Photo Album: Contemporary Architecture in Allen Center

When he was a student, Michael Bricker ’04 was known for displaying his thought-provoking artwork in unexpected spaces. As Visiting Professor of Art this semester, he’s picking up right where he left off.
Last Tuesday and Thursday, students in Bricker’s Contemporary Architecture class presented their posters and videos on contemporary regional buildings in the Allen Athletics and Recreation Center. Audio from a student film of the 2009 Skyscraper of the Year in Chicago mingled with the clanking of barbells as students made their presentations across from the fitness center. Exercisers on the treadmills and elliptical trainers had front row seats to the whole thing.
“I love having this here in a non-traditional space,” Professor Bricker said. “[Allen Center Facilities Manager] Jason [Hutchison] is letting us set up and leave it up for a couple of weeks. The students in this class shouldn’t be the only ones to know about these buildings. The campus should know that they exist. And these are all just two or three hours drive from here.”

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Contemporary Architecture students looks over the posters before beginning their presentations.
The proximity of the structures—which range from the Aqua Tower in Chicago to the Contemporary Art Center in Cincinnati to The Atheneum visitor’s center at New Harmony, Indiana—was central to the class assignment. Students were required to pair up, visit a site of their own choosing, then make a film and present a poster introducing the class to the structure.
“I could have taken the whole class to Columbus, Indiana and taken a tour,” Bricker said. “But I’d rather give them a list of 15 buildings I showed in class and say, ‘You and a partner pick which one you want to visit—just impulse—then drive there and explore it.

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