Moving In Moving Out

Can artists elevate a self-storage facility into a community center?

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El Dorado has a long history of “sanctioned meddling”, collaborating with artists and blurring the lines between design arenas. Moving In Moving Out was a unique art exhibition that began with the development of the FLEX project, a 24,000 squarefoot, El Dorado designed self-storage facility in Topeka, Kansas. Elwood (the public art collaborative of James Woodfill and El Dorado) and Hesse McGraw worked closely in its creation. A collaborative, non-hierarchical structure was established that amplified the potential of site-specific art. Within this structure, the roles of artists, curators, architects and the developer were remarkably integrated. This allowed artists the opportunity to more fully develop specific responses to the site. As part of the curatorial process, fine artist and Guggenheim Fellow Mike Sinclair photographed the urban context of Topeka, Kansas surrounding FLEX Storage Systems. He revealed his photographs one-a-day to the collaborating artists, and his images had profound impact on their work. Mike’s photographs, displayed as a simple slide show in the final exhibition.
  • 2004
  • Architect, Curator
  • Topeka, KS
  • 24,000 SF exhibition

Client

  • Botwin Family Partners, LP

Eldo Team

  • Josh Shelton

Collaborators

  • Curators: Hesse McGraw, James Woodfill, El Dorado

Artists

  • Jordan Nickel
  • Mike Sinclair
  • Marcie Miller Gross
  • Miles Neidinger

Awards

  • 2004 Interior Design Magazine Annual Design Review - Environments Honorable Mention
  • 2005 AIA Kansas City Design Excellence Awards - Art in Architecture Honor Award

Press

Photography by

  • Mike Sinclair

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