Utah isn't renown for visual art. Polygamists, inscrutable drinking laws, the MoTabs, desert re-education camps for wayward-kids — yes. But sculpture and architecture, not so much.

But art lovers trapped in the state know that we've got some world-class, eye-popping stuff. The "Spiral Jetty" in the Great Salt Lake (threatened by oil drilling), Gilgal sculpture garden (barely saved from developers), the new Downtown Library, the restored Capitol, the good ol' Tabernacle, the graffiti-tagged boxcars in the UP yards, and for a brief time, the "337 Project."

A hundred and fifty artists turned stucco building at 337 Fourth East into a wall-to-wall free gallery that enchanted 10,000 Utahns, even vulgarians like myself, is set to be razed next weekend. But the Tribune's Brandon Griggs reports that another architectural wonder will take it's place: a condo building made from recycled steel shipping containers.

Elizabeth Mitchell, of the Utah chapter of the American Institute of Architects, talks about the advantages of the design:

You're re-using all the energy and raw materials that went into creating the shipping container rather than using new materials - it's an element of sustainable design. But the architects who get into this are mostly intrigued, I think, by the aesthetic challenge of taking something industrial in appearance and transforming it into a place someone would want to call home.

Central City Neighborhood Council's Tom Mutter isn't sure the neighborhood, rooted in '20s and '30s architecture is ready for cutting-edge design:

I just wonder if he can get away with this bold look. A lot of people may have a heart attack when they see this.

For more on shipping container architecture go here or here.