A Brazilian In Christiania

30th Day: Last considerations

2010-08-10T08:40:00.000-07:00

Some considerations need to be done before close the 30^th day of residence:

Why to write a Blog about the Residence Program? First of all should be document the research process and show how ideas have been constructed. The process of research and project needed to be recaptured and revised every single day due arrival of new information. This blog worked like a sketch or notepad where I could think and rethink this information.

I tried to interpret Christiania as a visitor than someone who already knows Christiania, as for example, a resident but I’m sure that using this method should be possible miss some important information. My focus concerned about of how we see Christiania’s today instead of yesterday. I’m sure that most important was done: Critics, comments and increase of discussion about Christiania urban space, history and culture.

About the project, I could have touched in many other popular points. Christiania has many layers as any other city in the world but I decided to touch in this questions because I hope to contribute with the Christiania´s future. Ideas in here maybe can represent a mix of bit of dreams of many residents in Christiania. I tried to gather information, desires and critics from the people whom live Christiania day by day. This way I could collect different views from Christianities and so project something for their own joy and prosperity.

This project deserves to be presented to the whole Christiania’s Community. It’s ready to be implemented but also needs the cooperation of every single person in the city. More than ever Christiania needs to involve the whole community to work together in the same direction.

This Residence program came true due support of many people. I would like thanks to God, parents and some special friends that have been with me till here.

29th Day: Is it a Dream?

2010-07-04T14:36:00.000-07:00

Why New interventions in Freetown? Nowadays Freetown doesn’t stimulate use of the green areas in the middle of the city… these green areas or open spaces are main entrance to arrival of undesirable uses like amount of garbage for example. To stimulate use or own of these areas can increase quantity of spaces for elderly, children and tourists.

Benefits to Christiania’s Community would arrive begin with renovation of urban space done by creativity and communal participation. It also increases Christiania’s Identity know as a City constructed by the collective participation through its own residents. The image of Christiania in permanent movement also has power to increase self esteem of those who lives in here.

All the interventions would not be by the art in itself but to prove that Christiania’s Freetown is living more than ever.

28th Day: Process for implementation

2010-07-04T14:25:00.000-07:00

The process of implementation this Exhibitions Spaces in Christiania should take time. The urban renovation without any amount depends of the number of people interested in to be involved in the project. I divided this process in 3 stages. All of them require time to observe how people are interacting with project implementation.

These 3 stages represent 3 areas: 1) The park in front of Loppen; 2) The Entrace of Pusher Street; 3) The Pushers Area. Each area should be occupied in different times in this same sequence. Implementation would happen gradually and after each implementation would be observed the results of it. Successfully in intervention means implementation can goes on. Each area should be prepared before it receives new works of arts.

This process would take time but it’s better way to allow interaction with Community. Some areas should be reallocated to allow this intervention. This reallocation doesn’t require any big effort because it can be done by Christiania. The main effort should get from the Danish Govern the permission to do these improvements. I’m not sure if Danish Govern would deny interventions which concern art implementation to educational purposes…

First Stage: Occupy the green park

Two zones in Pusher Street: with and without hash market

Re-allocate Pushers

27th Day: Pusher Street and New Hash Square

2010-07-04T14:15:00.001-07:00

Pusher Street always was the highlight of Christiania. This road is really symbolic to the community because it opens the Freetown to the world around it. Is impossible to think about a New Pusher Street… the way is to think about how we wish our Pusher Street.

Nowadays the Pusher Street is almost gray with its faded colors in most of buildings. The pavement does have some holes and at night it doesn’t have any light. The way should be give to the street the same look that Freetown does have: colored, funny and well maintained.

I’m proposing new painting interventions in buildings and in pavements. I also suggest some green way between the buildings. These green ways could support arts like sculptures and some funny lighting. Pusher Street could work like a small boulevard where people could walk through sculptures and colored arts.

Nowadays the Pushers are sited spread out in middle of Street and keep the buildings hide behind their stands and signs. Also I suggest offer the Pushers their own place and this way we could reveal the architecture of the Pusher Street. Pushers can be very well sited in the square near of the Nemoland. They already use this area and it could be called Pusher Square. This is a way to stimulate the maintenance of their own place instead of seize the public space of main street. Stands of Pushers could be constructed by themselves or even be proposed by artists.

Open Pusher Street is a way to invite people to visit Christiania. Also it would encourage the maintenance of Street by the ones who use it. This encouragement would return us with the color and the pleasure in walk through this historical street.

Pusher Street (Today)
Pusher Street Art Boulevard

Hash Market (Today)

New Pusher Square

26th Day: Old Park + New Exhibition Space

2010-07-04T14:01:00.000-07:00

The park in front of the Loppen can be the start point for implementation of New Exhibition Space. This park is very well sited near of main entrance. This space could works as a bigger green area to collect most of new art works. What we should do is just reallocate the garbage area and clean the area allowing new grass. Nowadays this area is completely empty.

At the first step, I propose new little pavilions where can be exhibited boards and pictures about Christiania’s history. Design of new pavilions could be proposed by artists and/or students of architecture. They could be constructed in groups of some few people oriented by some tutor or carpenter. The construction would start in Christiania’s workshops and would be easily assembled in place.

These news places could be constructed with recycled material and would be spread at park together with trees. Also interventions in trees would be allowed. The Skate Indoor would continue in the same place but working integrated with this new park. This New Exhibition Space would have same characterization with Christiania’s architecture once time it would be build in local and would have a design done in the human scale.

Park Today

New Exhibition Park

Park behind of Skate Indoor (Today)

Park behind of Skate Indoor with new interventions

25th Day: How can take place the art interventions?

2010-07-01T04:20:00.000-07:00

I will start the process of propose new interventions in the city. In the next posts I’ll show some perspectives of how the urban space of the city can be improved. As Architect I think the art interventions could propose new places in the Freetown. Little spaces to exhibit art or to propose new spatial configuration can be an interesting way to renovate Christiania urban space and even allow more people to visit Christiania.

I’m showing below two funny examples of how it can happen. The pictures show the Chimney and a Roof near of the lake. I’m showing these places today and how it could be changed. To re-think the icons the Freetown can be a start point to think about the potential of the city. I don’t really mind if they would be build or not. As Architect, I’m interested in expand the spatial possibilities of the Freetown as a way to give a new look for the city.

What about the art interventions? Each artist does have his own eye and his own way to realize their art. At each new art in the public space, new discussions could come about it. New places would emerge. New looks in city. New dreams… more color and more life in Christiania.

Today
New proposal for Chimney

Lake today

Lake with new balconies

25th Day: Anoucement and Presentation

2010-07-01T04:17:00.000-07:00

Next Saturday (July, 3rd) I'll present the whole project in the Gallopperiet Art Gallery in Christiania at 6pm.
I intends to post project images after this presentation...
;-)

24th Day: Can Christiania build a New Exhibition Space?

2010-07-01T04:15:00.001-07:00

Sure. They can. We need to remind that it demands costs, time and efforts. Do everything by themselves is not the proper way because it would demand much from the individual efforts. To realize something alone is harder than in group. Christiania could ask for voluntaries. This way the dream could easily become true.

Open a call to artists interested in show their art. Open a call to students interested to learn techniques. Open a call to voluntaries interested in help. Everybody can contribute with a little part. Propose to open the workshops of Christiania to the outsiders of the city can stimulate people to come here and learn something. Artists and students can propose art interventions with some relationship with the history of Christiania. They can construct their art in Christiania’s workshops. To construct anything is quite expensive, isn’t? The answer is “No”. Nowadays many artists are realizing their art work with recycled material. Wood, cardboard, paper and glass are examples of some materials used to do art. It’s cheaper. It’s ecological. It’s educational.

Stimulate people to come to Christiania produce their art is not a problem. Christiania does have this space. Christiania can open a call to artists and students interested in show theirs art proposals. The art interventions can be selected by a jury of the Freetown. Artists construct their art in Christiania’s workshops and expose then in Freetown urban space. Visitors arriving in Christiania would see the art and the history narrated through it. What would they feel about this art? …. I don’t really know… But I’m sure they would like of this approach.

23rd Day: A new place to Christiania’s History and Arts

2010-07-01T04:09:00.000-07:00

The Urban Diagnosis consists to have an overview of the city. This overview include the indication of some weakness and potentialities of the city and even highlight some of their qualities. After identify these qualities and transform them in concepts, we can start a process to gather these words and try to re-arrange them in a answer. As Architect, I’m doing a project.

Working with the concepts indicated in the last post (Art, History, Urban Space, Creativity, Politic, Nature and Community) is easy to arrive in some educational and political program with some artistic content. Gather community, nature and urban space can show us where and how to expose this artistic content.

I propose transform the open spaces of Christiania in a place to count the History of this Society. Christiania doesn’t have any place to expose its history and the people outside don’t even have a fast indication of how the Freetown became true. Christiania naturally does have an artistic urban space. Transform it in a space to do politic already was done. Nowadays the city doesn’t lives a time of fight against the “Formal Control” but they live a time to expose what their achievements. Show these achievements are a way to leave information about Christiania to the others.

An exhibition place in Freetown open spaces could help to narrate Christiania’s history and spread the art they produce in here. It’s one of the ways to answer questions like: Who are Christiania? What happens in this city? What they did? How is the city today?

22nd Day: How implement a New Project in Christiania

2010-07-01T04:07:00.000-07:00

Thinking academically as an Urbanist I might say that all urban problems should be resolved through the urban design… well… it doesn’t sounds very good…

There are many things involved in an urban project. The conception process and the implementation process require abilities very different. An Urbanist should have the ability to gather and link many different scientific knowledge as for example, sociology, mathematics, physics, statistics, arts, geography, economy, etc. The much different scientific knowledge resume of a cultural way of life in a society. The urban project should contemplate these knowledges and express them in the city’s public space.

To implement an urban project in Christiania we should respect its cultural way of life. The implementation process should be cheaper and respect the artistic urban image. We can reach it with the community involvement as working together using their own professional abilities to improve their community. We can request voluntaries outside of Christiania to work in this process but the main interest should start in the desire of the Freetown.

The project should be developed with the participation of the whole community. Everybody should agree with the new proposals. Everybody should assume one exclusive responsibility to put it in action. Each person need to have your part. If the Community wants to change or wants to improve its commonwealth, everybody should be involved together.

21st Day: How to improve Christiania’s Image

2010-06-26T12:23:00.000-07:00

One of the challenges in study the Christiania Open Spaces is identify the problems of the city and propose improvements. Christiania is city full of personality. Any intervention in the Community needs to respect the way of life which was constructed almost 40 years ago.

The significant features about Christiania are: An urban space full of creativity expressed by artistic interventions and the Christiania’s history which contemplates politic, communal and environmental/natural aspects. The representative words for Christiania are: Art, History, Urban Space, Creativity, Politic, Nature and Community. Sure there are many other features in Christiania but these ones really stimulated me.

About studying the open spaces in Christiania I feel I should propose some new improvements which can highlight the Christiania’s attributes. To tide all these characteristics in a single project is the key for the success. An urban interference should deal with the community to improve these features instead of change anything in the Freetown. This is the way I’m thinking about the proposal I’ll show next week.

20th Day: 2 zones in Pusher Street

2010-06-26T12:18:00.000-07:00

As I told you in a previous post, Christiania seems divided in 2 zones: Residential and Commercial. These 2 zones are used by different people. The residential one is used by people whom live in here and the commercial zone is a mix of people who lives in here and people who does not.

The Pusher Street is the main road in the Commercial Zone. Even this road is divided in two another parts. The first goes from the entrance to the Jazz Club. The second part goes from the Operaen to the Nemoland. We can notice a clear division of the urban space where the second part is used mainly by the hash dealers. Nowadays we notice a new configuration of the Pusher Street. The road seems to be changing its profile. The Pusher Street is the main entrance to Christiania. What the visitants thinks when they arrive in a Freetown which does have this configuration?

I think a city as a society where everybody does have your own place. The city is the intersection between the commonwealth and the individual interests. The society shouldn’t be divided… this division will be expressed in the urban space as it’s happening today. The bigger challenge of a city is how gather the different interests and purposes in the same space.

How to think a Pusher Street where everybody does have your place? Also the urban space is the place where everybody expresses the respect to the other people… Where is the place of the respect in the Christiania urban space?

The Map shows:

Yellow: Organized zone

Purple: Un-organized zone

Magenta: Intersection zone between Christiania and Copenhagen

19th Day: Two Higher Spots

2010-06-26T11:55:00.000-07:00

Looking the Christiania skyline we can notice two higher constructions: The Chimney and the Tower of the Church. Maybe the people say: Why the Tower if Christiania doesn’t have any tower in its Church?

It’s really magical to be out of Christiania and look the horizon with these two focal points. I speak about the Tower of the Church Our Saviour because this tower is completely integrated with the Christiania’s image. The Vor Frelsers Kirke is a church sited outside Christiania. The tower does have a particular architectural design which is easily attributed to the Christiania’s urban space. The helicoidally shape tower with a sphere on the top is a quite strange image to a church… it’s even gold! The tower seems to be moving every time you look it. The same magical looping presents in the Christiania art design.

The Chimney is another different approach of this city. It is not preserved like a historical icon. It does have ivy in most part of the building. For me, the chimney works like an obelisk, a kind of troffy to this sustainable city. It’s a cultural troffy. And it looks perfectly good.

One tower and one chimney. The two visible points which take you out of order after you look to the horizon. There are no limits to the human creativity. The world can be happy with a lot of irony.

The Two Higher Spots

The Tower of the Church Our Saviour

The chimney covered of ivy

18th Day: The Architecture Which Came From the Dreams

2010-06-23T04:53:00.002-07:00

Another particularity of Christiania is the character of its architecture. As Architect I might say: I couldn’t imagine or expect one thing like this before arrive in here.

The fantasy and the dream seem to arrived in here. We can live all sorts of combinations of shapes and colors by many different ways. Different scale and times living together, one house does have dragon’s eyes in the clocks of its chimney, another house does have a rocket at your door… Huge ladies in metal, dragons and monsters scattered through the whole city. The architecture is done by non-architects. It’s true and it works.

I’ve heard some interesting old histories about German builders, about carpenters and about local artists. I can’t think how they started the process of build a society like this at almost 40 years ago. I don’t even think they did it consciously. The people who started this process learned how to live in a place without any rules but respecting each other. This is the most important rule.

I feel like living in a playground. My childhood seems never get over. I walk through the roads with a smile on my face. I start my creative process even looking my real world. The magical real one.

One Indian influence…

A dragon chimney

House near of the Kindergarten

A house that looks like 3 instead 1

17th Day: The Two Big Flows

2010-06-23T04:53:00.001-07:00

There were some days I notice one thing: the incredible number of people coming and going from Christiania. Approaching this matter I notice two big and fast flows of people in the city: The tourists and the hash buyers.

I ask with myself: Why people are interested in Christiania? Why the tourists? Why the hash buyers? At the first glace it’s very easy and simple to answer: 1) Because here there’s one of the fewer and important “Alternative community” in urban areas in the world; 2) Because the buyers can’t buy freely in another place of the Copenhagen.

I don’t know if Christiania doesn’t have a good image to all of the Danish society. I think some of them link Christiania with the hash market. Some Christiania’s residents think that it’s impossible to survive without the hash market because it attracts the tourist and without the tourism many of their commercial houses and restaurants would be broken.

I don’t think it really works like this. I notice the tourist groups going inside Christiania and not only at the Pusher Street where is sited the hash market. It shows us different interests in the Freetown Christiania. I believe the things like: Christiania’s history, the urban artistic interventions, the character of its urban space, the sustainable development, the funny of its buildings, the art done by non-artists, the alternative society in the middle of a great European city… so… there’s a lot of different reasons to people come here.

Nowadays I wonder what would happen to Christiania if the Danish Govern legalizes the hash market… I don’t think that Christiania would disappear… maybe the commercial one but only the hash market one. Christiania has really beautiful spaces where people can come and smoke and feel free and happy. As I told you before: The Freetown has a rich urban spatiality that Copenhagen can’t have by itself. Christiania does have a special enough character to attract more and more people… even more without the stigma of the hash market.

16th Day: The open spaces

2010-06-23T04:51:00.000-07:00

I use to study open spaces where I live, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I think it’s a good time to write about it.

Christiania does have some good open spaces. Some of them are very well used while others are not. The good ones are the Nemoland square, the cafe square and the little playground in front of the Loppen. They are normally used by the bars nearest and as playgrounds by the children. They help to characterize the urban space.

The ones which are no very well utilized are the green area near of the skate indoor, the entrance space and the one between Operaen and the Nemoland. These spaces do have a big area and a big potential. They can be used by many different ways but in the moment they are abandoned, without any care and seems to be a kind of space without any meaning. It’s an urban problem which needs to be solved otherwise there’s a big chance of Christiania earns unpleasant spaces.

The abandonment of the open spaces propitiates an unexpected use like illegal commerce and garbage storage. These kinds of uses create a bad image of the city. Who seize these abandoned open spaces are mainly people whom doesn’t even care of the space … they are a kind of parasite of the space. They use it because the space doesn’t seem to have owner.

Some of the open spaces in Christiania do have fences. I ask myself what it better to do: Close the space with fence and doesn’t care of it of leave the space open keeping of it…

The urban space of Christiania is really beautiful today but it’s threatened by disengagement of their owners who doesn’t care about them. The open spaces of a city are the place where the community gather and share communal things and celebrations. I think about to improve these open spaces ;-)

Open Spaces in Christiania

15th Day: Celebrate the Community

2010-06-19T14:04:00.000-07:00

Today was the day of the “Communal Things”… I dedicate my time to participate and feel more integrated with this community. The first one was the Action Day, the second one was the meeting with a friend and the third and final one was the barbecue.

The Action Day is one day in a month where people are invited to do something to Christiania. They can sweep the floor, paint something or even fix anything broken. I offered myself to clean the garden in the Christiania’s entrance. It was a nice experience to me. There I could spend some time of my day thinking about how to keep clean the urban space of the cities and specially the Christiania urban space. I became disappointed with the number of the people involved but they told me that use to have more people in particular occasions. I knew some people and increased the number of friends in here.

At the lunch’s time I met a nice girl who is participating of the CRIR program. She was really kind with me. She told me about the community feeling in Christiania and the way they used to do together the things in the past. Everybody in here seems create a kind of strong relationship which helps to keep one of each other. She even told me about how the process of finish with the fences started near of her house.

At the evening I was invited to participate of a lunch in one of the neighborhoods. There were around 20 people eating on a group of small tables. Together that group of table was forming one huge table. We chat about many things and the language wasn’t a problem. The people were really kind in speak in the english language with me. This way we could share many different experiences.

It’s important to experience a different way to live in community. Today a huge number of people live in flats all around the world. They don’t even know their neighbors. It does quite strange arrive in here and notice that everybody forms a kind of huge and beautiful family. Everybody knew each other. It happened from the morning at the Action Day till the evening. At the same way it was strange to me, it was too familiar. I felt like one with them. It is important today… in our cities.

I’m sorry due have not any image for today… I was very busy doing the social things ;-)

14th Day: The Little Places

2010-06-19T09:12:00.001-07:00

Christiania is a city full of secret places. We can even find it in the hills, in the top of the trees, in the middle of gardens, inside the squares and under the earth. Each day I find one different little space.

The most of these little spaces fit inside two or three people. They seem have been built to gather friends who wants to protection against of the cool wind. They have many different shapes and each one seems to be painted by a different person. They are built in wood, in glass, in metal and even with branch and leaves.

They are frequently used by friends at the night to chat, to do picnic, to smoke or drink. This kind of space is a really good particularity in Christiania’s space due the simplicity they were build. They are even more special when they surprise us while we walk through the paths near of the lake in the borders of the city.

This kind of human intervention gives to the urban space a human touch. They remember our childhood and the houses on the trees. They even create a personal atmosphere and a kind of feeling that’s your space

Little place found near of the lake

Little place even used as slide by children

Little bench near of the Maelkeboetten

Little place found in the paths though the lake

13th Day: The Politic Art x the Free Art

2010-06-19T09:02:00.000-07:00

In the past Christiania seems to have used art to do politic. After read the C.A. Guide (http://www.maori.dk/christiania/engguide.html) we notice the incredible number of manifestations that happen in the city. In the past, Christiania was a kind of urban artistic laboratory... an open air museum where you could find contemporary artistic intervention at the urban space. Sure these manifestations marked the urban space of the city and increase the strongest of some places like for example the Pusher Street.

Not only the Pusher Street but the whole city seems have signs of political expression like freedom, rules, hash, music idols, community, etc. These expressions are exhibited in the squares and out of the houses though paintings grafittis, sculptures and even in the architecture.

Walking though the Christiania streets today we even notice many art interventions but without the same political energy than before. The thematic seems to have changed. The most art found today there’s relationship with a kind of free and individual art. Sometimes we even find a kind of vandalism art which doesn’t valorize the public space.

For the moment the only cultural scene found in the city is about the good shows in Nemoland, Lopen, Operaen and in the Jazz Club. The expression seems was reduced to the music expression. We don’t use to find painters of plastic artist in the streets. In the actual political stage of Christiania, the city should reinforce its voice though an educational thematic about your history and culture to valorize its identity. I believe this could be an interesting to way to revitalize the artistic scene in Christiania urban space.

The red sign says “The dreams that never dies. Longing for freedom”

Political art in a public manifestation. Picture from the site http://www.maori.dk/christiania

An example of “Free Art”

Another example of “Free Art”

12th Day: The Garbage and the Recycling

2010-06-17T10:06:00.000-07:00

How an independent city can manage all the garbage its produce? Answer: Recycling.

Christiania is responsible by your own garbage. They have a community system which manages the whole garbage through recycling. We find the colored garbage cans scattered through the city and even really integrated to the funny urban environment of Christiania.

They also have a sewerage system based in natural techniques which decompose the human residues in a kind of public toilet called “Hummus Toilet”. They are really useful to those whom intends to camp in the Christiania’s borders.

They also have a recycling center where the plastic, metals and paper are separated and conducted to the right destination. The garbage separation starts inside the house. The whole community is involved in the process of the household waste.

The garbage doesn’t look the bigger problem of this city. The small scale of this community and the individual conscious of each resident seem to be the secret to the successful recycling system.

The Garbage Cans

The “Hummus Toilet”

11th Day: Cars Not Allowed

2010-06-17T09:56:00.001-07:00

After the many tentative that the most great cities in world is trying to finish or decrease the number of cars in their roads, Christiania seems to reached it with success. There’s no use of cars inside the town.

The many signs scattered in the roads says “Car-free Zone”. For the most residents it means less pollution and welfare in the roads where children can freely run. How they achieve it? The answer is bikes. Christiania is in the world bike’s history. Here was invented the "ladcykel" (cargo bikes) also called as boxcycles.

Many different models are shared in two exclusive shops. One of them still produces the cargo bikes in here. They have a huge workshop and the different models are located at the sidewalk. The other one does have a beautiful show window where the bikes are exposed like jewels.

It’s really pretty to watch parents carrying on their children from the kindergarten at the evening.

http://www.christianiabikes.dk

http://www.christianiacykler.dk/

Precious Bikes

Shop and Workshop of Christiania Bikes

The Cargo Bikes

Sign for the car drivers

10th Day: The Christiania’s Gates

2010-06-17T09:48:00.000-07:00

Another thing which can be interesting to Christiania is to change the visibility to the Pusher Street and to the others roads. Among this strategy we would reach the first step to finish the division between Copenhagen and Christiania.

This strategy would pass by the Christiania’s gates. Despite of the many different entrances Christiania do have, seems the city doesn’t explore their particularities. There is only one or maybe two main entrances to the most visitors and tourists whom arrive in here. Both of these two main entrances guide the paths to the Pusher Street which helps to keep the feeling of closed community. The number of people crossing their entrances is incredible huge but the others entrances are very used by another whom doesn’t live in Christiania.

The particularities of the Christiania’s entrances are about the art. The number of drawings and the thematic they carry on is different one to the other. It is really nice to identify the multiple interpretations you can have from the Christiania history by the gates. There are messages like: “Welcome to Christiania”, “No photo, please” and “4. Fuck the new world order”... while getting out from Christiania you does have messages like: “Good bye” and “You are now entering the EU”

A new way to keep the identity of the Freetown is to rethink the others entrances. To explore the potential of the gates can create sympathy and a magical feeling to the outsiders. News gates and fewer walls between both cities have the potential to finish the ghetto character which Christiania has today.

Black Arrow: The Main entrance and the Pusher Street / Red Arrows: The unexplored entrances

Behind of the Main Entrance…

A Shinny and beautiful entrance to the Pusher Street

“F*** New World Order”

9th Day: The Pusher Street

2010-06-17T05:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I wrote about Drugs. Today I write about the Pusher Street because is impossible write about drugs and don’t write about the Pusher Street.

The Pusher Street is the main Street in the commercial area of Christiania. It’s interesting to notice that in spite of this Street to be the main connection with Copenhagen, it’s not seen straightly from the streets around it. The street is a kind of hidden or secret street. We can’t see it from the Prinsessegade Street, from the Refshalevej or even from the canal. It’s hidden between residential buildings and high vegetation. I think it´s one of the characteristics which help the illegal commerce to stay there. When the people don't see what is happening there, they don't even want to change it. The middle of the Pusher Street concentrates the illegal hash market.

Another thing I notice is the potential of the Pusher Street. Historically it´s where happens the political public manifestations of the Christianities. Many political discussions and artistic interventions already taken place in there. It´s a huge symbol for Freetown Christiania but for the moment it's blurred by some strange agony feeling.

The fire in cans at night, the vigilance and the "No photo, Please" signs wrote in red spray paint, creates a bad impression of the Christiania Community due this street to be the Gate to the Freetown.

My opinion is that this street should be reformulated to an original urban design and works as an trophy to Christiania... The problem is to have a license by the Danish Government to apply this project.....

The Woodstock Bar

A little market of clothes

The hash commerce

Pusher Street in the morning

8th Day: Drugs

2010-06-14T14:56:00.001-07:00

One week goes by and I didn’t touch at this concern: Drugs. I think now is the time.

As an alternative society in the middle of an European Metropolis, Christiania has a lot of amazing ideas and a one particular way of life in a Freetown. What means to live in Freetown?

For me, it’s a kind of city where there are no rules, you can do what you want, in the time you want, respecting all the people around you.

It’s not the same for the people outside Christiania. They seems don’t understand what means live in a Freetown or they don’t even want to understand what it means.

In the heart of a huge urban city and without the police presence, all the hash dealers seems to have meeting in here, in a kind of Free Trade Area to the hash market. Freetown doesn’t mean Freetrade. Christiania seems suffer a lot with it. The mistake is to think that it’s a problem started in here. Christiania don’t know how deal with it without the police force. It seems a problem of a huge city being administrated by a little community… It’s impossible to resolve at the Christiania scale because it’s not a problem of Christiania… it’s a problem from outside her…

There are a lot of politics concerns involved in this matter. I can’t touch it in here because would have no space to relate it in a personal blog. I don’t want say Christiania is a victim of the drug but this Freetrade seems a kind of external political extortion to try to finish with the Freetown.

The people seem to link Freetown with drug’s use. It’s sad to see a community with so beautiful and pure ideals suffering with the wrong understanding.

7th Day: The Events in Christiania

2010-06-12T12:21:00.000-07:00

Today I visited a friend in the Gallopperiet Gallery, the Art Gallery in Christiania. We had a nice chat. He presented me the old and the new Christiania Map and told me about some events that usually happens in Christiania.

As many others cities in the world, Christiania does have your Cinema, your Church, your Art Gallery and your open parties. The Cinema uses to open every Sunday at 21 pm; the Church at the same time. The Art Gallery uses to open every day from 14 to 19h but Monday (Every Sunday the artists use to goes there so, it’s a nice day to visit it).

Today is happening an interesting party at “The Beach”, a place in the border of the lake and near of the kindergarten. The Event is called Sølyst and there is presentation of little boys and girls that use to sing traditional Danish songs. They are very pretty. After the show we’ll a lunch and around 20h will start the presentation of young bands… at the night I think will be there some DJs so, there’s parties for all ages in the same place :-)

The Nemoland is a little public square that uses to take open air shows every Sunday. It gather a lot of young to hear music and to do picnic. Christiania is a place full of events… the city seems blooming every day. Today I noticed a new pamphlet with the dates of the next Christiania Festival (June 26^th and 27^th). There is events also to those doesn’t use to come to music events: free workshops, meditation’s house, vegetarian restaurant and some cafes with no smoking areas.

I think there’s a bit for everybody.

View of the Nemoland from up to the hill

Loppen and Gallopperiet Building near the entrace

The kindergarten

The Sølyst

6th Day: I look for a friend at the weekend

2010-06-12T12:10:00.000-07:00

It’s almost 10Pm and I can even see the sunlight. It’s a bit strange to me, Brazilian, who doesn’t have the sunlight around 6pm. Seems the night doesn’t arrives in Christiania.

Sure the Christiania doesn’t have the night… the same way she don’t even have the morning. The time in Christiania is only one… The city has the same melody, the same rhythm 24h per day. Sun or rain. Day or night. Every other day. The number of people crossing its streets doesn’t increase or decrease. It never stops. The time seems in a looping in here.

As many other cities in the world, Christiania is a place to be lived together. She does have comfortable places where you can be alone but the synchrony with the city came when you’re in couple or more. I didn’t live it yet but I can feel it. She looks like the Lapa in Rio de Janeiro, or like the Chinatown in London, or even like Taksim in Turkey. I look for a friend to the next weekend.

The fashion places in here seem to be the Nemoland, the Woodstock and the Lopen. They concentrate the greatest number of people. The fireplaces at the cans in the dark streets warm our slow ride. The rock’n roll and the warm chats’ sounds don’t allow the silence of the night. The sunlight takes time to get out. Christiania doesn’t close her eyes.

The Nemoland at night 01

The Nemoland at night 02

5th Day: A Little Tour

2010-06-11T09:32:00.000-07:00

Walking unadvertised through the Pusher Street I found one of the friends who invited me to come to Christiania. He was very kind to introduce me faster in a short tour.

Walking by the principal streets he told me about a day in a month when everybody gets a tool and helps to “clean” Christiania! But the surprise came when he spoke that everybody should get a bath before/after of it! This kind of “Day of cleaning” is the kind of thing that helps the place to be how it is: personal and humane.

Walking through the city, we showed me the place where the machines of Christiania are stored, where the garbage goes, the laundry, the bakery, the postal office, the art gallery, the workshops and a skate park indoor! That fascinated me. He told me they need to have everything that a normal city does have because Copenhagen doesn’t help them with anything.

I felt very happy because it makes me feel an active citizen in this city. It is like: Do by your city because it needs of you. I could notice that in most of the big cities the citizen doesn’t feel like participant of that. In most of cases we seem to be a prisoner of a huge system of bureaucracy and rules. I feel integrated at the Christiania Freetown.

4th Day: The private and the public Christiania

2010-06-11T09:31:00.000-07:00

I decided to get in the center of Christiania’s Freetown after to know its borders yesterday. Walking from my house in direction to the Pusher Street I could notice that this city is divided in two zones. One zone is a kind of private and residential zone while the other is more public and commercial.

The private zone is located to at the north of the island and the public one is around southwest. This division is exhibited even in its architecture: the private zone has little and wooden houses while the public one have buildings constructed with brick and most of them has more than 2 pavements.

These buildings in bricks have no farfetched architecture. They seem old and in some cases seem abandoned. But it’s a mistake. If we look near, we’ll see a lot of pamphlets pasted in the walls that annunciate the party or other events that will happen in the next days at night. They seem to be very useful to the people that go there at night.

An interesting thing is about the people who go to the public zone because they don’t even use go to the private one. It’s like a kind of natural regulation by the urban space. In most of the contemporary cities we use to see this division by the use of wall or fences but in Christiania the urban space is open and free to everybody.

An old construction covered with green

A typical house in wood

One of the old buildings constructed in brick

The integration between the houses in wood and the old buildings in bricks

3rd Day: The Borders

2010-06-11T09:29:00.000-07:00

Tuesday... cloudy but no rains... better than yesterday. The sun was showing itself slowly...

Like the Situationists would think: “The great game to come”(1)… like in a labyrinth… so, There I was... walking from my house to the unexpected... following the feelings of the paths, they were quietly taking me to the hills of Christiania's city. Passing through fencings, gates, bridges, staircases in wood... all sorts of architectonics elements was built in the middle of this amazing natural environment... There I could hear the sounds of many different birds and see the fishes swimming in the rivers. A couple of swans did remember my last love affair.

I was living an new urban experience: multiplicity of paths through the hills gave me an amazing sensation of freedom in a domestic nature. Tracks on, in, out, through, cross and across of the hills, taking me to find colored houses, fancies roofs, hiding-places in wood and many different artistic interventions... I felt like I was in Alice in Wonderland in the sixties.

Walking and delighting this delicate nature I didn't notice I was walking through the frontier of Christiania. The river at my side was a natural obstacle to get in the city and the hills works like walls to this land. Concerning of that, I went out of Christiania and this thinking was confirmed: From outside I couldn't see the city behind of the hills. So I decided to go up on the hills and there was another good surprise: The hills were the limit between both cities: Christiania and Copenhagen.

A new face of Christiania was becoming visible to me: the fortress. Your original style is apart of the Danish society. The outsiders feel alive in Christiania. An alternative way of life is possible in this contemporary European society. Christiania is a fortress till today.

1 CONSTANT. “O grande jogo do porvir”. (1959) IN JACQUES, Paola Berenstein (Org.). Apologia da Deriva: Escritos situacionistas sobre a cidade. Rio de Janeiro: Casa da Palavra, 2003, p.98

Some views found in Christiania's Borders

2nd Day: The Second Glance: "Times goes by... so slowly..."

2010-06-11T09:02:00.000-07:00

Monday, raining. The weather forecast advises: much rain for the next 3 days. Result: Walk through the city with rain and temperature around 57ºF (12ºC).

I intended to walk through the Copenhagen’s Center. I believe it's a good way to understand the urban context which Christiania is inserted. It's a way which I believe I could link Copenhagen and Christiania.

At the first 15 minutes walking, Copenhagen showed itself beautiful and charming, having a labored and European architecture in most of your buildings. In the next 4:15h... the city became itself in a circus for the monotony, the boredom and the repetition. Buildings with 5 floors, with regular volume and with colors from the same palette, cooperate to keeps the silent environment of the homogeneity. The people walk through cyclists and runners in the streets. The education, the discretion and the individuality are elements so valued like the welfare, the security and the fashion. The Copenhagen’s Center is the place for the certainty, the predictability and for the personal cold.

This society seems learned that modernity doesn't mean pomp. Now they increase the value of a simple life without extravagance. I noticed it looking its urban space: the number of green areas, the few number of cars on the large streets and the absence of visual pollution giving place to a creative and modest urban art.

In the first moment, Christiania was similar a place for the teenager's leisure... Now I understand Christiania lives because Copenhagen need her. At a metropolis where even the green parks are places for the rationality and the regularity, Christiania is strong enough to be the breath of a so controlled society.

Street Patterns in Copenhagen

1st Day: The First Glance

2010-06-11T08:31:00.000-07:00

The arrival in Christiania was quiet and comfortable. Walking through the Prinsessegade Road after get out of the metro, I could see the first wood gateway. There was written in golden and irregular wood: Christiania. At the first moment, it sounds like a land for the dreams and the fantasy.

In this evening, the music's presence was notable. In the main square which I don't even know the name, was happening a little show. In this sunny Sunday, the rock with shrill guitars seems to be the background for the casual meeting of children, teenagers, adults and elderly. The people are on benches, on the floor, on the bikes, on the hills and on the sliders deep in the woods. The freedom doesn’t seem to have a finish in here...even the trees are decorated with shinnies.

The rivers, the green in high size and the old storages made up in bricks, isolate Christiania from Copenhagen. Getting in this warm and colored environment leaves to forget we're in European Union and so, we delight the nature and the casual.

My intention was start my job since that moment but I was advised by one of the young boys that I could not shot in there. He showed me the many advises "No photo please" that I couldn't read due my distraction. I ask myself how I should work when the videos and photos are so essential to me...

30 days in Christiania... This is the period of time I intends to be at this city. For me, a urban planner, it looks much more like a small village than a city.

The main entrace in Christiania

Christiania in Copenhaguen's Map