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Today is Santiago Calatrava Day in Milwaukee, honoring the architect’s iconic Quadracci Pavilion

2022-09-16T12:30:00-04:00

Milwaukee has declared Friday, September 16th as Santiago Calatrava Day, in celebration of the architect’s contribution to the city. Calatrava’s legacy in the city comes in the form of the Milwaukee Art Museum’s Quadracci Pavilion, known locally as “The Calatrava.”

The pavilion opened in 2001 following four years of construction. Designed in collaboration with local architect David Kahler Slater, the project was Calatrava’s first building in the United States. Three years after the pavilion’s completion, Calatrava would unveil his design for the World Trade Center Transportation Hub in Lower Manhattan.

A 2013 photo of the Calatrava building courtesy Wikimedia Commons user Uriel-carmen

“What I love about Milwaukee is the city adopted it, even though it seems very foreign to what’s being made here, as the image of the city,” said Mo Zell, an associate professor and chair of the UWM architecture department in a 2020 reflection on Calatrava’s Quadracci Pavilion. “That’s a great thing whe...

UWM’s Mo Zell on the significance of Calatrava’s Quadracci Pavilion 20 years on

2022-01-26T16:38:00-05:00

Two decades later, the Quadracci Pavilion remains one of the most significant works of architecture in Milwaukee. The project changed the conversation about the city and fueled a vision of molding the area into an arts and entertainment destination. Simply referred to as “The Calatrava” by locals, the game-changing project has made the Milwaukee Art Museum a must-see for residents and tourists alike. The structure has been the backdrop remains a symbol of the city’s continuing renaissance.

The iconic 2001 structure has become synonymous with the city’s skyline and is seen as the originator of an influx of modern buildings that includes the new Northwestern Mutual Tower and Populous-designed Fiserv Forum downtown. Mo Zell, the Senior Associate Dean of UW Milwaukee’s architecture department, says the impacts brought about by the $121 million pavilion are only beginning to be felt, and that she looks forward to seeing how the future of the city’s built environment will bear its influence.

“Twenty years feels like a long time, but it’s not,” she explained. “It’s youthful in terms of building change. I’m super excited because I think we’re on the cusp of seeing that design culture pay off in the not too distant future. The next 10 years is where you are going to see a lot more of the translation of that design in the city. I think we’re poised to have a different kind of conversation around how buildings play a significant role for the city and what it means to have good d...

Monica Obniski appointed curator of decorative arts and design at High Museum of Art in Atlanta

2020-02-24T12:14:00-05:00

Monica Obniski, the current 20th and 21st Century Design curator at the Milwaukee Art Museum, has been selected to lead curatorial efforts for the decorative arts and design at the High Museum in Atlanta.

According to a High Museum press release, Obniski will oversee exhibitions and programs for the institution's 2,300-object collection, which dates from the 17th century to today. Obinski will also oversee the High’s Piazza activations event series, a "multiyear initiative that launched in 2014 to animate the Museum’s outdoor space with site-specific commissions that engage visitors of all ages in participatory art experiences," according to the announcement.

Photo of the High Museum in Atlanta. Image courtesy of Flickr user Aleksandr Zykov.

In a statement, Obniski explained: “I am excited to contribute to the High’s mission centered on diversity, inclusion and accessibility as well as build on the museum’s noteworthy decorative arts and design collection. As a curator and historia...

Telling Milwaukee's Story Through Architecture

2020-01-27T13:04:00-05:00

This article was written by Genaro Armas

UWM’s School of Architecture is marking its 50th anniversary in a yearlong celebration that concludes with a gala weekend in April. To commemorate five decades of education, research and community engagement, architecture faculty members picked the most important structures built in Milwaukee during each decade since the school was established in 1969.

Milwaukee’s most iconic structure might be the Quadracci Pavilion at the Milwaukee Art Museum along Lake Michigan. Designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava and completed in 2001, the pavilion’s signature characteristic is the Burke Brise Soleil, a moveable, wing-like sunscreen that rests on top of the glass-enclosed Windhover Hall. Its wingspan is similar to a Boeing 747.

The pavilion’s futuristic design stands out in a downtown skyline dominated by more traditional architecture.

School of Architecture & Urban Planning faculty (from left) Whitney Moon, Mo Zell and Kyle Reynolds.

“What I...

Milwaukee Art Museum set to reopen after $34M renovation and expansion project

2015-11-18T15:06:00-05:00

The Milwaukee Art Museum is due to reopen on 24 November after a 14-month, $34m renovation that brings the institution back from the brink. When the museum made the unorthodox decision to begin planning an expansion at the height of the recession in 2009, mould flourished, floors buckled and ceilings leaked in the two buildings that housed the permanent collection. [...] Roberts says: “People who know our museum will not believe that this is the same museum.”

Going Bald For Ai Weiwei: A Righteous Head-Shaving Performance Sharpens Debate Over Milwaukee Museum's Collaboration With China

2011-06-08T20:29:58-04:00

Forget petitions: art professionals are showing their support for detained Chinese artist Ai Weiwei in increasingly creative ways. Last week, Milwaukee-based Mike Brenner shaved his head into a style reminiscent of Ai's outside the Milwaukee Art Museum as a show of support for the artist, who has been missing for over two months.