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Posted Dec 26, 2007, 7:03 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Governor's Park/Capitol Hill, Denver
Posts: 2,634
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Two Denver Museums and the Areas Around Them by DenverAztec – Part One
Here are a few photos of the Denver Art Museum, late summer/early fall, and a few winter shots of some of our past snow falls that I shot.
Since its beginnings in the 1890s as the Denver Artists’ Club, the Denver Art Museum has had a number of temporary homes, from the public library and a downtown mansion to a portion of the Denver City and County Building.
The North Building of the DAM was designed by Italian architect Gio Ponti and built in 1971. It is seven stories and 210,000 square feet. When built it was a move away from the temple-styled museum. It has more than a million reflective glass tiles on its exterior and dramatic windows and pierced roofline, creating a castle-like façade. "Art is a treasure, and these thin but jealous walls defend it," said Gio Ponti.
DAM commissioned architect Daniel Libeskind to design an expansion that would accommodate its growing collections and programs. The 146,000-square-foot Hamilton Building opened to the public October 7, 2006. The Hamilton Building's design recalls the peaks of the Rocky Mountains and geometric rock crystals found in the foothills near Denver. "I was inspired by the light and the geology of the Rockies, but most of all by the wide-open faces of the people of Denver," says Libeskind. The building is covered in 9,000 titanium panels that reflect the Colorado sunshine. This is Libeskind’s first structure in the United States and he is currently one of the architects working on the WTC replacement in NYC.
There has been much controversy about the building as many believe the building is art in itself and how can it properly display art internally. The same was said about the Guggenheim in New York City, but now that museum is considered a gem to Manhattan residents. The walls in the DAM addition are all at an angle as are the staircases, the ceilings and even the furniture. Some visitors have been unable to stay for long periods of time or leave with vertigo as their eyes are not accustom to the continued variation in the angles with only the floor being horizontal and nothing exactly vertical.
Visitors will find in the collection artistic works by Warhol, Picasso, Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, to name a few and all amongst more modern and contemporary pieces.
Museum condos/lofts next to the DAM are also designed by Daniel Libeskind. There is additional planning for a tower that will match these condos to be built on the same city block.
Michael Graves is hailed worldwide as a co-founder of the Postmodern school of architecture. Postmodernists reject modern skyscrapers for the classical forms, natural materials and colors of centuries past. Some of Graves' best-known projects are the Walt Disney Corporate Headquarters in Burbank, California: Disneyworld Swan and Dolphin Hotels in Orlando, Florida; The Portland (Oregon) Building; and The Humana Building (Louisville, Kentucky). The New York Times calls Michael Graves "the most truly original voice that American architecture has produced in some time."
Construction of the new Central Library was funded by a bond issue approved by a 75 percent majority of Denver voters in 1990. In 1995, the new Central Library opened to nationwide acclaim. It is now the largest library between Los Angeles and Chicago, and each year over a million people visit the Central Library.
The neighborhood south of the Denver Art Museum is consider the Golden Triangle and it is currently one of the pricier places to live give its proximity to downtown and the modern structures erected. Located between the boundaries of Lincoln, Colfax and Speer, this is an area in great transition. Some of Denver’s best nightclubs are on the east end of this neighborhood and it is slowly being recognized as SoCo (south of Colfax). Sprinkled throughout are almost twenty galleries and more springing up as more structures are being renovated or built. The north end has the Denver City and County building, the U.S. Mint and the currently under construction Denver Justice Center. Here are only a few photos of the Golden Triangle.
The Prado
Golden Row
Evans School, currently vacant and waiting to become condos or possible a cultural center for the neighborhood.
Restaurant Cuba Cuba, made by connecting a few small bungalows.
Old Structure still hanging on
The Church Nightclub, Sunday night is Goth Night, in case you wanted to know
Piranesi – my least favorite
Dozen’s – great place for breakfast, it is comprised of a couple of the early 1900 Victorian homes connected.
Speer Boulevard with the Cherry Creek River and Bike Path (looks great in the summer, but is currently covered with snow.)
Prado from Sunken Gardens
The Belvedere
No, this is not my Bail Bond service, but not a bad name. These houses, now business, are representative of what some of the homes in the Golden Triangle use to look like, not sure how long these will last.
Space that for certain will be filled in with a structure –
Boulevard Lofts
Beauvallon
Just east of the Golden Triangle is Capitol Hill and for a change of pace, here are some winter shots I took of various past storms. We did have a white Christmas this year, but it was pretty gloomy all day today to get any shots off, plus I had to visit with family instead of roaming the streets with my camera. Damm!
Cheesman Park/Governor's Park/Capitol Hill
Christ the King Church
The circa 1880s mansions look great when they are red with the white snow surrounding them.
The snow can be so dominating and surrounding that you feel like you are in a black and white movie, that is until the sun comes out. I don't have any black and whites in this thread, all are in color.
During the dusk and dawn hours, the early or late moonlight can give the snow a bluish hue.
But nothing like the snow with the blue sky!
Some Christmas in the City shots.
Before the lights and the manger nativity scene (my nephew calls it the activity scene)
After
Off to Patzcuaro’s Mexican food in the Highlands
I will post the new Museum of Contemporary Art and sections of LoDo in part two.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Link to Part Two = http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=143912
Last edited by denveraztec; Jan 9, 2008 at 5:25 AM.
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I like the Beauvallon and the Belvedere but still undecided on the Prado. It was supposed to have statues on it, like at least a dozen. I am so glad they didn't do it as it would look like it belonged in Vegas at Ceasar's Palace. There are several other buildings going in this area that will be in that 10 to 20 floor range and all are very different from one another. It will be interesting to watch as it all develops.
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