Återstående Pro-

gram hösten 2011

Julmarknad, State Fair-

grounds, Raleigh, 3 dec.

kl. 10-18

Glöggkväll hemma hos

Madelene Trolle, Greens-

boro, 13 dec. kl.19.00

Glöggkväll hemma hos

Lotta Bergman, Cary, 7

dec. kl.19.00

SWEA North Carolinas Nyhetsbrev

Nyhetsbrev November, 2011

Världsvid vänskap, global kompetens

och lokalt stöd

En vecka kvar till årets julmarknad!

Kära medlemmar, en sista intensiv vecka kvar till dess att

julmarknaden går av stapeln, vår absolut viktigaste inkomstkälla

under vårt SWEA-år. Jag ser naturligtvis fram emot lördagen och

till och med vädret verkar vara på vår sida. Frysgrader på

morgonen för att få den där härliga vinterkänslan, men ingen snö

som hindrar besökare att komma!

Vi hängde upp kransar på våra fönster i fredags, en något

konstig känsla att ha solen stekande i ansiktet och svetten

rinnande när de 16 (!!!) kransarna skulle på plats. Min man var

mest fundersam över hur det kan vara nödvändigt med 16

kransar. Mitt svar blev bara, sluta fundera och häng upp

kransarna.

Innan årsmötet vill jag att ni håller utkik i er e-post efter ett

frågeformulär angående SWEA North Carolina. Som jag tidigare

nämt, är det viktigt att SWEA försöker följa medlemmarnas

önskemål vad gäller vår förening och samtidigt få reda på hur

våra medlemmar är beredda att bidra. Jag ber er att ta några

minuter att svara på frågorna så att SWEA NC vet hur

verksamheten skall organiseras och vad den skall innehålla.

Inom kort återkommer vi i styrelsen med kallellse till årsmötet

som treditionsenligt hålls i januari.

Till sist hoppas jag att se så många som möjlig av er på

julmarknaden, hjärtligt välkomna!

Er ordförande

Sofie Läck

Matuppror mot IKEA! Läs mer på:

http://www.svd.se/mat-och-vin/matuppror-mot-

ikea_6583578.svd

BIOKVÄLLAR

Sort tack till Anette Oom och Sofie Läck som stod som värdinnor till höstens biokvällar.

Tillsammans såg vi i RTP ”Bröderna Karlsson” och i Greensboro ”Änglagård 3”.

ÄRTSOPPEMIDDAG I GREENSBORO

Vi var drygt 14 personer som samlades en härlig

novemberkväll hemma hos mig och Jan för att åtnjuta

ärtsoppa kokad på riktiga importerade svenska gula

ärtor. Till soppan serverades traditionsenligt punch samt

pannkakor med sylt och grädde. Soppan fick godkänt

och jag hoppas detta är en början på en årlig tradition.

BOKFIKA

Härtligt tack till Mia Hawley, Jennie

Högberg, Dorthe Rydberg och

Karen Geiselhart som stått som

värdinnor för höstens bokfikor. Ni

har alla generöst öppnat era hem

och bjudit oss på smaskiga fikor.

SWEA NC Scholarship Report November 2011

Michael Apple å

To the members of SWEA North Carolina:

Thank you for your generous support of my studies in Swe-

den. My family and I are very grateful and could not have this

opportunity without your support. Here is a quick summary of

our time here in Göteborg since we moved from Charlotte

about one year ago.

First Day at Chalmers

I am studying in the master’s programme in Architecture at

Chalmers. After working in Charlotte for five years it has

been interesting to be back in an academic setting, but in

much different circumstances. I have enjoyed the opportunity

to study and explore in a way more freely than I could when working. The teaching style at Chalmers (as a reflection of

Swedish culture, I think) allows for a great degree of exploration, creativity, and collaboration. Another rewarding as-

pect of the programme is the international interaction. There are only a handful of master’s programmes in Europe

taught in English, so in our programme there are many international students and Erasmus students (European ex-

change). The cultural variety allows us to see new perspectives and even to revaluate previous perspectives in a new

light. I have also enjoyed realising the Swedish approaches and methods relating to my areas of interest, healthcare

design and sustainable development.

While studies at Chalmers were a main factor drawing us to

Gothenburg, there are many other facets of life in which I/we

have matured and experienced this year. One month after my

wife and I arrived to Sweden, our son Emett was born at Mölndal

sjukhus. I think the adjustment to parenthood has been more

challenging than the adjustment to living in another country!

However, we think that Sweden is one of the best countries in

the world to have small children. We have now experienced the

low healthcare costs, the lekplatser all around the city, walking

amidst the many barnvagnar on Linnegatan, and we hear about

the amazing “föräldrarledigheten”. Emett’s birthday is on kanel-

bullens dag, so you can see in the picture how we celebrated

with our friends.

First Birthday

I am grateful to have had the rare opportunity to have an internship the past few months. While working in the U.S. I

learned to use a 3D design software as a part of my job as an architect, and that skill is in demand here. It has been a

great experience to realize the similarities and differences of working in different cultures. I hope that even at your U.S.

jobs you can still take fika together!

Being here for a year, we have been able to make a nice mix of friends from childrens’ play groups, school, work,

church, and even from Swedish class. We really enjoy living in a city where parks and bicycles are prevalent, and

where we can go anywhere with public transport. Next, I will take more courses at Chalmers in spring 2012, then write

a master’s thesis in the Autumn. I look forward to meeting some of you when we are able to visit North Carolina again!

With gratitude, Mike

First Day at Chalmers

First Birthday

Lydia Anne McCarthy

SWEA NC Scholarship Report, 2011

With the support of an American-Scandinavian Foundation Fellow-

ship and an SWEA North Carolina Scholarship, I have been traveling

with researchers into remote forests that were used by the indige-

nous, reindeer-herding people of Scandinavia, the Sami. The north-

west of Sweden is stark and craggy, with clear-cut vistas surrounding

vast expanses of untouched, Scotts pine forest. Throughout these

woods, one can encounter sacred trees, boulders, mountains and

settlements once inhabited by the Sami. Drawing from a rich tradition

of spirit photography and early experiments with the medium, I popu-

late this landscape with ghostly figures, two headed-mystics and in-

decipherable signs. I then weave these manipulated images with

empty, eerie environments layered with cultural traces, creating an imagined underworld

and asking the viewer to question the reality of what they are seeing.

So far this experience has been exceeding my expectations in everyway. I have made two

trips with researchers to a remote reserve, Tjeggelvas, about 7 hours north and west of

Umeå. Both times we flew in by helicopter and stayed for a week or longer, camping out

and making excursions during the day. I have been primarily working with Lars Östlund, a

researcher of Forest History at SLU in Umeå. On each trip I accompanied Östlund to vari-

ous sites within the reserve, stopping along the way to take photographs and learn more

about the history of the forest, the

Sami’s relationship to the land and to

inspect possible remnants of hearths, storage platforms and fences. The terrain

in this area is marshy, with forest and boulder fields interrupted by a network of

small lakes and rivers. I am told that I will return to the US with quite a unique

idea of Sweden, and I have no doubt that this is true.

We have made several other trips to more accessible sites and will make one

more trip to Tjeggelvas in late winter/early spring. Back in Umeå I have been de-

veloping film, scanning it and doing post-production work. Recently I met with

curators at the Bildmuseet and have been in contact with some galleries and

spaces in Stockholm. I have also been using this work to apply for residencies,

exhibitions and festivals in Europe and the US. Additionally, I have been taking

Swedish classes at Folkuniversitetet and volunteering at the local FolketsBio once a week.

This opportunity has been vital to my development as an artist. I received

my MFA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in May 2011 and

immediately left for Sweden. Here I have been able to independently

strengthen my artistic vision. For any artist at any point in their life having

time to work is essential and quite rare. I have had the ability to focus my

energy entirely on this pursuit due to the support of SWEA North Carolina

and the American-Scandinavian Foundation.

SWEA NC Scholarship 2011 Pernilla Hagbert

Sweden - North Carolina

As I packed to fly to North Carolina in the middle of June, I thought to myself that this will be my second, but hopefully far from last,

visit to the American South. The first time I got to experience the charm of a “Southern drawl” was in the heart of Dixie; Alabama. Alt-

hough it could have just as well been on the other side of the country compared to North Carolina, seeing how disconnected I felt from

and how little I got to see of the rest of the South during my year in Western Alabama. However, the oh so familiar conundrums of the

sparsely populated rural South turned out to be very similar already before I even left Landvetter airport. I was flying into Pitt-Greenville,

as I had concluded that the distance to my end destination Windsor, Bertie County, was about an hour-long drive. I booked this slightly

less trafficked airport since I was counting on (or perhaps wishfully hoping for) a bus or train to be able to help me reach Windsor, yet

not convinced of how I would actually get where I was going. Since my connections in Windsor were in the middle of construction – that

was the reason I was going there after all – the only car available was a truck belonging to the two teachers/ founders, which was full of

building supplies and hardly suited to dare the late night highways to pick me up. Having experienced very similar situations before, I

tried to calm them with the reassurance I would find a way.

Me not having a driver’s license was as always a cause for great surprise and plenty of worry. As I grew up in a city environment in

Sweden, I never “had” to get my driver’s license. Between the cost, speed and simplicity of public transport and my bike, it far out-

weighed the hassle of driving or owning a car in the city as a young student. To try to explain this to an American, especially in the

South, I have found to be fairly difficult, yet sometimes the discussion that have followed have proved entertaining. I would say this first

“culture shock” is also one that is of importance to me, as I believe we can build better cities and communities where owning your own

car is secondary to other communications in society. How fitting then that my rescue, in this particular instance from possibly being

stranded at Pitt-Greenville, came in the form of a complete stranger through an online community. As I have previously used couchsurf-

ing.org for travels through Europe and the US, I took my chances and posted an emergency message on the local Greenville members

group. Within no time, I heard back from a young local designer who knew about Studio H and admired their work and who offered to

give me a ride from the airport up to Windsor. So upon my arrival to the small airport with a newly built conveyor belt, I met Christopher

Schwing, a recent graduate of East Carolina University, who was kind enough to show me some of the sights on our way up to Wind-

sor. For a first impression of North Carolina, I don’t think I could have gotten a better one than the great Southern hospitality and gener-

osity of complete strangers! If anything, that is what continues to amaze me about the US, the spirit I have met in people from all differ-

ent backgrounds, with different aspirations and purposes to do what they do, but with a willingness to share these perspectives while

gathering new ones. Plus, to hear the point of view of someone who lives and works in an area you are visiting is always helpful, that

car ride was a regular Q&A with me asking anything there was to know about North Carolina; the universities, the art and design scene,

the history, the industries, you name it.

Windsor

Windsor, Bertie County is a small town in an area faced with great challenges. Apart from the high percentage of people living in pov-

erty and the need for efforts such as Studio H to breath life, creativity and inspiration into the young of the county, Windsor was also hit

badly by natural disasters in the last year. As I got to know the town, the tales of flooded houses, shops and perhaps most saddening,

the library, were horrifying. Emily Pilloton and Matt Miller moved to Bertie County with a mission to not only talk about change, but to

actually be part of it. Even though the town took a while to come around to the idea, and the school board several attempts to scare

them away, they now call Bertie County their home. Working closely with the community is of great importance to their work, and as a

visitor I got to see plenty of that. Especially relevant to the project I took part in, a farmers market, the idea of a local ownership of the

work is key. While walking around Windsor (yes, I did indeed walk all around, causing quite a few worried looks as I made my way

around the sometimes sidewalk-less streets) I got to appreciate the beautiful historic downtown. Being an architect, I am of course very

interested in the vernacular architecture of the rural South, and in particular the prominent examples of antebellum and Greek-revival

houses found in North Carolina. Windsor has a great deal of beautiful houses, although as I had previously seen in Alabama, some are

loosing their finished flair and falling into a state of (still beautiful, but problematic) vacancy. One house that however has seen a surge

of new life is the one I had the chance to stay in during my time in Windsor. The Inn at Gray’s landing is a beautiful old Colonial style

home that is now run as a Bed & Breakfast. It was also where Emily and Matt stayed during their first time in Windsor – located just

across the street from their current home, it made for very appropriate access for me to get around town, to the construction site and so

on. Sitting on the great wrap around porch to cool down after a day working on site, I did indeed conjure up ideas of what the main

street – King street, would have been like during the turn of the 18th/19th century. Being especially fond of history, and due to my pro-

fession - where any stories related to how architecture and urban/rural planning developed are of interest, I do think North Carolina is

very rich in gorgeous examples of homes from a range of simple rural cottages to plantation mansions. If I get my way, I will soon be

back to thoroughly explore this specific theme some more. As my current work as a researcher and PhD student deals with the concept

of home, how this concept has developed in such a geographic context is very fascinating.

StUDIO H

”Studio H is a public high school “design/build” curriculum that sparks rural com-

munity development through real-world, built projects. Studio H is a different kind

of classroom. We design, build, and transform.” www.studio-h.org”. The program I

was in North Carolina to visit and volunteer my muscle to, Studio H, works with

junior year students from all over Bertie County that attend the public high school

located in Windsor. As a one-year design/build program, it not only gives the stu-

dents college credits and inspiring weekly classes, but also allows them to work

during their summer break on the actual construction of a project they have de-

signed collaboratively. Both Emily and Matt are certified as adjunct faculty at Pitt

Community College Architectural Technology and Design departments. Having

met them both only briefly before, I mostly knew of their work through following it

online and through mutual friends. Meeting them again, in their “true element” was

truly inspiring not only because of their drive and passion for what they do, but

also to see the connection they have with their students. Unfortunately not all stu-

dents taking the class during the school year were able to take part in the con-

struction phase during the summer, so I didn’t get to meet them all. The ones who

did, however, showed through their hard work just how proud to take part in the

program they were. The students of course wondered what I was doing, visiting all

the way from Sweden to see the work they were doing. For them, quite under-

standably, Windsor is perhaps the last place they would expect anyone to actually

come visit. For me, discussing the everyday life of Bertie County and the impact Studio H has had on their own perspectives and fu-

ture plans was as inspiring to me as any glossy architectural magazine image. Perhaps this is what makes Studio H an interesting

model in combining design with practical experience and community engagement; the kids are the studio’s mission.

The Windsor Super Farmers’ Market

The project that the students had been working on was a farmers’ market for Wind-

sor. The studio identified the need for locally grown fresh produce in a town, or

county, where access to good vegetables can prove quite the challenge. The aim

was to design and build a place where local farmers and home gardeners could sell

their crops, along with other products created by craft rather than mass-production.

The students worked with the design collaboratively, reworking multiple designs into

one final idea and got to present their proposal to the local community and visiting

faculty guests. Settling on a structure that resembles a stable, the students took

inspiration from vernacular peanut trailer sheds with a line of bays with loading ac-

cess from the back in a nice shaded pavilion for the customers to stroll through. I

had planned on visiting Studio H as they were finishing up this design review pro-

cess and moving into construction planning. As my trip got slightly delayed, I instead

arrived just in time for the groundbreaking. Perhaps even more fitting than showing

up at the end of the design phase, I was put straight to use digging. On my first day

in Windsor, I was up at 7 to get an early (an slightly cooler morning) start to working

on the holes for the foundation. Even though we all sweated through the merciless

North Carolina June sun, as with much manual labor, it goes a whole lot faster when

you have people helping you. Together with the students (who worked in morning/

afternoon shifts on a rotation), Emily, Matt and an engineer/builder friend of theirs, I

dug and prepped the footer holes with rebar for concrete to be poured into them. As we were expecting the delivery of concrete by the

end of the week, there was much to be done, every day was just as exhausting as the next. When the concrete truck finally arrived an

early morning, we got right to chucking it into the holes, trying to get all the air bubbles out and smoothing the surface. Working with

concrete is a heavy job, and by the end of the day we were all worn out, but satisfied. Being part of the beginning of construction is

perhaps the most satisfying segment to witness, as the disbelief and awe of the students that their design was actually coming to life,

by the work of their own hands, was pretty astounding.

Doing such grunt work together gave me a great opportunity to get to know the stu-

dents and them me. Explaining how I had come to learn about their studio, their part of

the country, and even the US gave me lots to think about, not to mention sharing my

personal story of why I became an architect and why I want to teach. As one of the

students came from a family of cattle farmers, he told me all about the recent cattle

show he had entered and the whole science that goes into raising a good animal. Ask-

ing about the prospects of cattle farming in Sweden, I must say I had no clear answer,

although we discussed the general decrease in agriculture and the economic conse-

quences of a weakened agricultural heritage. I can safely say I would have never had

such a conversation unless out there, spade in the dirt, under the hot sun with these

amazing kids. From that groundbreaking at the middle of June to the completion and

grand opening three and a half months later, the students and their instructors did an

amazing job. Even though didn’t get to follow the whole process, the time I spent in

Windsor working on the foundation for this project was as rewarding to them as it was

to me, not only for the extra man power or the sore muscles I got. The farmers’ market

now belongs to the town of Windsor and is run by the farmers’ market association,

something that was important for the studio as maintenance or facilitating the actual

activities lies beyond the scope of the curriculum. Nonetheless, with the prime location, just at the river south of King street and at

one of the entry points into town, I am sure these kids will never forget the work and heart that went into that farmers’ market. Such

projects are a true way to build inter-generational sustainability, as

their own children and hopefully grandchildren will see that struc-

ture and feel pride in the accomplishment. I know that at least on

my next visit to North Carolina and Windsor –hopefully soon—

seeing the market in use will be first on my list.

the completed farmers’ market at night

Pernilla Hagbert

Tips till Dig som lagar mycket mat

Om Du som jag lagar mat ”hela tiden” så har Du antagligen ett set med ordentliga köksknivar som

Du använder dagligen. Hur länge har Du haft dem och när fick du dem slipade sist? Matt Denning

är en pensionerad slaktare som i 10 år har kommit och hämtat mina knivar för slipning. Numera har

han dessutom utrustning i sin SUV och kan slipa direkt på plats. Han tar också hand om

bestickknivar, saxar till frisörer och trägårdsutrustning. Priset varierar med knivens storlek men

brukar ligga mellan $2-$4. När han var hos mig sist gick notan på under $20 dollar för alla mina

köksknivar!

Matt bor i Raleighområdet och jag är osäker på hur stort område utanför han täcker. Kontakta

honom på (919) 872 - 0790. Hans fru Jackie svarar i telefonen. Hälsa från mig!

Efter ett antal sönderbrända plåtar (ja, teflonbelagda så kallade ”cookie sheets” är ju inte precis

menade för ”high-heat roasting”) och billiga plastredskap från WalMart som bara går sönder,

bestämde jag mig för att leta efter bättre produkter. Visst, Williams Sonoma har ju jättebra

kvalitetssaker, men oj så dyrt. Jag hittade United Restaurant Equipment som ligger på 2654 South

Saunders Street söder om Raleigh (www.ureco.com). Det är en pytteliten byggnad men full av

grejer. Allt från commercial grade bakplåtar, kastruller och bakformar till silicon spatulas, knivar och

skärbräden samt jättestora friterings anläggningar (om nu någon letar efter det), ja kort sagt, allt

som restauranger (komersiella eller personliga!) behöver.

Enjoy!

Mia Hawley