sucked because I'm a real big fan of these bikes



-Empty Bycyklen rack - (Bycyklen being the bike share bikes they want a new version of)



-Bycyklen - iconic and fairly robust, but not quite attractive bike share bikes



-Opera House panorama



-Sunset at the Opera House - I really like the outdoor lighting here, very clean



-Amielienborgplads from across the river - contrast of new and old architecture here



-Inside the Danish Design Centre - classic Braun on display on the permenant collection, in the basement, next to the installation for the Braun Prize



-Interesting exhibit at the Danish Design Centre - not sure if I fully absorbed it, but the swings were fun, as was the carwash like paper things in the background there



-Central space of the Design Centre - featuring some typical Danish designs



-City "lake" - there's a kind of series of these "lakes" that seperate 2 neighborhoods as a form of parks



-Fixie scene - fixie fever has gotten the Danes too, was surprised with the number of fixies and singlespeeds I spotted in the city (was similarily surprised by this same phenomenon in Toronto last time I was home), this bike I spotted on more then one occasion



-Islands Brygge Havnebadet - on the other side of the river/harbour, is the swimming pool, which is actually just an sectioned off area of the river where people swim when the weather is nice (the water in the city is that clean)



-Monday morning commute - some more research, it was interesting to observe the differences in bike culture here versus the Netherlands and other places



-Bycklen at Hovedbanegården (central station) - lots of bikes and bike racks, of course the cheap bike share bikes were seldom to be found (this lone one at the station I took for a brief test ride)

If anyone has any great ideas or suggestions for the competition, I'm open to hear it.

No comments: