facebook-wisconsinproject

Was it because it's cold in Wisconsin that the state commissioned architecture of the mid-century is for the most part windowless, cinderblock inside and monolithic. While students at UW Madison, the word on the street was that buildings were designed to make sniper attacks on protesters easier or penetration into the building more difficult in case of insurrection.

The culture of eating, drinking, and refreshing in the age of the motor vehicles evolved from the full-service truck stop with restaurant (open 24 hours, seats 100, delicious food, mechanics on duty) such as the Adams DX, infamous for its appearance in Werner Herzog's Strozek. Now there's the Kwik Trip here in Wisconsin, established in 1965 and spreading into Iowa and Minnesota. It offers the 24/7 convenient consumption experience for motorists that the old truck stops once did. Besides gas, there's a range of food (from onions to Greek yogurt), a bakery, a dairy, hot coffee, lottery tickets, newspapers, and smokes. The Kwik Trip became the hub in the neighborhood near our studio by the mid-1990s. In the late 1980s, there were still a couple grocery stores within walking distance, a food co-op, news and video store, and there wasn't a lottery. All that's gone now and the Kwik Trip has filled the void, a lifestyle.