Worms: The city of myths and legends - part One

These past months I had the opportunity to visit Germany twice, and to see familiar and un-familiar places. One of the cities I visited for the very first time was Worms. It is in South western Germany, in the Rhineland-Palatinate federal state. Its name has Celtic origins: Borbetomagus, meaning "settlement in a watery area", meaning of course the Rhine river. It then became the Latin Vormatia in the 6th century A.D.
The first thing we saw, arriving at the city, was the old train station. The building is very old, impressive and ornamented. Unfortunately, not renovated. They are re-modelling the platforms, but the building is not in the best of shapes. It also houses a restaurant.


Of course, one goes to Worms for its rich medieval history. So off we were to the famous Dom, the Cathedral of Worms (more for it in a separate post). Dedicated to St. Peter, it is one of the finest examples of Romanesque architecture in Germany. Its imposing figure can be seen from afar above the city buildings.


Just before going to the Dom, we saw this cute statue in a nearby park:


The Worms city museum is situated in one of the most beautiful buildings in Worms: the St. Andreasstift, a late Romanesque complex with a picturesque courtyard. You are welcomed by the shady cloister and you can begin a tour through the centuries along the Roman gravestones which were all found in Worms.


One of the strangest things there was a fascinating bird sculpture placed on the grass within the cloister - I wish I could have taken it home with me!


The area has settlements already from the Neolithic period, as the many exhibits in the Worms City Museum show. There is even a type of vessel called Worms. Below you can see typical metallic jewellery found in graves of the period.

Rich in Roman remains, one can see many references to the era in the museum such as these helmets.


The old St. Andreas church is now defunct and used as an art exhibition hall. The Romanesque basilica has three naves and a straight (“Worms”) chancel railing and was the chapter church of the Andreasstift (stift means monastery). The church architecture shows forms of the early 13th Century. Gothic changes can be seen in both the church and the adjoining cloister. When I visited, there was a show by an artist making small sculptures of sports figures. They looked nice!



There was this little girl sculpture too, totally unrelated to the rest of the artwork, both in colour, size and theme. They included it probably because it fit the former church space.


Leaving the museum, I saw an empty nest resting on an old building stone in the cloisters.


Part of the old city walls is located near the museum - with a main gate no less.


Near Andreasstift is one of the oldest churches in Worms, Magnuskirche (St. Magnus church). Originally it was a Carolingian one-room church, built in the 8th/9th Century. The foundations show both Romanesque and Gothic extensions (in the position of the tower) as well as renovations following the destruction of 1945. The former parish church became the starting point of the evangelical movement in Worms in 1521 and counts as one of the oldest evangelical churches in south west Germany.


I don't know why but I really loved this small church. Maybe it's small size, it's history or the simplicity of the inner decoration (mostly modern now, and minimal since it is Evangelical) are all reasons for this preference. The fact is it felt so serene and calm being inside, without it having anything to do with any religious stuff.


Typical German decoration, always good to see such detailed handiwork:


See and read more about Worms in part two of this tour!

Water Cube : Swimming in bubbles

One of the wonders of modern architecture is part of the huge buildings that comprise the venues for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Water Cube (nicknamed like that after it's intriguing façade) is the National Aquatics Centre and will host the swimming and diving competitions for this summer's Games. After the Olympics, it will become, in addition to an aquatic competition venue, a multi-functional facility for sports, culture and recreation, featuring a "water setting" for people of Beijing.


Designed by PTW (Peddle, Thorpe & Walker), CCDI (China State Construction Design International) and Arup, the Water Cube connects water as a structural and conceptual "leitmotiv" with the square, the primal shape of the house in Chinese tradition and mythology. Together with the main Bird's Nest stadium by Herzog & de Meuron, a duality between fire and water, Yin and Yang, is being created with all its associated tensions and attractions.


Behind the totally random appearance hides a strict geometry that can be found in natural systems like crystals, cells and molecular structures - the most efficient subdivision of three-dimensional space with equally sized cells.
The transparency and apparent randomness is equally transposed into the inner and outer building-skins, made of inflated ETFE (ethylene tetrafluoroethylene) cushions.


The project was recognized at the Venice Architecture Biennale for "demonstrating in a stunning way, how the deliberate morphing of molecular science, architecture and phenomenology can create an airy and misty atmosphere for a personal experience of water leisure.”


Check the 2Modern Design Blog for my article on the Water Cube for more details.

Muzine party in Thessaloniki - the photos!

The Muzine party - in co-operation with Highlights magazine - was a great success in Thessaloniki. We had lots of fun, the music was great (thanks to Indictos, Nektarios and *blush* me) and the drinks kept coming until the wee hours of the morning. The people of Nikis 35 were of course an integral part of the success of the whole event. We met old friends, made new ones and promised to repeat it as soon as possible. We missed some people who could not come but we hope to see them in a future event. No more talk: here is a selection of photographs from the party. Till next time!






























Photos by me and MissTati - such a talented photographer!

Tribute: Yves Saint Laurent 1936 - 2008

One of the masters of Haute Couture, a legend of fashion, an icon of the 20th century is not amongst us anymore: Yves Saint Laurent died today, at the age of 71.


It is very difficult to write about legends... He redefined fashion with his unique vision for women. He broke barriers with his avant-guard collections, starting with his work at Dior, then with his own couture house. He was the first to go into prêt-a-porter, the first to open a boutique (on Rive Gauche), the first to dress women in le smoking, the first to show a woman's breasts nude, the first to promote a men's designer perfume (posing nude for the Vogue advertisement himself), the first to use all types of women as his muses (from artist to whore to respectable lady to modern woman to 40's femme fatale to peasant). He dressed women in art, transforming paintings of famous artists into couture dresses.


And what to say about his bold use of colour? His combinations were always dramatic, putting green against blue, fuchsia against red and purple, brown with black etc. His inspirations were endless, from art to Byzantium to French chanteuses, to dancers to marines... but never forgetting that there would be a woman wearing his clothes, a woman's body to drape and show off or cover.


His silhouette was always either very austere or very fluid - no middle of the road solutions here. His forties inspired suits, the strong shoulder line - even when it was un-fashionable to wear shoulder pads - were in stark contrast (but immensely complimented by) the fluid evening dresses in chiffon or satin that transformed women into exotic wild flowers.


His muses were amazing women with strong personalities and independent spirits: Catherine Deneuve, Loulou De La Falaise, Katoucha, Iman, Betty Catroux, Mounia. Their style influenced him and they returned the adoration by wearing his clothes everywhere. His retirement in 2002 made the world headlines. His colleagues and peers gathered at the final show to pay respect as they had never done before (we all know that the fashion world is notorious for backstabbing).


He will always be an inspiration. Adieu Monsieur Saint Laurent.