• Architecture
  • Art

The North Building at the Denver Art Museum

100 W 14th Avenue Pkwy

The North Building at the Denver art Museum was opened to the public in 1971.  This improvement made the Denver Art Museum big enough to house all of it’s exhibits under one roof.  Previously all of the art was in a smaller museums and barely had room to expand.  The building itself resembles a castle because the architects involved wanted it to resemble a fortress to protect the valuable art within.  They also wanted it to be modern, and to fall outside of the traditional archetype of a museum.  There are thousands of reflective glass tiles on the outside to also add an extra mysterious component.  The building itself also has 24 sides which was a modern new way to create a building that would truly be like nothing you had ever seen.  Since this building has been built, the Denver Art Museum has added a few more buildings to accommodate for the museum’s growing collections.

 

Written by: Kaleigh Coleman

Image Source (Top): Kaleigh Coleman - The North Building at the Denver Art Museum - 2016

1971

+
submit

Gio Ponti designs the North Building at the Denver Art Museum

Gio Ponti had just became a major player in the architecture community when he was asked to design the new expansion for the Denver Art Museum in 1971.  He collaborated with local Colorado architects Joal Cronenwett and James Sudler to create the bold new look for the museum.  The castle aesthetic that the designers planned was to break out of the traditional mold which we expect museums to fall in.  This new cutting edge addition to the Denver art world legitimized Denver's status in the global art community, which has continued to grow since.   Written by: Kaleigh Coleman

1 Related Artists