Hei, hei – here we are and it is Friday!
Another week has slipped by in Drammen and I am using this blog writing time to reflect on the week that was…
On the weekend I tinkered with my cornucopia basket (as I am calling it) and did some ecodye experiments with the plants I gathered from the Hurum Gamle Kirke (old church) in Klokkarstua.
Monday I had a lovely walk in the old gardens and along the river with my friend Ingrid, who also showed me how to make cordage from stinging nettle. Afterwards I went to my favorite silver ball along the river to shoot a short video before having a very yummy dinner at Cappadocia – a cheap and wonderful Turkish restaurant in Strømsø.
Tuesday after sitting under a tree along the river to watch the world go by, I did some wandering around the old part of Bragernes to check out some of the building from the 1800s. It was curious to see that the ruins from a fire last year from one of the heritage river building has been left intact.
Wednesday was the perfect follow up with a very nice meeting with Karianne and Ann Magritt from Drammen Kommune.
Then it was fantastic to spend a few hours with Ann-Britt Rage, a dear friend and past collaborator on a number of projects. She took me to Lier and showed me a big industrial area which is being rezoned for ‘ecological’ housing. The scale of the land being reclaimed from the Fjord was something to see, and Ann-Britt tells me it will eventually “sink” so the site can be developed.
We then went to this gorgeous heritage farm house which belong to the Lier Kommune (Council). Ann-Britt also has a studio on the site and showed me around this fascinating place. This prompted a lot of questions from me – especially when I heard that Lier had its own canonised Saint – St Hallvard. His story is quite fascinating and perhaps for another post. In short, one of the ‘miracles’ which made him a saint was the appearance of a natural spring out of the ground, which was used for centuries for healing after he became saintly.
Ann- Britt also shared a lot about the different areas around Lier and Drammen which had older homes, which led to a big walk around the area close to the port on Thursday. Drammen is still Norway’s major trading port even though the river is no longer used to transport goods (especially timber).
Some of the design features which led me to thinking about this connection between the Queenslander design and old houses in Scandinavia and in particular Norway is how houses are set off the ground (especially near water), the vertical joinery in the timber work and high ceilings. These are just curious analogies I am making for now, but it will be very interesting once I get my teeth into this research proper.
It is also worth noting at in Drammen and Lier some of the new developments take on the aesthetic of the old style buildings, which makes them blend in with the area. This seems to be in stark contrast to some of the thoughtless high density development that has happened in Brisbane – Nundah is a great case in point…
And, for all this wondering and wandering I did make it to the studio to work on my project – which is now starting to take shape…
This weekend is the River Festival and there is already lots of activity happening around town. The SAF studios are also having an Open Day as part of the festivities so I will be in the studio tomorrow all day 🙂
Tracey M Benson || Bytetime 