Beautiful, touristy Venice.

Since Carlo Scarpa was from Venice, little touches of his work can be found at the architecture school entrance, a typewriter museum, an art museum, and a garden. I like him but I don’t think I’m in love.

Both the worst and the best idea ever… We decided to climb Monte Brè for the view (and the gelato at the top). It was torture. No other word for it. Endless sets of stairs and ramps. Like being stuck on a stair master for 2 hours straight. Most of us made it to the top… Not all mind you.

We toured two middle schools in Switzerland, one by Botta. It was pretty awkward wandering through a school full of early pubesant kids with our cameras and backpacks… No one seemed to mind though. We’re not in the states anymore. No stranger danger?

After, we spent 4 hours up at Castlegrande where we rolled down grassy hills and sketched to fill time.

Larry stopped by a deserted bar and picked up the key to unlock this museum in the middle of nowhere. It felt more like a concrete bunker but it had such a nice light quality from above.

Our bus had quite a hard time making it up this hill. Glad it did. Beautiful view beyond Zumthor’s small but powerful chapel.

PS- the cold spring Alps water was tasty. Lucky Alps cows.

Heaven on Earth exists high up in the Alps of Switzerland. Though the bus ride was treacherous, terrifying, tortuous (and probably many other T words) the baths made up for it with the most beautiful views I have probably ever seen. The variety of baths was the best part: flower bath, lemon sauna, fire bath, ice bath, outdoor pool… Never wanted to leave.

The cube-y building was our hotel. The slug was a local.

We made a special trip to Austria to see this little gem. I didn’t love the architecture exhibit, but the building lived up to my expectations. Each floor is lit by natural light from the frosted glass tiles above. Like a big cloud hangin above my head.

O, and then we were obnoxious and fed the cranky geese old bread. He posed for me though.

Six story outdoor park structure in Zurich. Vines and plants and people climbing everywhere like an adult playscape.

In Lusanne, Switzerland it’s hard to compete with the perfect landscape of the Alps and houses on rolling hills. This building tried real hard… And it was definitely fun to be around. The inside… Not so much. Dull grey carpet and huge wasted spaces on inclines so steep that they’d be laughed at in the states.

After, we bussed over to our new residence, Zurich were we had spaghetti bolognese for dinner.

Rudolf Steiner’s building from the 1920s. It felt more like a modern day, facetted castle; intimidating and beautiful. Pretty sure it’s my favorite building I have ever see in person, but oddly we have never learned about it in school… This confuses me.

The other buildings on the campus were also very interesting. Notice the tree-like building.

A bunch of starchitects got together and designed the Vitra Furniture workshop, museum, and store. Let’s see, Gehry, Siza, Ando, Herzog, and Hadid. We knocked out the big names in one trip across the border to Germany. Unfortunately it was raining, so not many photos from the outside…

The store was a vertical IKEA store on steroids (prices included).

A little kraut would help too.

A ride through the villages in and around Bad Staffelstein.

Le Corbusier’s catholic chapel in Ronchamps, France. We caught a Sunday mass with beautiful singing that reverberated through the whole space. It lived up to its legacy.