Spring Activities

The weather the past month and a half has really started to turn around! The cherry blossoms have been flowering and all the trees along our street have begun to bud and grow leaves, lifting up the mood of the city with their emergence. I've spent this last month exploring more on weekends and really diving into a new competition project at work, which has been really satisfying. I am so grateful to be working on a project that fits so well with my interests (and with an all-women project team, no less!). It doesn't seem like 5 months have already almost come to pass here in Copenhagen, I'm not ready to leave this awesome city with so much more that needs to be explored! I have been reflecting a bit more on my internship at Dorte Mandrup now that more time has passed and it really confirms truly how grateful I am to have had this opportunity to grow as a designer. I have gained confidence in my project development and ideas while it has also allowed me to pick up new tools and knowledge from my coworkers. Whether I end up staying in Europe for work or return to the US, I know this internship has been pivotal to my personal and professional development.

With covid restrictions lifting even more, I have been able to get out and do more activities than just bike-rides and walks. The last few weeks, I visited the Louisiana Museum with some friends, popped over to the SMK across the street and also went to the botanical garden behind the Natural History Museum. Copenhagen Dox (the local documentary film festival) was also this past month, so I went to see a film by my coworkers sister and her classmates about Bakken, the world's oldest operating amusement park located north of Copenhagen. The next week I was also able to attend a documentary about the life and work of Alvar and Aino Aalto which was quite fascinating. Although I studied architecture, I think I mostly am familiar with their furniture and product design rather than their architecture work so it was interesting to get an inside look at just how much work and designs for both products and buildings they produced as well as their dynamic throughout their personal lives.

There were some wonderful shows at the Louisiana Museum when we went, I was especially moved by the exhibitions by Arthur Jafa and Taryn Simon but also really enjoyed the exhibit featuring many artists called Mother!. Before leaving I will definitely have to make at least one more trip out there again. The SMK collections were also really great to see as I'm not super familiar with Danish artists, especially contemporary. That being said, I think I most enjoyed the collection of older paintings and their current temporary show on Kirchner and Nolde - two artists whose work I have seen but whose history and the history of Die Brücke I hadn't come to know so well before the show.

My co-interns at the office and I have begun to plan our study trip funded through work. Due to the covid situation, we will most likely stay within Denmark and are discussing a weekend trip to Aarhus to see the architecture around that area which I am really looking forward to!

Below are some photos from the past month of adventures.