04/04-Bauhaus, Dessau

Cannot imagine what the design world would become if Walter Gropius didn't found Bauhaus 90 years ago in Weimar.

For only 7 years between 1925 to 1932 that Bauhaus was operated in Dessau, and in fact, the school of Bauhaus had only existed for less than 14 years in total, before the Nazis finally forced Mies van de Rohe to close down its last campus in Berlin.

We spent half a day in Bauhaus' Dessau campus, an iconic building designed by Gropius back in the 1920s. Today half museum and half design institute, the modern school building is occupied by visitors and students. Although in German, we took a tour which allowed us to see rooms behind doors, such as the theatre and Gropius' office. Bold colours, experimental detailing and innovative fixtures, making this school building a manifesto on avant garde design of early 20th century. We also visited the masters' houses nearby. Again designed by Gropius, those houses served as accommodation facilities for professors such as Kandinsky and Paul Klee.

02/04-East Side Gallery, Berlin

I feel guilty if I don't show any image of the East Side Gallery of Berlin, especially when 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. East Side Gallery is both a wonderful open-air showcase of art and an impressive manifesto of human freedom. The longest surviving stretch of the Berlin Wall. A great feast of street art.

03/04-Fragmented Architecture, Dresden

The UFA Cinema by Coop Himmelb(l)au

03/04 - Dresden

As an antithesis of World War Two, Dresden lives long in memories of many. Kurt Vonnegut might have depicted the historical tragic moment in a humorous way, yet the pointless Allied bombings at the end of WW2 remains as a serious subject for many Germans, even today. The devastating bombings in 1945 abruptly transformed this capital of Saxony, which was renounced for its cultural and artistic glories, into a huge pile of rubble. Sixty years on, reconstruction still dominates contemporary urban development. The mighty Frauenkirche Church, rebuilt stone by stone with private raised funds signifies the pride and determination of Dresdeners. The reconstructed Green Vault containing most of Saxony's royal treasures that had survived the 1945 firestorm and the fantastic museums at the Zwinger Palaces reveal Dresden's past glories to both foreigners and the locals. Layers upon layers of glories and tragedies, Dresden will remain symbolic for many centuries to come.

02/04-The Murder of Crows

Occupying the central hall of Museum für Gegenwart at Hamburger Bahnhof, Canadian artists Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller's sound installation, The Murder of Crows turns the former railway station hall into a space of emotions and poetics. With 98 speakers surrounding the audience in all directions and a gramophone at the very centre, a four-part story is told through powerful narratives, audio effects and songs. For more information please visit www.cardiffmiller.com.

With the hall's perfect spatial qualities, beautiful natural light and magnificent sound engineering, The Murder of Crows creates remarkable imaginary in my mind continuously for 30 minutes. It is pure delight that we got the chance to drop-by Hamburger Bahnhof at our last day of Berlin.

02/04-Oberbaumbrucke, Berlin

A revisit to the Oberbaumbrucke turns out to be a highlight of our stay in Berlin.

In 2003 I stayed at a hostel in Kreuzberg. During the stay I crossed the Oberbaum everyday to Friedrichshain to take the S-bahn. Back then, I knew nothing about this double-deck bridge. I simply enjoyed the views, the magnificent structure and the early-morning and late-afternoon shadows of the colonnade.

Six years later, we visit the Oberbaumbrucke as an aftermath to the East Side Gallery. I acknowledge that the Oberbaum is a symbolic landmark that links the former East and West, that the Oberbaum was filmed in Run Lola Run, that Calatrava is the architect who put the modern steel addition in the middle of the bridge, that the Oberbaumbrucke has become my favorite place in Berlin ever since I first visited the city.

31/03 - 02/04 - Architecture of Berlin

Six years have passed since I last visited Berlin.

Dust settled and glass towers erected. Bold efforts in contemporary architecture signify the German determination to remake Berlin. Foster, Sauerbruch Hutton, Koolhaas, Libeskind, Eisenman, Behnisch Architekten and Pei are some of the many that have contributed to the remaking.

A unified Berlin is indeed still a very young city. Human activities have yet fully utilized the potentials of this multi-layered capital. It will be interesting to see how Berlin evolves in coming decades as urban diversity and commercial business gradually take shape.

Today, Berlin serves well as an open-air museum of great architecture.

EuroTour 2009

The Euro Tour 2009 concludes our 1.5-year stay in the UK. For 37 days we backpacked throughout Germany, Switzerland, France, Belgium and the Netherlands to enjoy great architecture and food.

Paris metro

Every moment in Paris metro is a scene of cinema.