Art and Architecture in Kirchberg

In stark contrast to the picturesque old city of Luxembourg, with its ancient fortress ramparts perched high above the Alzette valley, the Kirchberg plateau is home to many of the European Commission offices and international financial institutions in futuristic concrete, steel and glass pavilions. Many of these house expansive art collections which are hidden from the public except on one day of the year. 

  

I am not sure which is the more impressive, the art or the architecture. It really doesn’t matter, as there were plenty of amazing examples of both. An added attraction was the copious refreshments being proffered, including some our favourite local bubbly.

  

Never having been part of a formal corporate structure, I was fascinated by the work station and office layouts. I can only imagine the kerfuffle before the weekend with the tidying and sanitising of the rooms open to the public. There was not one personal nor discordant element to be seen. Come to think of it, it rather appealed to me. 

  

Despite the hyperbole served up in its accompanying blurb, the Ubbo Kuggler work “Gardens” was one of our favourite pieces. It consisted of a matrix of silhouettes of public parks in various European capital cities.

  

The older part of the European Investment Bank headquarters was designed by the eminent British architect, Sir Denys Lasdun, he of the Royal National Theatre on London’s South Bank (which Prince Charles famously compared to a nuclear power station). I have always found a strange attraction to the Brutalist style, I guess because of the explicit use of reinforced concrete and the extreme geometrical forms made available by the engineering properties of the material.

The newer part was finished in 2008 and was designed by the German Ingenhoven Architects. It is supposed to be very green, with its striking tubular glass roof soaring over the full height atriums and zig-zag layout of offices. It is all quite spectacular.

In one of the fund management or whatever corporations, there were a number of clever and striking pieces of art, the one below being a portrait of Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour made from old LP’s. Sorry, but …… As I stood there looking at it on the wall, becoming comfortably numb, I couldn’t help but wish you were here. I can only presume that it was sold for a record price.

Another interesting one was this portrait created from various coloured plastic bottle caps. Typically, I found myself thinking less about the art and more of the artifice involved – Photoshop extreme contrast and pixilation? It looks better from way back.

I am sure that there is a specific term in the Kneip corporate lexicon to describe the low ceiling rooms which are home to 30 or so twin screen workstations. Sweatshop comes to mind. I suspect that there is not much time allowed to appreciate the artworks. Pity, as they were really quite suggestive.

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Trier

Whitegoods cost a lot less in Germany than here in Luxembourg, so it was off over the border to Trier, 50 km to the north east, to look at microwaves and freezers. The city is the oldest in Germany, founded in 16 BC on the banks of the Moselle River. We will return as it is full of impressive Roman ruins and historic buildings. Interestingly, we both felt a keen sense of nostalgia, being back in Germany and getting by on our limited and brutal take on the German language. Another positive was the delicious goulash we had for lunch, washed down with a local white. We have found that the secret to ordering the local whites is "trocken", that is, dry.

Apart from the insides of shops, we did get to see the magnificent Cathedral which has existed in various guises since the 3rd century. It features a holy relic of the Tunic of Christ and an intriguing crypt dedicated to St Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine.

Ingrid felt particularly strong pangs of nostalgia on seeing a school operating out of very temporary looking shipping containers.

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Castiglioncello

I was in Italy this week to assist at the Platu 25 Worlds in order to gain accreditation as an ISAF International Measurer. The drive down through Alsace and Switzerland took 11 hours straight and was quite fascinating. The last couple of hours between Milan and Bologna was not terribly. It was most enjoyable to spend an evening with Cristina and Gianmarco at their place in the mountains above Modena. As usual, there was an excess of good food and conversation. 

The event itself took place in Rosignano on the coast just south of Pisa in Tuscany. Nearby is the traditional seaside resort of Castiglioncello which was previously the preferred place to be seen by the rich and celebrated. It still exudes a certain charm with its pine forests and elaborate villas overlooking the Tyrrhenian. Many of these elegant villas are now hotels, such as the one in which I stayed.

The Hotel Atlantico is extremely comfortable and well appointed with a choice of both indoor and outdoor pools. As it was, we were far too busy to try either. 

The reality of our situation was probably better illustrated by the photo below of the view from Castiglioncello to the Marina Cala de'medici in which the event was held, with the looming presence of the enormous Solvay chemical plant behind it.

Audi Factory

Even after three years in Munich, there were a couple of places that we would have liked to visit, but for some reason or another, had never done so. One of these was the Audi car factory in Ingolstadt, 60 km straight up the street from Lohhof. Whilst we were back in Munich for a couple of days after returning from Australia, we finally took the opportunity.

Together with Louise and Ian, we had really enjoyed our tour of the BMW factory in Munich. The Audi factory tour was just as fascinating, but in a different way. The robots were just as mesmerising as at BMW, but there was more emphasis on the details of the assembly of the myriad components into the final recognisable product. As Ingrid noted, you don't need to be a petrolhead to enjoy these tours, but it helps.

Understandably, photography was not allowed inside the factory. I made up for this in the Audi Museum. Following is an assortment of some of the glorious and fascinating machines on display. I suppose that my favourite was Michele Mouton's early 80's rally Quattro.

This was Ingrid's favourite.

Paris

It takes just over 2 hours to travel to Paris from Luxembourg on the fast (over 300 kmh ) train. So, we spent last weekend in Paris with the excuse that Ingrid’s brother Tim and his wife Michelle were holidaying there. They had rented a delightful top floor apartment in the Latin Quarter looking out over rooftops to Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur and the Pompidou Centre in the distance. 

A bonus to our trip was catching up with our friend Deb, our erstwhile colleague from Munich who is now working in Paris. As might be imagined, we did a bit of talking, eating, drinking and talking. Here we are dining at a café on some side street I could never find again in the Latin Quarter.

In between, as true tourists do, we wandered and gawked our way past Notre Dame Cathedral, through the Marais district to Place des Vosges and then through the (real) Left Bank alleys to the Boulevard St Germain. It was all so very, ah… , Parisian.

As would be tradition with this blog, we now need a photo of a stairwell, a ceiling and a galerie skylight. Well, here goes: these are the stairs leading up Tim and Michelle’s top floor apartment. Beautiful and atmospheric, but a lift would have been also.

Amazing intricately decorated beam ceiling in the bookshop in the hotel Sully just off the Place des Vosges. Nothing that a coat of white paint wouldn’t fix!

The recently renovated hall at the Gare St Lazare. I was berated by a security official when I put my backpack on the floor and gazed at this. It ruined the aesthetic moment a little.

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