Heart-Stopping Architecture

Hey, Matt:

In those Lipitor commercials with Dr. Jarvik, he is standing in front of and walking through a stunning piece of architecture. What and where is it?

-- Michael Faught, Clairemont

Get yourself a ticket to Milwaukee, Mike, then take a cab to the city's art museum. There you will see the Quadracci Pavillion, like a combination of skeletal bird's wing and baleen whale's mouth. It's the first U.S. commission for wildly popular Spanish artist-architect Santiago Calatrava. Since the pavilion's completion in 2001, it's been used as the backdrop for nine commercials, six of them for cars. Pfizer, maker of Lipitor, said they like the "clinical, cutting edge" look of the place. Calatrava has a future Catholic church commission in Oakland, if the thought of Milwaukee is just too much.