Santiago Calatrava's Quadracci Pavilion

Establishing shots of Milwaukee in the opening of the movie Bridesmaids feature Santiago Calatrava's building (Quadracci Pavilion) for the Milwaukee Art Museum:

The building is kinetic, with "wings" that open and close at set times of day, making the building appear to be taking flight over Lake Michigan:

Here is what it looks like closed:

The interior of the building can be seen in Pfizer's ads for Lipitor, starring Robert Jarvik.

As I saw it in the opening of Bridesmaids, I realized that this building has become Milwaukee's signature piece of architecture--Milwaukee's answer to the Empire State Building or Golden Gate Bridge--and I wonder how that entered into the discussions of those who commissioned the building.

Although overshadowed by the 2001 Calatrava showpiece, the bulk of the museum's collections are housed in the connected 1957 Eero Saarinen building.