With Grandma

Glass GalleryIB School

Admin BuildingHanging Staircase
MYP Block

Grandma and I have been surviving on our own for the past two days, since my family’s departure, trying to eat lots of the food she has bought. I have been sleeping better, but there is this dang dog that doesn’t stop barking. On Monday, I took several walks during the day and bought some more groceries. I also had an opportunity to do some research on travel plans which are fairly complete:

Aug 2 20:20 depart Bangalore on Rajdhani Express towards Delhi
Aug 3 Day on Train
Aug 4 00:53 arrive in Jhansi
1:12 depart Jhansi via Taj Express towards Delhi
4:14 arrive in Agra
Spend day visiting Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri, as well as Taj Mahal and stay for full moon viewing midnight
Aug 5 10:53 depart Agra via Utkal Express towards Delhi
2:10 arrive in Delhi
Visit Ravi Chowk, India Gate, and many of the museums nearby
Spend evening with Tinu and family
Aug 6 15:00 depart Delhi via 2057 train towards Chandigarh
19:15 arrive in Chandigarh
Aug 7 Visit Le Corb’s City and his government buildings
Aug 8 7:25 depart Chandigarh via 2058 for Delhi
20:50 depart Delhi via Rajdhani Express for Bangalore
Aug 9 Day on Train
Aug 10 6:35 Arrive in Bangalore
Somewhere in there I hope to also visit Bombay if possible.

Tuesday was a very exciting and productive day for me. I had established contact with an architect through a family friend not expecting much in response, but maybe a few simple answers and ideas of things to do during my stay in Bangalore. I arrived at his office early in the morning and had to wait around due to the busy nature of architecture offices. When he had time to talk, we began to discuss architecture and how it means different things depending on the context. We discussed the role it plays in different societies, especially in the U.S. vs India. The whole discussion was exciting to both of us or so I perceived, but time was crucial as he had other meetings. He suggested we continue our conversation latter on if I would not mind accompanying him to client meetings, which elated me. I was able to watch the principal of a 35 person architectural firm go about his daily tasks, which was pretty awesome. I saw him in a variety of client/sales meetings, and even on site visits. I spent the entire day following him and discussing how architecture and especially the planning of Bangalore in particular is changing and being perceived. The most impactful part of the day for me was when we were driving away from the heart of the city towards an IB school he was working on, passing these IT campuses (e.g., Wipro) and seeing how these campuses have brought development to these areas. These areas have only ugly high-rise apartment buildings and building supplies for the new campus buildings. All development takes place on either side of the road. Nothing penetrates deeper beyond that first layer of buildings, resulting in a longer and more congested road. The planning of the city is very poor. India is producing some phenomenal products that are some of the best in the world but the quality of service and infrastructure to support them is lacking.

Dinesh, the principal architect, took me to an IB School, like my high school, which his firm completed 5 years ago. The campus was amazing and beautifully planned and organized. The facilities were splendid and it was clear how much the institution valued education. I really appreciated seeing how another IB school is run and the resources available to them. The whole campus is also using renewable energy resources, which is an exciting development. I was led around by the chief energy resource engineer who explained much of the campus to me and welcomed me to tour some more buildings in the coming days! When leaving the campus I commended the IB School Director for his efforts and told him how gorgeous his campus was. I found it exciting to hear Dinesh, an established and well-recognized architect, say that he enjoys designing these institutions because while he can not control the environment around the school, he has the ability to influence and create the experiences for the students and faculty that use those facilities daily.

Afterwards he took me to a glass shop that employs glass in every way imaginable in construction. It was amazing to see the different techniques and applications used within the space. Afterwards we went back to the office and I continued on to the tailor’s for my fitting and bought kulfis, ice cream afterwards.

Today Grandma and I went shopping all around the complex and had a delicious lunch full of dosas, vadas, idlis, chapathis, and coffee.

Back from Coorg

Family

Belur Temple

Bull StatueWith Grandma

More FamilyPaddy Fields
At the estate

Green
Fields

We have returned back from Coorg where we had the opportunity to spend several days with family, relatives and friends. We left early Friday morning and took a 5 hr bus ride through Mysore to Coorg where we were immediately greeted by family with a generous meal full of wild boar, pork curry and other delicious meats and dishes. We spent the afternoon exploring the farm and walking in the rice paddy fields where workers were beginning the transplanting of the fields. It was an awesome experience to walk in the fields and then get caught in the downpour of rain. We spent the night around the farm eating delicious fruits and had a wonderful dinner. The next day was spent visiting different relatives in the area and catching up. The foods and drinks we were served were amazing. They treated us very well. It was interesting to see the different farms and the variety of crops on each one. Most grew oranges, coffee, pepper and a variety of fruits. The houses themselves were also interesting to study. Most were very old yet efficient houses that took advantage of the location and environment. It is impressive how these houses have lasted so well. The next day we took a taxi to Belur and Halebid, which are Hoysala temples dating back to the 11th century. The detail and materiality of the architecture was very impressive, especially how it has survived the test of time in these rural areas. Afterwards we ate delicious bondas and dosas and returned to the bus stand to catch a bus back to Bangalore. Since returning we have been taking lots of walks and doing a lot of shopping.

In India

So I have finally arrived in India and spent the past two days eating and sleeping a lot. Unfortunately, this internet station has uninstalled all the usb drives so I can not upload any new photos. I will try in a couple of days once I return from Coorg, a small county south of Bangalore.

Conglomeration of Photos

Elevator Sweating. Dubai
Purple
Green
Tea Room Entrance. Burj al Arab
Solid Gold Elevators
Tea
Atrium
Gradation
Jumeriah Hotel
Burj
Emirates Towers
Trafalgar Square lion
Dubai
Mosque
British MuseumLondon Eye

Marble Arch

Leaving Dubai :(

Ski Slopes in Dubai

Burj al Arab

Burj

So I am done with Dubai and now its off to Bangalore, which should only be a 4 hr flight but instead I will be flying back to London and then to Bangalore, which will basically take a day. Internet here is terribly slow so I will post just a few pics of Dubai that I have so far.

Dubai

Alright, so internet in hotel is real funky, only works with safari and wants all arabic characters. So I am trying my best to post this. Arrived from London this morning at 730 local time. Breezed through customs and walked from the cool airport and was struck by the Dubai HEAT! I could immediately feel my body getting sticky waiting for my bus to my hotel. Room is very nice and will try to post some pics. After getting settled I made the poor decision of walking to the Burj from my hotel during lunch time. The sun was at its peak and over 110. I was sweating like a pig but understood the buildings and planning of the city much better. Everyone talks about how great the architecture is here, and the noteworthy buildings are impressive and spectacular but for the most part they are poorly designed and do little for the environment or the occupants. The planning is even worse. The city has no sidewalks, forcing me to run across lanes of traffic. There is a funny story that goes along with that. Planning... right, absolutely terrible, there is nothing linking these buildings together and the roads separate them. There is no cohesiveness and I find that people only move from the interiors of these conditioned spaces to their cars and back into more conditioned spaces. Dubai is for the visitor who wants to enjoy one solitary resort and not leave that space. I do complement their strides, however, with trying to create more mass public transit and construction of metro lines. Hopefully this will mitigate some of these problems. This can only be applied to my walk today, which covers a small portion of dubai so far.

So my story... I filled up my quarter gallon water bottle with ice cold water before leaving and within 10 minutes of walking I was sweating like a pig and my water bottle was way too warm. Before even getting half way I was out of water and bought a gallon of lemonade for $1 which was soo refreshing. The buildings improved along the walk but the sidewalks became nonexistent, and pedestrian circulation was limited in order to control entry. When I neared the Burj (across the street from it), it became impossible to cross the road because of the 10 lanes of highway traffic and I was walking on the edge of road. I soon noticed two men following me also dripping with sweat. They asked me how they could cross and see the Burj, so we teamed up in our efforts. After much running and darting among cars we gave in to a taxi who was probably one of the worst ever. A 2 minute ride turned into a 30 minute ordeal where he thought we wanted to go up the Burj (tallest building in world and still growing) in his cab! He takes us through a series of construction checkpoints until we are within spitting distance of the building. Very amazing building and experience to say the least. I spent quite some time recovering in the dubai mall checking out the aquarium and shops. Being stubborn, I decided to walk back as well but found myself dehydrated on several occasions and had to buy multiple bottles of water, which instantly became warm when leaving the supermarkets. I have never experienced such heat in my life. I spent some time after recovering in my room and in the pool.

In the evening I met up with Kaylee and we walked to the creek and saw some of the historic buildings as well as ate dinner. I ate an Araise, which was thin grilled slices of beef wrapped with a tortilla like break with yogurt and greek salad. It was a delicious Lebanese dish.

I hope to post some pics but I am sorry if not. Pics of Burj al Arab tomorrow and meetings with architectural firm!

Heathrow Airport to Dubai

Man who would ever have thought that access to the internet would be so hard to come by. The only place I have been able to get it is at the Apple Store and even then I had to checkin online for my flight outside it late at night. Anyway I am now waiting for my flight in 3 hours to Dubai which I am super stoked about. I can not wait to see the buildings and have my two interviews with architecture firms. I am also going to attach a few of the photos from the rest of the cruise, but they wont be organized well since they are a hodge podge right now. The photos are from Tallin, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, and Stockholm. Hope you enjoy and will try to go back and edit this post later with some more descriptions of the trip.

Finlandia Hall. Alvar Aalto.
Outside Metro Station. St. Petersburg.
Ship
Peterhof Gardens
Catherine the Great's Palace
Church of Spilt Blood
London
University of Helsinki Museum Toilet
Vasa Museum
Russian Orthodox Church. Tallinn
Palace Square. St. Petersburg
Catherine's Palace. Ballroom.
Senate Square. Helsinki.
Self-Explanatory
London
Tallinn