Pretty much every day I drive past the corner of Ogden and Prospect, where a little while back, I saw some folks erecting something in a grassy patch on the east side of the street. I made a mental note to stop one day and look.
Today, two readers -- Annemarie Chapdelain and Michael Peragine -- helped solve the mystery.
The undulating waves of brick are the faBRICK Pavilion, the winner of the Marcus Prize, a temporary pavilion designed and built by UWM architecture students along with Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto and associate dean Mo Zell.
"As a little introduction, the Marcus Prize is a collaboration between the Marcus Foundation and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee," reads the Marcus Prize website. "Rather than honoring a lifetime of achievement, this biennial award recognizes emerging architects who are 'on a trajectory to greatness.' The winner co-teaches a studio at UW-Milwaukee’s School of Architecture and Urban Planning."
What's most interesting to me, in addition to the low, swooping rollercoaster design, is the material. From a distance, the waves appear to be constructed of wood blocks linked together. In fact, they are made of brick, a weighty, solid medium that seems at odds with the soft, rolling structures they form. The structures seem to defy gravity.
A ceremony marked the May 8 opening of the pavilion, the development of which you can see here in great photographic detail. Then, be sure to stop at the site and check it out in person. After too long a delay, I'm stopping today.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
