After exiting the time warp machine that we have created through air travel, I have arrived in Pristina Kosovo. From the air looking down it seems like a very hilly upstate NY. This being the first time that I have traveled internationally my naïve expectations of this place being completely foreign on all fronts were met with self reflected laughter upon realizing that the earth is the earth is the earth. Nature always shares similar features, it’s always some sort of soil that lies underneath your feet. As I peer out the window of our Air Berlin extremely impressive airplane I notice the flora is reminiscent to that of northern California during the winter months; varied tints of sepia and yellow fill a seemingly desaturated landscape. It does not help that there is so much cloud coverage and it is November. In that sense it is also like Upstate NY, the grayness that we have come to associate with a long winter approaching. I notice the difference in the how the houses are laid out. On an earlier flight over the Washington DC area, you see veins of roads alienated with white Victorian houses and their divvied out one acre plot of green land affixed with pool or trampoline. At the edge of that property begins another property. Here staring out the window is different, the houses are collected in clusters with no real form as to how they come together. Surrounding them is wide open pasture, the kinds that you can still find in some of the more central northern states in the U.S. Upon touching down we exit the plan and board a shuttle which travels about 100 feet from plan to customs. Although it seems frivolous it is a very welcoming way to corral everyone from plane to security. After collecting our various luggage Bill Myers, Lyndsey McGrath, and myself walked out into a sea of people that were awaiting their loved ones. If I had to liken the experience to something I would say it must feel similar to what it feels like to exit a rock concert, except instead of people greedily asking for signatures they are greeting you and welcoming you to their country.
The ride from the airport starts out on a bumpy dirt road; the roadsides are lined with garbage, mostly water bottles. The first groups of houses are small farm houses with tall fences, the tops of which are wrap with razor wire. There are cars pulled over on all sides of the roads and men standing around in black leather jackets smoking cigarettes and eyeing the traffic as we fly by. As a car passes us crossing into oncoming traffic and pulls up onto what I thought was a sidewalk the feeling hits me, I have just entered a very different world with a very different set of rules. I fortunately was asked to be sit "shotgun" so that I could experience the beauty of Kosovo driving first hand. Our driver Hasan Salihu (Operations Manager for American University in Kosovo) was very capable. What you don't read in the visitors guide book is the custom for driving is traffic laws are more of a suggestion than enforcement. Drivers weave in and out passing each other constantly there seems to be a notion of lanes, but it’s not same feeling that you have in United States. The feeling that you have an invisible wall separating you from oncoming traffic is nonexistent. People seem to have figured out a way to navigate each other knowing what the other car will do and speed around like it’s an old time comedy film where the chase scene is sped up.
As we approach the city we see tilled soil and Bill cannot help but notice that it seems much for fertile than what he is used to in Croatia. He says that in Croatia the soil is abundant with Rocks, so much so that getting good farm land becomes an ever growing task. Hasan mentions that in Kosovo they have been moving further and further away from farming. He talks about how small farms are not sustainable. The initial cost is far too great after you add the amount of work into for what you receive monetarily and the end of the growing season. We have now reached the city limits and the pattern of buildings that boarder the roadside is shocking. The first building seems about to fall down, the bottom has some sort of store front with broken glass and the upper floors have no face at all. The skin of the building seems to be peeling itself away from the structural aspects. This is not a renovation; this is time and war torn. The type that repairs may not be able to fix, the type that you may just want to start over from scratch because you are not sure how structurally sound the foundation could possibly be. The open soil around has covered all parts of the white stucco with a film of dirt unevenly spread from back to front. The pollution from the road makes a gradient with the dirt that later meets from the top down with the soot that is falling from the sky. The next is a few very tight stacks of bricks that make up a brand new slab skeleton. Its cleanliness stands out as does its hollowness. The style seems to be almost brutalist, square and very vacant. It’s obvious that this project has been stagnant for quite some time. All the makings are there but it seems that finances are so that the job could not have been finished. The third is a brand new four story building with extremely modern architecture; this seems to be someone’s home. Everything about it sparkles and looks excessive. The colors used are bright and feel like neon against the brown and yellow desaturated landscape. The entire front is tinted glass and seems to have the appearance of a bastard son of Frank Gerry. The shapes are rounded in strange ways, if I had to compare it to an object I would have to say a very over designed toaster.
It’s similar to walking through a used car lot and viewing an old tan Buick skylark, a hollowed out frame of a new Volkswagen Touareg and then a bright yellow Prius. The contrast is brutal but gives a hint of some sort of progress. This contrast runs throughout Kosovo culture; a land that is creating a new history and is constantly in development in an economy with no support.
Upon arrival at American University at Kosovo, I received a brief but in depth tour of the school highlighting the creativity of the students that spreads through all of the four floors of AUK’s only educational building. The building next door to the University is the Luxor Hotel, my shelter for the next 12 days. Not at all as it was explained to me, the Luxor is a great hotel, but also has led me to the first observation of design. When entering a new building with new customs, you expect certain things to be different. You do not expect simple things to change, like the shape of light switches, or how to flush the loo. What I love most about Kosovo thus far is this, Objects, not all objects but most and especially the things that you interact with the most are thought out and well designed. Case in point… the light switch. On an object that you must flick on and off constantly, would you want to flick a stick or a square flat yet rounded soft surface? The Stick is abrasive; it also juts out from the wall in a way that seems to injure the passerby in any way possible. Also after thinking about how much we actually use the light switch, it does not seem to be a smart idea to have a thin sharp rectangle that comes out of the wall. The other thing that I have found amazing about these phenomena is that it’s very difficult to find information about these sorts of switches. A Google search does not seem to come up with any just results. For being such a technologically advanced country (USA) we certainly have not given any thought to the everyday things in our lives. From door handles to wall outlets we have neglected such things in our country, this is an area of the future of design. We have become so jaded with making Cell Phones and Toasters we have not taken the time to improve the everyday necessities that constantly add to our daily stress levels. Is this not one of the goals of design? To assist in improving our everyday lives. Some things to think about, perhaps we have not become “dumb” as a country but we have become “numb” to the things that are not up to par in our lives.
Dinner-
Dinner was set at a lovely restaurant the next building up from my temporary home at the Luxor. The name of the place was ¬¬¬______. As I walked to the restaurant I notice large cow prints in the dirt sidewalk underneath my feet. I was told the herd grazes through this area quite commonly. Turning left and meandering through a rocky vine strewn path we reach a stone structure with the warm glow of a large fireplace inside. The interior is something else that we are now missing in our culture of chain restaurants as, it’s as rustic as a true cabin found in the middle of the woods. You could feel the handcrafted decor and tell how much time had been spent over the years perfecting the nuances of the wine and coat racks. We sit at a white linen table and are treated like royalty but the courteous staff. Dinning this evening was the president of the college along with his wife, the Director for the center for energy studies along with his wife (who makes amazing “American” cookies) Bill Myers ( a new faculty member) Julia (another new Faculty member) Lyndsey McGrath, and myself. A little know fact is that Albanian bread is the best bread in the world. What’s great about this is that not only is that true, but it also that a majority of Kosovo is inhabited by Albanians. After perusing the menu, the waiter brought us a plate full of a variation of the fish that was to be served that night. I will not even try to write out most of these names, but I was told that beyond the fantastic calamari, the trout was one of the best served in the world and only cost 8 euro’s. This fish was served whole and was delicious, no special seasoning, just grilled over real flames and served with some side dish vegetables. Dinner was great and the conversation even after being awake for 27 hours was energetic and absolute. When everyone had finished their meals there was an offer of desert or Raki. Raki is a non-sweet anise-flavored spirit popularly consumed in Turkey and the Balkans as an aperitif in particular alongside seafood and mezze. It is produced in the Balkans from distilling pomace, similar to Italian grappa. It is a must try for anyone who love to experience new things.
