.....Saying goodbye to my friend at the other side of the bridge, I took on my way again, that is, going nowhere. But this time at least I know how to get lost in downtown. So, I can continue in my initial goal, to look for the design in the city, acknowledging that the relaxed and safe atmosphere of the city which can make a total strangers meet and communicate in the middle of the street, is one of its elements of design. As I continue my tour, I can only confirm this.
Looking around me, alone again, I can see the design of the city at things like the leaves that fall on the pavements, at how people move in it, at combinations of different elements, like trees with skyscrapers, natural and futuristic designs, old and modern buildings, private and public space, like that of graffiti with the traditional decoration or at the banner with a human ear in front of an old Gothic style building.
I'm crossing the bridge one more time on my way back to the center. On it, I can hear as much Greek and Turkish as German. As the afternoon proceeds I'm watching the streets getting more crowded. I guess everybody's confined in offices in the morning. The historical center is under the reign of several cranes. A lot of spaces are closed to the public and under re-construction. This gives a certain atmosphere to the city and I'm wondering how different will it look when these works finish. Nothing is visible now, only scaffolding and metal sheets but I find the opportunity to dive into the city's past through the old photos on light boxes in front of the works.
It's the day that they're setting up the Christmas tree at the main square of the old town, in front of the statue of Themis, the Goddess of Justice with the scale in one hand and the sword in the other. From this point of view, only the cranes remind me that I'm in a modern city.
As I'm making circles within the center, discovering its corners I found myself at the Frankfurt Museum of Modern Art, watching Dayanita Singh's exhibition “Go Away Closer”. I'm impressed by the way the exhibition is set out. What I find very interesting, is that I can't exactly make a logical meaning of what I'm seeing. There isn't much of a text to guide me somewhere and I prefer this. I find meaning in me being there, feeling synchronized with my experience, living the narrative of the exhibition not only by the content of the photographs but also by the way they are arranged in space and setting. The photos can be “read” in lines or columns, like a book or a strip and in any other way one can find. Some of the images look as if they couldn't have expected themselves to be seeing alone but only through the way they are exhibited in groups and within the framing arrangment. I'm staying for a pretty much time, feeling very comfortable in this space.
When I finally go out, the last light of day is been seduced by the night. Street lights are transforming the city. The shops look more colourful and spectacular, lighted up to warm for the upcoming festivity. It's almost as if I'm walking in another city.
Downtown streets are crowded with people. The acute smell of strong coffee enchants my nose as I pass outside a coffee brewery which also looks as a haunt of coffee lovers, who stand outside enjoying their warm drinks. The skyscrapers and glass buildings are shining in colours creating a futuristic setting in which people are smoothly rolling, on foot or cycle.
The leaves of the trees in this season, look like golden coins, as they are shaking under the light from the skyscraper-money temples. Coming out on the central merchant street, the Holzgraben, I find it full of people walking up and down. The middle of this wide pavement strip is occupied by small trees, circular benches around them and stands for bicycles, street musicians, and couples. On the two sides of this, the flow of people and the shops.
My feel start to feel sore, I'm circling the station from where I'll go to the airport but I'm not deciding to go in. I want another downtown stroll. As if I'm looking something that I can't miss before I leave. Leaving it to my intuition again, I'm walking without any certain direction but knowing where I'm going, where I'm in front of this amazing graffiti, “there's something better than perfection”. Frankly, U I was looking for. Now I know I can take the way back to the airport, with a sense of fulfillment from this half day-city experience.
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