This morning we're off to see some museums, but first, a giant sling shot!
Our first museum is over by where the food truck festival was. It's the Zurich Museum of Design.
The museum is in the University of the Arts.
"Kennet is the only pattern that was used for both printed and woven textiles."
I was really excited to see these and the following prints.
(I'm missing a few weeks of classes to be on this trip.)
Full scale print on fabric.
These are some of the wood blocks used to make the prints.
Wallpaper block print for William Morris & Co.
One of nine blocks needed to do the above print.
The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer illustrated by Edward Burne-Jones (1896).
The work of Otto Baumberger, who designed around 200 posters for clients from the fields of tourism, politics, culture, and business.
Poster for Zurich family business PKZ (1923)
"Individual flowers are drawn in pencil on transparent Japan paper and organized in pattern constellations on a montage worktop in studio." Designed by Erich Biehle
Design done in repeat from the "Collection Africaine."
Erich Biehle designs for "Collection Africaine" (1967)
"Once the design process is completed, tests are made at the printer's on a variety of materials and in various color combinations."
"This fabric was also used in collections by Yves Saint Laurent between 1967 and 1968."
Sketches and fabric samples by Yves Saint Laurent.
"The fabric producer's internal documentation, the fabric and color variations are put together in sample books. For each page, a fabric quality is presented in different color combinations."
Winners from the 2006 Swiss Federal Grants for the Decorative Arts.
"The platonic solids, as depicted in Albrecht Durer's famous engraving, provided the inspiration for the geometric forms of the Objects melancoliques."
Designing airline silverware.
"In terms of length, the knife, fork, and soup spoon are shorter than normal restaurant cutlery. In contrast, the bowl of the spoons is based on standard sizes. The coffee spoon and espresso spoon are produced in the usual format, but the weight of espresso spoon at just 13 grams is about half that of standard espresso spoons of the same size."
When was the last time you had actual flatware on a plane?
Directions on how to make a book. I made one! ...I don't have a photo of it.
Typographs for numbers 1-5 by Andre Gurtler (1962)
Clearly I only took a photo of 3 and 4.
"In 1953, Charles Peignot commissioned Adrian Frutiger to design a grotesque Linearantiqua for the new Lumitype photo-typesetting machine."
I don't know what half of these words mean.
What you need to know is a typeface called Univers was created in 1957. It has 21 variants for photo and hot-metal typesetting, 20 variants for hand and photo typesetting, and in 1997, 63 digital variants. This means that along with Helvetica, Univers is among the most successful twentith-century typefaces. Woo.
An early electronic book.
Electronic book guts.
Poster by Dafi Kuhne (1982)
Posters are produced using analogue and digital techniques. This poster runs through the entire creative process from the first idea to the finished project.
How color printing works. Reds, Blues and Greens, all combined.
Flax! AKA Linen.
Sustainable/locally sourced fibers.
Process of producing fibers and fabrics to the final garment.
Lyocell thread (made from wood pulp), band from two different yarns, and metal pants buttons.
It was a small but neat museum. Design is both intricately interesting which can also be overwhelming and maybe a bit boring at times. I was drawn to the pieces about fabrics and prints because I'm studying textiles at the local community college at home.
Onto the next museum!
This is the National Museum Zurich.
I believe this is a map of New England in the US. I took this photo and then found out photos weren't allowed inside the museum. Oops.
It's a funny building. Combining an old castle look with modern additions.
A pretty ginkgo tree I saw from one of the museum windows.
The museum had a lovely collection of exhibits. Some modern and weird, others more traditional.
It also had this high point with a brilliant view.
A lion! Maybe?
Near the lion were these interesting mosaics.
I don't know any info on them, but they're near the intersection of Walchestrasse and Walchebrucke.
Onto the next museum!
The Zoological Museum at the University of Zurich!
This thing looks like a lobster crossed with a terrifying flying thing.
It's a Mole Cricket, and it's harmless, but I'm not sure I'd want one in my house.
Caddisflies. They make these neat little shell tube things for the larva.
Crane Fly. Also harmless, also not wanted in my house.
Their larvae are known as "leatherjackets."
This is a Horntail; a type of wood wasp. They look mean, but they can't sting.
Placodus, a marine reptile from 251-235 million years ago. Usually between 8 and 10 feet in length.
Plesiosaur, a marine reptile from about 203 million years ago.
Usually between 25 and 31 feet in length.
The Japanese Giant Salamander. A modern dinosaur.
They can be up to 5 feet in length and weigh up to 55 pounds. This one is almost 4 feet.
Seirocrinus, commonly called a Sea Lily, except they're echinoderms - like sea stars.
They were around sometime from 190 to 175 million years ago.
Jackalope!!
A Wooly Mammoth (Mammut) from about 2.59 million to 11, 700 years ago. They could be between 8.5 and 11 feet tall. And the Irish Elk from about 7,700 years ago. It's about 7 feet tall, at the shoulder.
The Black Grouse and his ridiculous eyebrows.
The Eurasian Eagle-Owl. Two things to note: this animal's scientific name is Bubo bubo and the German word for owl is "uhu." Both are amusing.
These two curly tail birds belong to the Bird of Paradise family.
Is this the bird equivalent of a handlebar mustache?
This guy is also part of the Bird of Paradise family, he's a Curl-crested Manucode.
Have you ever seen a woolly looking bird?
So many birds! From little ones to the Cassowary in the back.
A peacock (colorful male) and a peahen (drab female). Did you know peafowl can fly? If you didn't you should look it up. It's pretty fantastical.
This is a disgruntled looking Great Horned Owl. AKA Bubo virginianus. AKA Virginia-Uhu.
Okay. What? What's with fu-manchu bird on the top? Or Unicorn bird on the bottom?
Respectively the Three-wattled Bellbird and the White Bellbird. Apparently the horn is more of a flop when it's not taxidermied.
I believe these are all types of hummingbirds.
This is the back of a Great Potoo. They are half terrifying half Muppet.
I liked the different patterns in their feathers.
Gah! Giant Spider Crab! I would not want to run into one of these.
Giraffe! And other animals.
We left the museum and went in search of food. I found a tattoo/piercing parlor that had this handy chart, in case you don't know what you want pierced. Including some sensitive bits.
We ended up going into a little cafe, Raclette Factory, that only served Raclette dishes. It was soooooo delicious! It was cheese with bread or potatoes, and bacon. How could you go wrong?
Also I found a cow on a balcony.
And this mural map of Zurich in 1568.
I wish we had ironwork signs like this in the USA. They're so cool.
We grabbed our stuff from the hotel and caught a train to Feldkirch, Austria.
Where we found our hotel and got drunk at the bar. Hurray!
This concludes our adventures for today.
