Bruce Murphy has joined the ranks of the architectural critics who have recently decided to bash Calatrava now that he is successful. His own rather amateur contribution is to tell us that the “Calatrava is an expensive bauble that has been as much a burden as a blessing for the museum”, though he then concedes that “MIlwaukee is seen as a place that is [so] adventurous” as a result of commissioning the building.
Mr Murphy points out that form does not follow function. Well, architecture has become less boring since Gehry and Calatrava broke with the Bauhaus ideaology and used modern technology to create buildings whose function is to be imaginative works of art as well as to show it. But there is not much art exhibited! It is just an expensive lobby! What a waste! Now if only those Gothic cathedral masons had not wasted all that effort on pruducing soaring spaces to create a sense of awe just think of all the time and effort and money that would have been saved. Calatrava was given the brief of putting the Milwaukee Art Museum on the map. Its permanent collection was to remain in the War Memorial and Kahler buildings, but the intention was to get people to realise there was an art museum there. The pedestrian bridge links the Quadracci Pavilion to the City. The public space is indeed used for receptions, which is what all museums need, but it is also a thing of beauty in its own right, preparing visitors for an estetic experience. Visting museums is about the experience, not just the art. You need parking, a restaurant, an auditorium, a store – and all of these have now been provided in spectacular fashion.
And for the art – 10,500 square feet of flexible space unencumbered by columns for temporary exhibitions. As for being a burden, we are within sight of completely paying off all the building debt. How? Because the Quadracci Pavilion has inspired the citizens in general and our benefactors in particular to think of the museum, the city and themselves with pride. It is a pity that Mr Murphy cannot share in this. He has written so extensively about the finances of the museum in the past that he now has the soul and imagination of a Scrooge.
David Gordon
Director and CEO
Milwaukee Art Museum
