Warming Hive inflatable student architecture project on display

Art and architecture enthusiasts are invited to the premiere installation of The Warming Hive 3-5 p.m. Saturday, April 1, at The Open gallery, 832 E. Chambers St.

The Warming Hive is an airy collaboration among 11 School of Architecture and Urban Planning students instructed by assistant professor Whitney Moon, as well as artists Katy Cowan and Nicholas Frank of The Open, a multiplatform art gallery. Students in Moon’s inflatable architecture seminar designed the pneumatic (air-inflated) hive as a portable installation that can host a variety of art programs.

The Warming Hive, designed by assistant professor Whitney Moon's SARUP students.
The Warming Hive, designed by assistant professor Whitney Moon’s SARUP students.

At Saturday’s event, The Warming Hive will be open for visitors. Nearby will be The Oven, an outdoor brick oven run by artist and UWM alum John Riepenhoff. Visitors can dine in the Hive – which comfortably seats 15 on inflatable built-ins – on food prepared in The Oven.

“The Hive is adaptable to a variety of site and seasonal conditions, and offers capabilities that cannot be matched by traditional construction,” Moon said. “It is inflated in under three minutes, and can be easily packed up and transported to various locations throughout the city. With built-in seating and an insulated, fireproof and projection-friendly skin, The Warming Hive provides a thermally comfortable winter shelter for exhibition, cooking and gathering.”

The Open also presents artist Lisa Haller Baggeson, whose work is on display during the event.

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