In this episode, Cherise is joined by Calli Verkamp, Principal at Wheeler Kearns Architects in Chicago, Illinois.

Calli shares her insights into working on the Momentary, a one-of-a-kind contemporary arts experience that is creatively repurposed from a 70-year-old decommissioned Kraft Foods Plant.

You can see the project here as you listen along.

The project transforms a patchwork of concrete and masonry buildings into a fluid arts experience using interventions of glass and steel for both transparency and distinction from existing structures. A frit pattern, inspired from ceremonial weaving designed by a local Osage artist, is superimposed onto the new glass elements to pay homage to the site’s history as Osage hunting land.

Inside, the Momentary contrasts traditional art museums, which strive to offer its curators blank walls and neutral spaces in which to present art. Where a traditional art museum relies on formality, the Momentary is casual and flexible, overlapping social and culinary activities with art spaces to champion contemporary art’s role in everyday life.

Like all projects, this one had its unique challenges and opportunities:

• creatively adapting to and working around the utilities of an existing manufacturing plant,
• applying glass fritting in a novel way,
• the challenge of reimaging existing spaces for unintended uses,
• and much more!

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