china and asker

Sept. 29
Today I heard an inspiring lecture by Kongjian Yu - a Landscape Architect from China (here is the website http://www.turenscape.com/English//Designer.php ). He is all about healing the Chinese landscape through a "Big Foot Revoultion" - that is, changing the aesthetic of beauty from "little foot" to "big foot" - the analogy being based on the cultural "foot binding" - which sacrifices function for ornamental. He says "the nature's feet are bound in the city with dikes, concrete, and pollution" - "little foot is a beauty of uselessness and deformity" -"big foot is productive and restorative".

Since he began his work in China (after studying at Harvard and receiving his PhD in Landscape Design and Architecture and studying with Ian McHarg - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_McHarg) he has impacted many cities and regions with his "Big Foot Revolution" -

His strategies for change include:
1. Beauty - he showed many slides of projects he has done that interprets ecology with art
2. Productivity - he showed slides from a university where the budget to build the campus had run out and they needed a landscape - and they needed the landscape in 6 months - here we restored the rice paddies and ponding for water ways and now the University has celebrations each spring and fall around the rice and they sell their school rice as well.
3. Value the ordinary and recycle the existing - here he showed slides of a collapsed ship yard that he restored using the structural shells of buildings as art and walkways all along the river
4. Minimize intervention and maximize return - here he showed slides of a park that cost more for the upfront design than the actual construction
5. Landscape Acupuncture - here is made an small pressure release "ponds" along a urban setting that allowed the nature to reestablish and transform the urban edge into a productive park
6. Help nature to recover and let nature do the work - this was an example of an old dump-site (brown field) where he had many ponds all at different depths to help the surface water to collect where and when needed
7. Landscapes as Solutions to flooding - to not rely on pipes or channels (China uses the 50% of the worlds cement and 35% of the worlds steel) but to cut and fill all along the edges of water sheds to work with nature and the urban settings
8. Landscape as living machine - here he mimicked the terracing of rice paddies in the mountains by creating ponds at different depths and heights to filter the pollution and clean it by the time it found the ocean
9. Opportunities to transform urban to renewal using landscape as the tool for urban design and development - urban growth following the landscape system (70% of China's surface waters are polluted)
10. Low-carbon home building incorporating storm-water from roof to water vegies and flowers and trickling indoors to cool the building

Sept. 30
Today Camilla picked me up bright and early as we headed to Asker to visit the NaKuHel Center (here is the website: http://www.nakuhel.no/ ). Nakuhel is a combination of a nature center, park, community center and art colony. It is supported by both government and private funds. I offers children kindergarten, horse-back riding, gardening, painting, cooking, and many other programs that are initiated by the public and support by the facilities of Nakuhel. It was a lovely place and our host (Kristin) was spectacular. Here are some photos....

Ibsen, Alby and illness

Sept. 23
I thought you might be interested to learn about the UMB virtual reality lab. Here the students/scientists can recreate situations in a 3-dimensional manner for greater impact and more control for research purposes. Katinka is using the virtual reality lab as a means to measure if there is any change in a person's feeling when:1. a room is looking out a window to nature, 2. a room looking out a window to nature and there are plants as well, or 3. a room looking out a window to nature and there are bookshelves. She piloted the method with students from Grete's class and is looking to see if there is any significant difference between the three controls. I attended the virtual lab with her as she was setting it up. It is like a small omni-max theater for about 30 people. Because she took her photos in mono - her images were just enlarged on the screen. Had she taken the photos otherwise - we could've used the 3-D glasses.

Below are two links: one is a general explanation, the other is an example of students work

http://www.umb.no/vrlab/article/processes-and-multidisciplinary-communication-in-pre-projects-with-use-of-new-technology

http://laa321.blogspot.com/

Sept. 24
After a morning swim with Grete and co., I set off for Oslo. Today my objective was to get to Ibsen museum and explore the Aker brygge district of Oslo. Aker brygge is close to the water and is a posh part of town - lots of shops and restaurants. So I set off to the Ibsen museum first and along the way came across a store selling textiles - I love fabrics and was in heaven with all of the colors, textures and prints (!) until I saw the prices and then I was shocked. However, I found a bin of "ends" and was able to get 6 meters of fabric for 200kr (or about $40.00usd). I was thrilled. Here is a picture of the fabric.













After my fabric experience I made it to the museum. I paid my admission and was told there would be a guided tour in 5 minutes - I signed up for that and was taken up into the apartment he and Suzanne lived in until their death. He was a very interesting man with much history to inform his work. One bit of his story that I remember is that he had a bath tub and running water while the King, living next door, did not. Henrik was also a bit of a ladies man - although he respected women for their strength and independence which is seen throughout his plays. He also wrote plays that were disturbing and close to the bone of family secrets and lies. All informed by his own personal experiences.Here is the Ibsen brochure.













After Ibsen, I walked down to the wharf and watched the boats sailing in a regatta - all was very exciting and I saw more Heally Hansen wear then ever before!



















I returned to As and went over to Grete's home for dinner with her family. We made taco's, laughed and enjoyed each anothers company. She and her husband (Vishwanath) have three children - 10 month old Annika, 7 year old Adi, and 10 year old Shirdar. Here is Aldi playing the saxophone. He has taken four lessons and knows four notes. He played all four notes for us.














Sept. 25
Today I set off for Alby - south of As next to Moss. Alby is a part of the Jorby Island and is protected natural area all along the coast. I had heard there was a good walking path and museum there.

Arriving in Moss, I headed to the information office because I did not know exactly where this place was located. But, the information office was closed which was disappointing. I sat down to look at my maps to see if I could figure out where this place was, but could not - so I asked these two men who were there talking in the parking lot. Evidently, they meet every Sunday to do the Alby walk as they are part of a walking group that competes throughout the world. Anyway, I learned Alby was outside of Moss by about 12 km and one of the men said he would drive me to it. So I got in the car and we set off for Alby.

While driving I learned he was in US in the late 50's as a Navy seaman - based in Norfolk, Virginia - he has driven a tourist bus for many years and now is retired. He was very kind man and told me where I needed to travel on the west coast (that story will wait for another time). His name is Bjorn and here is his picture.













In Alby, I went to the Museum F150 (no it is not a Ford) and took the walk back Moss train station - about 2 hours time. The museum was filled with families all out for a Sunday activity together. The museum is known for its apple Kringle - so of course, I had to try it and it was delicious. The photo below is from a window in the museum looking out on to the water.













The day was perfect - sunny and a light breeze coming off the water. Along the water, families had a fire going and children were exploring the shoreline for shells.










Here are some photos once I got back into the harbor. For all my sailing friends, this place was heaven!










Sept. 26
Today was a day long field trip with Grete's class into Oslo to visit examples of healing gardens. The first place we went to was Diakonisse Huset - an old mental health facility in the outer third ring of the city. Here they have a school for psychiatric nursing, hospice and palliative care, and residential housing for people with sever and persistent mental illness.
http://www.diakonissehuset.no/

The garden itself is a lovely place for contemplation and reflection - however it is not at all accessible. It has a significant grade drop into the garden and there the pathway is compromised. The symbol of the facility is a bird and could be found throughout the garden, along with other sculptures. Students were given time to explore independently and then gather as a large group to analyze the pros/cons to the space according to the five design elements of a healing garden put forth by Roger Ulrich (area allows for exercise, is filled with green, living plants, has comfortable seating, allows for a variety of interactions and is accessible).
































Afterward, we headed to the Oslo Universitetssykehus, Rikshospitalet which is a large complex of buildings. Here the students were given an opportunity to see the concept of bringing nature indoors and compare/contract between the two examples. The design of this facility is to mimic a boulevard with offices and clinics connecting off of the main "road".

As far as plants went, there were Ficus trees and ze ze plants (Zamioculcas zamiifolia) but not much more than those two species.













However, there was quite a bit of art (see below). Including Odd Tandbergs "symfoni" window design.

























Right next to this hospital is a trail system that weaves throughout Oslo - the Hospital and city made an agreement to build a bridge for people to have access to the trails. For me, this was the most healing garden of all seen today.











Sept. 27 and 28
I started to feel a cold coming on Sunday night - and sure enough, blew up into a fever with sinus and respiratory infection. I stayed home all day and slept on and off - drinking fluids and popping Vit. C tablets (Having had pneumonia last year, I was not going to chance it - even though my inclination is to limp along rather then stop).

It proved to be a good remedy because my fever broke at about 3:00 this morning and today I am feeling much better. Only working a half day - as you can see - catching up on things.

updates

Sept. 19, 20, 21
Been working on different projects the last few days - meeting with different people. Thought you might enjoy this information about UMB - it has nice photo images of the campus (scroll down at the bottom of page and click link) along with interesting information about its programs.

UMB in a Nut Shell

Sept. 22
Tonight I went with Ruth and some of her friends to an Autumnal Equinox Celebration in Oslo. It is a candle light walk down the Akerselva River. It includes 3500 torch lights along an 8 km portion of the Aker River. It was really special. Community groups singing, playing music, and creating art all along the walk. I wish I had a better camaera because there were some really great things floating in the river, but were too dark for my little iPhone to pick up. But here are some images and a video to give you an idea.

weekend in Oslo and mushroom hunting

Sept. 17
Another Saturday morning with Grete and her children/friend swimming at the pool. Here are some photos of the pool and the crew - inlcuded are Grete, children and Mirgue.











After swimming, I gathered up my information and headed to Oslo. It was a beautiful day so figured I better see the open air Folk Museum today or I may not get another chance. The train ride was eventful in itself because, much to my surprise, they were cleaning the tracks at the central station, so we made a stop outside of Oslo and all were asked to get off - asked in Norwegian - and I was like a lemming, following this crowd of people to a bus, not knowing at all what was happening until I finally was able to ask someone who spoke English and he told me the story. Nothing like being lost in translation once again.

Anyway, once I got into Oslo, I went immediately to the Information office and bought my tickets to the ferry. I was making good time, so after getting my tickets, I was able to get to/on the ferry quickly. Here are some photos of the ferry ride leaving the harbor of Oslo.










The Folk Museum, is an open air and living history museum consisting of houses and buildings from 1600's to early 1900's. Below are some photos from my time outside.














One of the things I enjoyed most about the Folk Museum were the two art exhibits. One was a photo collection from 1910 - 1915 of rural Norway. It included back-lit slides that were really beautiful. I took a few photos of the photos below.













Another exhibit that I thought was interesting, but disturbing as well, was of the "boys home" from 1930-50's. These places were like concentration camps for foster/orphaned boys. There were photos depicting their living conditions and tasks they were responsible for. The most disturbing thing for me was the audio stories - even though I could not understand what they were saying, I could hear their emotional wounds in the cadence and manner which they talked. The good thing about the exhibit was the progress the Norwegian child welfare system has taken since then. Here is the poster for the exhibit.













After I returned to Oslo from the Folk Museum, I came to a large food festival of organic and sustainable agriculture farms from around the Oslo region. There was every kind of local fruit and vegetable imaginable along with meats from reindeer, moose, lamb, goat, pig and beef - and the cheeses! To die for cheese from sheep, goat and cow milk.

At the festival there were five Steiner farms (Camphills) and their programs represented. One of the farms had a Waldorf school as well, and this group organized a children's exhibit where they were making a small twig house - here are some photos of the children making the house and when it is finished.














They also had a few more stations set up for children to play - including this bin of hay for throwing and rolling in hay, and this fire for roasting marshmallows.












I walked around town for some time afterwards and by 5:00 found myself at the Noble Peace Prize Museum - it closed at 5:30 so I only had a few moments inside, but was happy I could see it for that amount of time at least. Here it is from outside.










I was beginning to get hungry so I found this little father/daughter run sushi resturant off one of the busy streets for some comfort food.










The return train ride was complicated because of the railway cleaning the tracks - so instead of a 30 minute train ride, it turned into a 2 hour train ride. I was tired and went to bed as soon as I got back to apartment.

Sept. 18
Today I picked mushrooms! I have been excited to go on a hunt since I arrived. I headed out early to a hut in the woods with Mirgue - she is the women who invited me and is a retired professor/scientist from UMB (her area of expertise is flower breedings). She was the leader for the day which included a group of Finn/Norwegians coming from Oslo. This hut is the home to a group of cross-country skiiers who have a large sauna and meeting house together. It is a part of a larger park and have all of the trails lite for winter nordic skiing. Here are some photos of the building and scenery from deck.










The group arrived and Mirgue had a short ppt. presentation with photos of which mushrooms were good and those to avoid. Afterward, we packed up and set out to find the "stopp". We spread out into the forest - each with our baskets/buckets for gathering the "Trakekhanterelle" (winter chanterelle) and others. I stayed with this one particular species because it is so delicious and because I did not want to pick the wrong kind! Here are some photos of the mushrooms in the forest, our group and my bucket of mushrooms.













After we were done collecting, we brought our "stopp" to the controller - Dag Guttormsen. He is the expert who checks to make sure we do not have any poisonious mushrooms. I learned he also is a UMB professor/adminsitrator - besides being a molecular biolgist, he is the Director of the Library - he also has worked with our U of MN in exchanges with the Centennial Chair program. He was very kind and knew a LOT about the mushrooms and wild foods/medicine found in the forest. Here is a picture of Mirgue, Dag and Finn (Finn is a special friend of Mirgue's, and a retired professor of fruit breeding - he met Peter Hemstead about 10 years back).










After arriving home, I prepared the mushrooms for drying by cutting off all the ends and brushing off any of the humus or moss. Here they are ready for the dehydrator.













One last picture, here are Barb and Chuck Francis settling into an evening at the guest house. They have been such good friends while here.