The Education Building and KAM

4/14/15

                Today, we went to the Education Building and the Krannert Art Museum. The Education Building was meant to be a set of two. It is lowered into the ground and across the field from it, where THB currently resides, there was intended to be another Education like building. This mirroring would echo the two pavilions at the UGL. As you approach the Education Building, the transition from outside is blurred. The cement on the outside has very large stones in it and the closer it gets to being inside, the rocks get smaller. There is also a large window at the front that the outside pavement seems to run right through. The whole building was set up with a symmetry in mind. There are two hallways on either side that seem to run the length of the building (although one does not). The stairs are moved away from the walls, allowing light to fall all the way down to the basement. The basement and the second floor are also larger than the first floor, but the placement of the stairs and the hallway hides this fact for the most part. There is a garden space in the back of the building. It was clearly incorporated into the building design. The walls circle the garden and allow people to surreptitiously slide into the space, giving it a protected feel.

                The next place we went was the Krannert Art Museum. This was built right on the military axis. Its middle section was curved out, pregnant with art. Here, there was a lot of weird art. My favorite was the burnt popcorn. It was just burnt popcorn in some aluminum. It was mind blowing.