mil-e-wau-kae

Spent the day in Milwaukee with my studio. We took the train north in the morning and were picked up by a charter bus, compliments of the Precast Concrete Institute. Our first stop was the site for our project. We spent about an hour there, photographing and otherwise taking in the area and its qualities. I had no feeling left in my fingers by the time we got back on the bus, since my hands had been out most of that hour, taking pictures. Some people spent the last bit of the hour wrapping their hands around a cup of warm coffee.

From the project site, the bus took us to visit several buildings in the area, which were composed of architectural and/or structural precast concrete. It was interesting to learn and see the difference between the two. (Architectural is essentially a precast facade or envelope element, while structural is a precast structural component). We did a drive-by of most of the projects, but there were a few at which we got out and walked around. By the afternoon, everyone's bodies were fully shocked from the warm to cold to warm to cold jolt of getting on and off the bus, and we were happy to get on the train back to Chicago. It was definitely an informative day and so great to get a feel for the area where our building will be.