A Work of Art

Museum addition stretches design, construction team

By Candace Doyle
Editor

Santiago Calatrava's vision of an addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum was a stretch of the imagination.

And the 140,000-square-foot project ended up stretching everyone who worked on it.

The project, which was called the finest building project in 2001 by Time magazine, seemed to defy laws of physics as well as construction-industry standards.

It was a flight of fancy, an impossibility, a dream. Now, five years after it was a mere idea, it's a done deal.

But the building of the addition, which included a 90-foot-high, glass-walled reception hall enclosed by a moveable sunscreen made up of 72 steel fins and a galleria with a 300-seat lecture hall, will live on forever in the hearts and minds of those who worked on it.

David Kahler, the retired president of Kahler Slater Architects, the architect on record for the addition, said the opportunity to work on the project and with the world-renown Spanish architect has changed him. The museum is Calatrava's first completed project in the United States.

"It just basically stretched all of us," Kahler said. "It sort of rejuvenated me ... to be able to work in an area where design was No. 1. It was a very demanding exercise. Everyone grew from it."

Steve Chamberlin, president of CG Schmidt, the construction manager on the project, said too that his view of what can be achieved is now different. His company won the coveted Build America Award from the Associated General Contractors of America for the project.

'Dream big'

"You see this giant concrete bird that's kinetic, and it's a dream," he said. "I think it made me realize that the impossible is possible. You realize there are things that are really beyond most of our comprehension that are doable.

"As a kid, your parents and teachers always tell you to dream big," he said. "This defines that principal."

To say the project and its suspended 231-foot pedestrian bridge, anchored to the building by a 192-foot-tall angled mast and cables, was a challenge would be an understatement.

For Kahler, part of the challenge was working with another architect's vision.

"The primary one was to basically build a project that was designed by another person," he said.

But Kahler said working with Calatrava was a cinch.

"He's easy to work with," he said. "The reason it worked is we developed a mutual respect for each other. We were willing to basically sacrifice our own egos."

Chamberlin agreed: "He's a warm, friendly, kind person who is someone you really admire. Working with him, that alone was the chance to understand the dynamics of a real team effort. You put your ego aside and all embrace the common goal."

But the way building materials were used and the design itself were a bit more difficult. The sunshade, or brise soleil, was one of the most anticipated but also difficult aspects of the addition; its 36 pairs of fins -- the longest is 105 feet and the shortest is 24 feet -- open or close in 3.5 minutes to aid in climate control.

"It's not the same design vocabulary," Kahler said of the project and Calatrava's vision. "He also brings motion into architecture, movement. Nothing is off the shelf.

"We really had to stretch our skills, our imagination. Also, we knew we were stretching the use of the building materials."

"There's nothing conventional about the project," said Chamberlin. "It's an unconventional building, and it took an unconventional approach. And I'm just thankful I could be a part of it. Internationally, it's a showcase."

And while the project was challenging, Chamberlin said he's proud his company -- and the community -- stood up to the test.

"It gave us a chance to make a difference in the community," he said. "That's what we're looking for.

"It's Milwaukee at its very best," said Chamberlin, noting that more than 80 percent of those working on the project were from Wisconsin. "We have technology here. We have craftsmanship. We have everything it takes to produce something like this. It's a product of Milwaukee and its people. It's our city, our community at its best."

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