Denver, Colorado, United States
Daniel Libeskind
Post By:Kitticoon Poopong
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| Photo © Courtesy of Bitter Bredt |
The Extension to the
Denver Art Museum, The
Frederic C. Hamilton Building, is an expansion and addition to the existing museum, designed by the Italian Architect
Gio Ponti.
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| Photo © Courtesy of Bitter Bredt |
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| Photo © Courtesy of Michele Nastasi |
Inspired by the vitality and growth of Denver, the addition currently houses the Modern and Contemporary
art collections as well as the collection of Oceanic and African Art. The extension, which opened in October 2006, was a joint venture with Davis Partnership Architects, the
Architect of Record, working with M.A. Mortensen Co.
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| Photo © Courtesy of Michele Nastasi |
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| Photo © Courtesy of Michele Nastasi |
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| Photo © Courtesy of SDL |
To complete the vision for the extension
Studio Daniel Libeskind worked closely with the director, curators, core exhibition team, the contract architect and the Board of Trustees. Since its opening, the new building has become a major cultural landmark for Denver, attracting thousands of visitors to the museum complex.
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| Photo © Courtesy of Bitter Bredt |
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| Photo © Courtesy of Bitter Bredt |
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| Photo © Courtesy of Bitter Bredt |
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| Photo © Courtesy of Bitter Bredt |
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Nexus is conceived in close connection with the function and aesthetic of the existing Ponti museum, as well as the entire Civic Center and public library. The new building is a kind of city hub, tying together downtown, the Civic Center, and forming a strong connection to the golden triangle neighborhood. The project is not designed as a stand alone building, but as part of a composition of public spaces, monuments and gateways in this developing part of the city, contributing to the synergy amongst neighbors, large and intimate.
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| Photo © Courtesy of SDL |
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| Photo © Courtesy of SDL |
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| Photo © Courtesy of Bitter Bredt |
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The materials of the building closely relate to the existing context as well as innovative new materials (such as titanium) which together will form spaces that connect local Denver tradition to the 21st Century.
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| Photo © Courtesy of Bitter Bredt |
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| Photo © Courtesy of Bitter Bredt |
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| Photo © Courtesy of Bitter Bredt |
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The amazing vitality and growth of Denver -- from its foundation to the present -- inspires the form of the new museum. Coupled with the magnificent topography with its breathtaking views of the sky and the Rocky Mountains, the dialogue between the boldness of construction and the romanticism of the landscape creates a unique place in the world. The bold and forward looking engagement of the public in forging its own cultural, urban and spirited destiny is something that would strike anyone upon touching the soil of Colorado.
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| Photo © Courtesy of Bitter Bredt |
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| Photo © Courtesy of Bitter Bredt |
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| Photo © Courtesy of Bitter Bredt |
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| Photo © Courtesy of Bitter Bredt |
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One of the challenges of building the Denver Art Museum was to work closely and respond to the extraordinary range of transformations in light, coloration, atmospheric effects, temperature and weather conditions unique to this City. I insisted these be integrated not only functionally and physically, but culturally and experientially for the benefit of the visitors' experience.
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| Photo © Courtesy of Bitter Bredt |
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| Photo © Courtesy of Bitter Bredt |
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| Photo © Courtesy of Bitter Bredt |
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The new building is not based on an idea of style or the rehashing of ready made ideas or external shape because its architecture does not separate the inside from the outside or provide a pretty facade behind which a typical experience exists; rather this architecture has an organic connection to the public at large and to those aspects of experience that are also intellectual, emotional, and sensual. The integration of these dimensions for the enjoyment and edification of the public is achieved in a building that respects the hand crafted nature of architecture and its immediate communication from the hand, to the eye, to the mind. After all, the language of architecture beyond words themselves is the laughter of light, proportion and materiality."
Description from Daniel Libeskind
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| Photo © Courtesy of Denver Art Museum |
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| Photo © Courtesy of Bitter Bredt |
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| Photo © Courtesy of Bitter Bredt |
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| basement floor plan--drawing © Courtesy of Daniel Libeskind |
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| ground floor plan--drawing © Courtesy of Daniel Libeskind |
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| second floor plan--drawing © Courtesy of Daniel Libeskind |
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| third floor plan--drawing © Courtesy of Daniel Libeskind |
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| fourth floor plan--drawing © Courtesy of Daniel Libeskind |
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| east elevation--drawing © Courtesy of Daniel Libeskind |
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| section 01--drawing © Courtesy of Daniel Libeskind |
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| section 02--drawing © Courtesy of Daniel Libeskind |
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| section 03--drawing © Courtesy of Daniel Libeskind |
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| model studies--drawing © Courtesy of Daniel Libeskind |
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| sketch--drawing © Courtesy of Daniel Libeskind |
Video: Architect Daniel Libeskind is profiled in this doc about the Denver Art Museum
Video: Daniel Libeskind took inspiration for his new Frederic C. Hamilton wing at the Denver Art Museum from jet's-eye views of the Rockies. The wing's oblique planar surfaces do resemble the rock Flatiron slabs of the Front Range, but he gives a building far more complex than simple geologic context implies. The form is a mountain upended, with apical auditorium underground and the prismatic shards of its roots shredding the big western sky. The atrium turns the snowfield inside out
Project Data
Competition: 2000
Completion: 2006
Opening: 2006
Client: The Denver Art Museum; City of Denver
Building Address: Denver Art Museum, 100, West 14th Avenue Parkway, Denver, CO 80204 United States
Building Area: 146,000 sq. ft.
Building Details: Atrium, permanent galleries, special exhibition galleries, kitchen, café, 300 seat auditorium, art storage and conservation, crating and loading, bridge connection to Ponti museum
Structure: Concrete structure with titanium cladding
Website: Denver Art Museum
The people
Architects: Studio Daniel Libeskind
Location: Denver, Colorado, USA
Joint Venture Partner: Davis Partnership
Contractor: M.A Mortensen Co. (Colorado)
Structural Engineer: Arup (Los Angeles)
Structural Connection Design: Structural Consultants, Inc.
Civil Engineers: JF Sato and Associates
Mechanical Air: Arup-Los Angeles
Mechanical/Electrical: MKK Engineers and Arup (Los Angeles)
Structural Engineers: ARUP (Los Angeles)
Structural Connection Design: Structural Consultants, Inc.
Civil Engineers: JF Sato and Associates
Interior Designers: Studio Daniel Libeskind with Davis Partnership
Landscape Architects: Studio Daniel Libeskind with Davis Partnership
Lighting Consultant: George Sexton and Associates
Theater Consultant: Auerbach Pollock Friedlander
Acoustical Consultant: ARUP (Los Angeles)
Exterior Façade Consultant: Gordon H Smith, ARUP, BCE;
Photographs: Bitter Bredt, DAM, SDL,
Michele Nastasi
Note>>Location in this map, It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
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