Santiago Calatrava | S2 | 2015

It is appropriate that internationally renowned architect Santiago Calatrava presents his work S2 close to his first major piece of architecture in the United States, the Milwaukee Art Museum’s addition of 2001. Calatrava’s unique vision makes visible the structures of nature, whose strengths and forms shape the human constructions of our world. Calatrava’s Quadracci Pavilion has become the icon for the entire city, celebrating our region’s long support of culture in its various forms. 

S2 recalls both the unfurling, dangerous tail of a scorpion and the internal chamber of a nautilus shell in an expressive, gravity-defying work. Wands of steel are held in compression by threads of metal. The energy of this work is palpable—as anyone who has ever held an elastic band in tension knows, that energy has to be used wisely.