National tourist route Trollstigen

A "tourist route" in a place where the experience of the landscape is the most crucial ingredient of the tourist attraction is a bit awkward, most of the times. That's because the inherent ideologies behind the two aspects don't match. "Nature" implicitly means "roaming free in the wilderness", whereas a "tourist route" means "being guided along a fixed path".

The logical conclusion is that a good tourist route is one along which one is guided through nature, but gives you the feeling that the nature is guiding you, not the route. The route should be adding to the landscape. And the landscape shouldn't be dominated by the visual/sensory effect of the route, of course.



And that's precisely what RRF (Reiuld Ramstad Architekter) did for their project of the Trollstigen national tourist route in Norway. The route is adapted to the atmosphere and the temper of the nature it follows. The architecture can be read as a series of clear and precise transitions between natural landscape and planned places. The two meet, interact, but never fully mingle. And nature plays the most dominant role.

The Trollstigen national tourist route is currently under construction, and will be finished in 2010.

Peak to Peak

The ski-resort of Whistler-Blackcomb in Canada consists of two mountains: Mount Whistler and Mount Blackcomb. Both used to be clearly separated from eachother: the only way from one mountain to another was always through the valley: you'd have to go down the mountain, and take the lifts to go up to the other one.

Until recently, that is. Because a new cable gondola has been opened on december 12th, connecting the two mountains. Instead of having to go down the mountain and up the other, a 11 minute ride in a gondola bridges the gap between the two mountainsides. This new lift is called the "peak 2 peak", which is basically what the lift is all about.

What makes this project all the more fascinating, are the sheer dimensions of the peak2peak connection. The entire distance between the two peaks is 4.40 kilometres, of which more than 3 kilometres is an unsupported span between the towers on the mountainside. The rope, on which the gondolas hang, is a maximum of 436m above ground (over Fitzsimmons Creek). I know there was an accident recently with a lift on Mount Whistler, but still: I would love to go there right now and travel this thing back and forth...

Barclaycard Waterslide (BBH London)

As a child, it was one of my dreams to be able to travel around in giant waterslides. Let me rephrase that: it still is one of my dreams to travel around in giant waterslides.

So the latest advertisment for Barclaycard really hit a spot with me - they really show what, in my eyes is the fun of going home from work by means of a waterslide. I especially like the bit where the guy in the ad travels through the library, it's very funny without being too overtly "funny"...

Personally, this advertisement really fused my water-slide-travelator-dreams again...

The view from a mountain top

Yeah, I know, it's been a while since the previous post. I can come up with a whole bunch of excuses, but I won't. It will sound lame anyway. The most important thing is: here's a new post.

It might seem pretty easy to make a beautiful piece of architecture in amazing surroundings. The location might already be so fabulous that one might suppose there's nothing much to it to make something stunning. Well, the truth is: it's not like that. It's actually much harder to make something really good, simply because you are adding to a site that was good before you did your thing there. You need to measure up to the site, but still be respectable to the amazing qualities of it.

Therefore, a mountain-viewing platform in the Alps is pretty much a difficult task for any architect. It's not a complex program or anything, and structurally it might prove to have some challenges, but the real difficulty is in the fact that any not quite fitting piece of architecture might appear to be competing against the site itself.


And that is one of the reasons that I enjoy this viewing platform in the Tyrolian Alps (in Austria) so much. The designers, astearchitecture, found a way to add to the landscape. The structure holds middle ground between a piece of landscape and construction. Its platform cantilevers about 9 metres off a ridge of the Stubai Glacier, at about 3200m height.
The structure adds a subtle new dimension to the scenery, but it is not screaming too loudly about it's presence. The platform fits subtly into the surroundings, and adds an extra experience to it. I think this is a great job in synthesising landscape and construction


I found this gem on dezeen.com.

CouchSurfing

Two of the most interesting things that the internet has brought forth over the last years are, in my view, so-called "social networks" and "interactivity".
Personally, I am mostly fascinated by virtual/real life crossovers. CouchSurfing is such a virtual network that is actually enhancing the real life.
The basic idea is rather simple: who better to show you around a city you visit? And why not help travellers out with a place to sleep? So, on CouchSurfing, you can find people who are willing to figure as some sort of travel guide for their place, or people who are willing to let you sleep in their place. And the only thing that is asked in return is that you are willing to do the same to others. No money involved, no difficult transactions, but instead a great way to meet nice people and see interesting people.

If you are wondering how it exactly works, this is how they put it on their website:

1. You become a member of CouchSurfing.com. Create a profile and fill it out as much as possible, including photos. Be sure to link to any friends you might already have in the network.

2. Consider joining some discussion groups in your areas of interests or engage in the chat. You meet some friendly people online and share in some interesting discussions.

3. You decide you want to spend two weeks traveling around Europe. You get a ticket arriving in Amsterdam and departing from Florence.

4. You log on to CouchSurfing.com and do a search for members within 20 km/miles of Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, Zurich and Florence- your new travel itinerary.

5. You contact interesting prospects from the list and explain the sort of travel/stay you're interested in. Use the "Request to CouchSurf with..." button to include specific details.

6. You get several offers for places to stay. You decide that you want to spend a few days in each city.

7. You confirm with your hosts, adjust your travel plans, and excitedly fly off to Amsterdam.

8. Martin picks you up at the airport and takes you back to his flat in the Rembrandtplein section of Amsterdam. The two of you walk around the neighborhood and meet some of his friends at a lively cafe for dinner. You stay up late sharing stories and getting to know each other. Martin recommends some interesting places you might like to explore around the city. When he returns from work the next evening, he takes you to his favorite pub and you tell him about your adventures. The two of you laugh and connect; you make new friends at the pub, and you're grinning the whole walk home along the canals.

9. As an example of a good surfer, you do as much as you can to give back to your hosts. This includes doing simple things like, for example, washing the dishes, making dinner or helping out in some way. Maybe you have a special skill you're willing to share?

10. You say good-bye and move on to Brussels, Frankfurt, and then Zurich. In each location you've met some great people and gotten to experience being a part of the culture through your connection with your host. You go places you would have never read about in a guidebook, meet interesting locals, and spend time bonding with your host. You're actually experiencing those "deep and meaningful connections" you've read about on the site, and you're making friends for life.

11. You decide to stay a little longer in Florence and your host, Donia, has agreed to let you spend a week with her.

12. You spend the week talking with Donia about politics, travel, art, your hometown, and a whole lot of other things. She lets you borrow her bicycle and gives you a map she's marked with some fun places to check out. On the weekend she takes you on a side trip to visit some relatives in a small Tuscan village. You learn to make awesome marinara sauce, you take a hike through picturesque rolling hills and her uncle, a craftsman, gives you a handmade leather belt. You're amazed at the time you're having! Back in Florence, Donia takes you to her favorite gelato place and you know it's the best thing you've ever tasted.

13. By the time you leave on the bus for the airport, you feel that you've gotten a good feel for the local life in each of the places you've traveled. You've made many new friends and you hope Martin, Donia and others will visit you. You can't wait for your turn to show them the great things about your culture.

14. When you arrive home you are so excited about CouchSurfing you go immediately to the participate tab and start helping CouchSurfing community advance the mission of the project.

Strato Cruiser

The concept for this so-called "lifestyle zeppelin", the Strato Cruiser, was developed by art director Tino Schaedler and Michael J. Brown.

The idea is basically to combine the smooth, floating trips that a zeppelin can make with the luxorious, regenerative atmosphere of health and lifestyle clubs. Instead of getting tired of travelling, one can get regenerated and relaxed.
In other words: it is just a new version of the well known cruise ship. In this fictional partnership with the Supperclub, the Strato Cruiser travels between Supperclub-hubs, offering a spa-treatment, a restaurant with star-chef, but also a dj, in Supperclub-style.