Time and Place

Location: Jim Shields Gallery of Architecture & Urbanism sponsored by HGA (AUP146) – UWM Campus – 2131 E Hartford Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53211

EXHIBITION: Atlas of AFTERLIVES

Exhibition Summary:

For thousands of years humans have experimented with various methods of waste disposal—from burning, to burying, to simply packing up and moving in search of an unscathed environment. Habits of disposal are deeply ingrained in our daily lives, so casual and continual that we rarely ever stop to ponder the big picture effects on social, spatial, and ecological orders. Rethinking the ways in which we produce, collect, discard, and reuse our waste—whether it’s materials, spaces, or places—is essential to ensure more feasible futures. Atlas of AFTERLIVES presents ongoing research and design work that explores questions regarding the afterlives of materials, objects, architectures, and environments. This work has been generously supported by a Mellowes Graduate Research Position Award, a UWM Advancing Research and Creativity Grant, and a UWM Research Assistance Fund Grant.

BIO

Nikole Bouchard’s interdisciplinary research and design work straddles the space between art, architecture, and landscape to discover ideas that stimulate ecologically sensitive and culturally relevant design interventions. Nikole engages in projects of all scales and media that explore contextually driven methods of design where experiments embody a unique sense of fantastical pragmatism—are playful, yet intentional, well-informed, and environmentally conscious. Nikole is an associate professor in the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and a critic in the School of Architecture at Yale University. She has also taught at Cornell University, Syracuse University, the University of Waterloo, and the University of Toronto. Nikole has worked at the offices of Steven Holl Architects; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; and Lateral Office. She has been a James Harrison Steedman fellow, a MacDowell fellow, and an artist-in-residence at Baer Art Center in Hofsós, Iceland. Nikole edited and contributed to the book WASTE MATTERS: Adaptive Reuse for Productive Landscapes published by Routledge in January 2021.

Bennett Westling is in his last semester of the 3-Year Master of Architecture Program at UWM SARUP. Prior to embarking on his graduate studies, he received his BFA in Industrial Design from MIAD, and was an industrial designer at Milwaukee Tool where he worked in cross-disciplinary teams to develop innovative tools and system accessories for construction trades. As a graduate student, Bennett has worked as a research assistant for fellow Remus Macovei in the construction and execution of a research-based exhibition titled “Scaffolds, Drapes and Battens,” and has worked as an intern for Bray Architects, where he developed a body of work examining the design of K-12 educational spaces. Currently, Bennett is a Mellowes Graduate Researcher working with Associate Professor Nikole Bouchard on research that delves into the historical and contemporary practice of recycling in design. Focused primarily on Milwaukee’s abandoned and endangered structures, the work explores the potential reuse of materials, buildings, and spaces throughout the city. As he wraps up his final year of study at SARUP, he hopes to find a role that allows him to use the research methods he has learned to design socially and environmentally responsible urban housing and collective community infrastructures.

For more information contact Architecture Chair Karl Wallick.