Continuing the Museum’s “In the House” series, Chicago architectural designer and critic Andrew Santa Lucia will create a series of altars in the McCormick House, using both the living room space and the newly opened west wing, to transport viewers into a temple of images, objects and offerings. This site-specific installation is guided by “Miesian Mysticism,” a fictional religion uncovered by Santa Lucia in Mies van der Rohe’s architecture, that narrativizes through rituals Mies’s essential design contributions to the discipline of architecture. Each room will consist of three integral layers: Altar (an architectural intervention), Atmosphere (lighting, smell and sound) and Accoutrement (the “things” that make up altars including candles, mementos and statues). “Miesian Mysticism” exists as a series of textual and graphic artifacts, which also serve as a vehicle for architectural criticism. Exhibition walk-through with Andrew Santa Lucia and graduate students on Saturday, October 10 at 1pm.
