Raquel Puerto Peris

Raquel Puerto Peris' home University is Escola Tècnica Superior d'Architectura de Barcelona in Spain. She was an exchange student at the Academy for two semesters in 2007/08.

I: Why did you choose the Royal Danish Academy?
RPP: I wanted to go to an artistic school of architecture and to become better in English. I thought of choosing either Edinburgh College of Art or the Royal Danish Academy. I looked up the two schools on the internet and liked the pictures I saw of the academy and the city, also I spoke to one of my teachers at home who recommended me to go there. At the end of the day I chose to go to Denmark to experience another culture and learn some more English.  

I: What did you do before starting your exchange?
RPP: I applied at my school in Barcelona and that was quite straight forward. I had problems getting a nice place to stay in Copenhagen. I was surprised that the academy only offered me a room in an apartment of a landlady in stead of a room in a residence hall. In Spain I live with my parents and I was looking forward to live with other students during my exchange. The Danish landlady was strict setting up rules about timetables for using the kitchen and not allowing me to bring friends to the apartment. I didn’t want to live there and started looking for a place myself.  Finally I found a place with another exchange student from Germany. We were living together without any landlady or landlord. We were really lucky with the place, because in Copenhagen it’s hard to find a flat to rent.  In the beginning I thought it was a problem to live with a landlord. But now it is not important anymore. During the day I work at school and in the evening I often have dinner with friends. My room is only a place for me to sleep.  

I: How is your social life during your exchange stay?
RPP: It is easy to meet other people because we are in a studio all day at school. I work 6-7 hours a day at the academy until I have dinner with some of my friends. Being at the school feels like home. During the day we are normally involved with the exchange students at the department, and we also talk to the Danes in the studio. The exchange students mostly hang out with each other because they are in the same situation, away from their normal settings and every day life. In the evening the Danish students often have plans with friends, girl/ boyfriends or family. The exchange students and I always go to the Friday bars. Each department organises Friday bars in turn. We have noticed that we always sit by a table only with exchange students. The Danish students stick to a table with their own department. One doesn’t meet any new people in that way. I spoke to the other exchange students and we want to make a different Friday bar. We want to encourage students to talk to other students than they normally do. Our Friday Bar will be without chairs to get more interaction.  

I: What do you think of the way of working at the Academy as compared to the learning environment in Barcelona?
RPP: In Barcelona we have 5-6 lessons a day. Apart from that we work at home since we don’t have our own place in a studio at school. The working day is long - we also work in the weekend. We deal with topics such as construction, history and structures. At the school in Barcelona, we have less time for our own project during the semester, because we also need to study for other assignments, so at the end, we make our project in 1-2 months full time.  
Here at the academy it is a more free way of working with focus on experimenting with new design. You have to make one project pr. semester and you only have a few lessons. You must be responsible, manage yourself and learn how to organise time. The Danish students sometimes design buildings with strange shapes - buildings that would never stand up in reality. The students could be more aware of the structures when they work. On the other hand the Danish students are free to create new design because they take less care about the structural things.  
My school in Barcelona and this academy complement each other very well. At home you have to build correctly and think about the function of the building. At the academy you think about sensibility, perceptions and feelings when working with architecture. Spanish architects play a much different role than Danish. A Spanish architect must be able to do everything from design to structure. Danish architects are like artists. They will always need to cooperate with other professionals like constructers, engineers etc.  

I: Which projects have you been doing at the Academy?
RPP: The first semester I made a project about swimming pool, bath terapies and fitness centre in Nørrebro Parken [Nørrebro is a neighbourhood in Copenhagen]. This semester I work on a world cultural museum near Nørrebro Station. The programmes have been given by the teachers at our department. Yet, it is also possible to formulate a programme yourself.  

I: How do you get around in Copenhagen?
RPP: I go on bike. I bought a bike when I arrived in a store with second hand bikes. It is like having a car. You can decide when and where you want to go. You don’t have to wait for public transport and don’t get affected by congestion. You can even make shortcuts by taking the pedestrian streets!  

I: What do you think about Copenhagen?
RPP: Copenhagen is more relaxed and less stressful than Barcelona. It is a calm city where you can go on bike and look at things slowly. There are lots of canals and water. I like the typical colourful houses in central Copenhagen. It is obvious that there has been taken care of these traditional houses. You also see interesting modern buildings elsewhere in the city, i.e. the newly established part of the city Ørestaden.    

I: Have you learned Danish during your stay?
RPP: At first I attended a Danish course in August, at Aarhus, with other exchange students that were coming to Denmark, and it was really fun, and a nice opportunity to meet lots of exchange students from different universities and degrees. Once I arrived in Copenhagen in September, I tried to continue my lessons in a language centre. But the pronunciation was so difficult and I found it hard to master the vocabulary. I stopped at the language school. It was not worth the effort. I came to improve my English. Danish is secondary. I suppose, I will only use Danish one time in my life- while I am here as an exchange student.  

I: Did you experience any language problems at the Academy?
RPP: At the Academy I attend an English speaking department. But some activities are in Danish. The students’ presentations are often in Danish which means that the foreign students don’t understand what is going on. Sometimes we get written summaries afterwards but it is too late if we want to be part of the discussion during the presentation. We raised the issue and asked for more activities in English. But our teachers told us that Danish is a minority language and it is crucial to preserve it. The Danish students also prefer to do the presentations in Danish since they can express themselves more profoundly and accurate in their mother tongue.  

I: Do you have anything more to add before we finish off the interview?
RPP: Yes, I liked the introductory programme that was organised for the exchange students during our first week at the Academy. The canal boat trip was, for instance, a good way of getting to know each other as well as getting an impression of Copenhagen. The duration of the introduction programme was appropriate.