COOKIES!

The AIB engineering group from Loyola Marymount University celebrated Christmas early by baking Christmas cookies!
They created fun and unique cutouts in the dough, and enjoyed getting a little messy. A few creations were: a dragon, a multi-tool, Santa Claus, the letters AIB, and a few shout-outs to fraternities and sororities back at LMU. Thanks to the AIB staff for making the cookie party possible!

 

Written by Andrew Petersen

AIB STUDENT FILM MAKES IT INTO TWO EUROPEAN FILM FESTIVALS

Matt Rice (FITS Europe participant Fall 2010) and his documentary made it into this year’s final of Filmfest Düsseldorf and came in 2nd for the audience award of European Short Film Festival UNLIMITED Cologne.
Watch this Interview with Matthew Rice: http://vimeo.com/32003313 (The Yodel Within)

A new World Perspective

My study abroad trip in Germany not only defined who I was as a filmmaker, but it also helped frame a new world perspective for me. I discovered the power of documentary filmmaking and I immediately became enamored with it. Why try and recreate false experiences on a dark soundstage in LA when in reality stories surround our lives everywhere we go? I had finally realized that a documentary could highlight these interesting stories and emphasize the beauty of our natural world.
I wanted to go to Germany for a very specific reason. I wanted to rediscover my ancestral roots. Some members of my Bavarian-American family have participated in a German oompah band all my life. They are unique for continuing that tradition and I wanted to be unique too by mastering the German yodel. I went to Germany to find a true yodeling master. Luckily, LMU had a study abroad documentary filmmaking program located in Bonn, Germany.
Six months before I left, I researched as much as I possibly could about yodeling. I found several contacts in both the U.S. and Europe that agreed to do interviews and private yodel performances. I had even found the address of Franzl Lang, the World’s Greatest Yodeler, who retired from his yodeling career a decade ago. I sought out my contacts in Germany and finally found a suitable yodel instructor that taught me everything there is to know about the art. I am not quite sure which was more fun for me, developing my yodel documentary or learning how to yodel.
In the end, I produced and directed an eleven-minute yodel documentary that I was proud of. I quickly became comfortable with telling my story because I was able to connect my experience in Germany with my cultural upbringing in St. Louis. This never would have been possible if I hadn’t received the assistance that I did while I studied abroad in Germany.
The support I received from the AIB and my fellow colleagues was invaluable for my experience in Germany. Even after my film has been completed, the AIB is still helping me out by promoting my film in European film festivals. My study abroad experience will always remind me of this international camaraderie and I can only hope that I will receive the same support in my future career as a documentary filmmaker.

Written by Matt Rice

Read more news by FITS participants on www.fits-europe.de

CZECH US OUT BERLINERS!

The Fall 2011 New Europe Program posing for the camera in front of the Reichstag.

The New Europe Program embarked on their second and final long excursion to the beautiful cities of Berlin and Prague. From October 29 to November 4 the students enjoyed themselves learning the amazing history Berlin had to offer and explored the wonders of Eastern Europe. Berlin was beautiful; the students saw the Brandenburg Gate, the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin Cathedral, they visited The Reichstag, and were able to experience the Hohenschönhausen Prison and Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. They were divided into four groups on “My Berlin" day: GDR, Cold War, Urban Art, and Multicultural. They were able to explore Berlin on their own, and gave a presentation on what they learned. Their trip to Prague was exciting. They were all in Eastern Europe, which was different, and definitely a new experience. They began with a tour of the central part of the city, and later that evening watched La Bohčme Opera. The next day they had a guided tour of Prague where they saw most of the city, and enjoyed a delicious cup of hot cocoa, and later that evening they enjoyed a group dinner. The excursion was really an exciting experience, and the AIB was successful in making this trip memorable for the students.

Picture of the Bradenburg Gate.

Students hearing the history behind the Berlin Wall.

Check Point Charlie.

Berlin Cathedral.

Entrance to the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp in Berlin.

The students didn't know what to expect once passing these doors into the actual camp.

"Work will set you free"

Memorial to the victims of the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp

The students got a tour of the Reichstag.

German B class on top of the Reichstag.

The Fall 2011 New Europe Program posing for the camera in Prague.

The beautiful city of Prague

The clock tower in Prague that entertained the public with it's unique abilities.

After a long walk in the cold the students enjoyed a delicious hot cocoa from a cafe in Prague.

The Italian Opera La Bohčme.

"RENAMING COLOGNE'S EBERTPLATZ":

AN INTERNATIONAL STUDENT WORKSHOP

As part of their „Field Studies in Design Philosophy“ coursework, the Landscape Architecture/Urban Planing students engaged in a two-day workshop in collaboration with German architecture students from the University of Applied Sciences on November 3-4, 2011 at the University's facilties in Cologne. The workshop was led by AIB's Prof. i.V. Thomas Knüvener and his colleague Prof. Karzel (Cologne University of Apllied Sciences).

The 18 A&M and five German students were charged to develop a new design for Cologne's Ebertplatz in groups of four or five. Ebertplatz belongs to the Cologne Ring, the grand 19th century boulevard that is core of the first large extension after medival times. It was restructured and redesigned many times - always to accomodate for changing needs. Today Ebertplatz is in a poor state and the question is how we have to change the square again and inscribe our time into the palimpsest of the city.

To that extend, Thomas Knüvener held an introductory lecture on Cologne's urban development, then followed by an extensive site visit/analysis. Afterwards, Frau Koch from Cologne's Department for Urban Planning introduced the group into the Cologne Masterplan and specifically the design proposals in that masterplan for Erbertplatz and other selected sites.

   

The rest of the time was spent by students developing their designs and presenting them in the afternoon of November 4.

Does the square need more buildings and a higher density? Are the two levels a source for increased activity or much more part of the problem? Can we relate to the different historic layers as a source of inspiration? Answers to these and many other crucial questions concerning Ebertplatz can be found in the students' works.