"Superstructure": an experimental soundscape by JaNae Contag and Ryan Black

Superstructure is an original experimental soundscape composed by artists JaNae Contag and Ryan Black, commissioned by The 150 Media Stream and created specifically for this year’s Open House Chicago. Their performance explores the 150 N. Riverside building's site, construction, and architecture in a series of movements. Through the performance of live instruments, sound samples, and readymade objects, the piece re-imagines the building's creation through sound. The performance responds to various metaphors contained in the architecture, from the exterior's vertical metal fins inspired by rippling water, to the interior's glass curtain wall, and the Y-shaped core signifying the confluence of the three branches of the river. Superstructure invites OHC visitors to reflect on the poetics of the architecture while immersed in evolving sound.