150 Media Stream
John Hill
23. 二月 2018
Luftwerk's "Current Air" at 150 Media Stream (Photo via Luftwerk)
Chicago's 150 North Riverside is a 54-story building designed by Goettsch Partners that opened last year. Gracing its lobby is 150 Media Stream, an installation that displays a rotating selection of digital works by artists.
Pictured at top is 150 Media Stream's current installation, "Current Air" by Luftwerk, the artistic collaboration of Petra Bachmaier and Sean Gallero based in Chicago. They describe the video piece as "a hybridized visual current of color, image, and pattern" that "draws from the fluid dynamic of the adjacent Chicago River." Luftwerk's contribution coincides with their afterglow exhibition opening at Volume Gallery in Chicago on 24 February 2018.
Featured Artist: Edyta Stepien (Photo: Nick Ulivieri)
Located just west of the Loop on the edge of the river, 150 North Riverside's most dramatic features are the cantilevered exterior walls that taper to the tower's concrete core at its base (this taper is visible in the lobby photo above and overall view at the bottom). While the river is the site's most prominent feature, active train tracks below the building pushed Goettsch Partners toward these daring cantilevers. The lobby and media wall are located on the west side of the building, away from the river and next to a plaza that wraps the base of the building. The cantilever results in a lobby wall free of columns; in turn 150 Media Stream runs unimpeded almost the entire length of the lobby.
Below are a few examples of the pre-Luftwerk installations at 150 Media Stream. The lobby and media wall are open to the public on Fridays from 6pm to 8pm, and Saturdays and Sundays from 1pm to 5pm.