Title: FREDERIC C HAMILTON BUILDING
Location Current Site: Denver CO UNITED STATES
Creator Personal Name: Libeskind,Daniel
Creator Assoc Person Biography: Graduate student of architecture at the University of Colorado, Denver.
Creator Assoc Person Biography: A Denver based design firm that grew out of the architectural firm Fisher & Fisher started in 1892. The firm then became Fisher & Davis in 1947 after Rodney Davis joined the firm. In 1967 Davis formed Rodney S. Davis & Assoc. which was renamed Davis Partnership in 1980. The firm is one of the largest architectural firms in the region.
Creator Assoc Person Name: Davis Partnership, Willden,Daren
Creator Assoc Person Role: Associate, Photographer
Date.Creation: 2002-2006
Subject.Image Description: Sheathing/Structure
Creator.Personal Name Label: Libeskind,Daniel
Description.Image Comments: Photo taken by Daren Willden, VRC employee during a hard hat tour. Oct '04
Source.Acquisition Date: 2004-11-15 00:00:00
Style/Period: Deconstructivist, Late Modern
Style/Period Description: LATE MODERNISM
(1970-1990S)
This style developed in the 1970s as a continuation of the Second International Style. Late Modernists have attempted to create the expression in architecture of the conditions of the modern industrialized world, but have extended the language of earlier modernism to include a richer range of forms. Some Late Modernists create visual interest by pulling structural members to the outside of the buildings, and others by modeling the building forms more sculpturally, often to emphasize, or appear to emphasize, the different functional elements. These architects tend to emphasize the expression of structure or the expression of function.
An influential architect for Late Modernists was Louis Kahn (1901-74); his Yale Center for British Art (1969-77) in New Haven, Connecticut, has been admired and emulated. Another admired practitioner of Late Modernism is I.M. Pei, architect of the East Building of the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. and of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado.
Subject Image View Type: Exterior, general view
Description.Subject Report: In 1999, ideas to expand the existing (1971) Denver Art Museum began to solidify. Mayor Wellington Webb appointed a twelve-member committee to review the work of 41 architects displaying architectural styles of all types. Through the process of elimination, architect Daniel Libeskind was chosen to take on the project. Having been successful in other municipal projects such as the Jewish Museum in Berlin, Germany and the Imperial War Museum in Manchester, England, along with the role as master planner for the World Trade Center Site in New York City in 2002, Libeskind fit the bill.
The monumental deconstructivist building required funding from multiple sources. The City of Denver passed a Public Bond Initiative in 1999 to allocate $62.5 million in taxpayer money to fund the architects commission and the majority of building construction. The Capital Campaign acted as source to create the interiors of the museum including hardwood floors and lighting for works on display. Public contributions added up to over $28 million with plans for further expansion in the future. Finally, the Board of Trustees was put to the test to raise an additional $50 million dollars. Their goal was surpassed, reaching $61 million, thanks especially to a $20 million donation from Board Chairman Fredrick C. Hamilton.
Libeskinds design began with inspiration from the jagged cliffs of the nearby Rocky Mountains and the wide open faces of the people of Denver. In collaboration with the Denver-based Davis Partnership Architects, Libeskinds idea to create a spatial dance began to solidify. The key was to have two lines that folded onto one another without touching. A host of computer renderings and model mock-ups were used to refine the ideas. By July 2003 construction began.
The hard angular design of the building required more than 2,750 tons of steel to be molded and fastened in place. Using approximately fifty thousand bolts and three times the amount of steel that would be present in a conventional building, the structures skeleton took form. With approximately 300 workers present on site each day the construction process was scheduled to take three full years. By the summer of 2004, the nine thousand panels of titanium were set for installation on the exterior, with a planned opening for fall 2006.
From an exterior view one will notice the strikingly angular design of sharp edges and unconventional architectural approach. Unlike other contemporary works, these angles also translate to the interior of the building. Most notable is the El Pomar Grand Atrium at the entrance of the museum. The diagonal design follows a four-story staircase up to the many art galleries that maintain horizontal walls for the display of artwork. Wandering through the building, many have mentioned the feeling of dizziness, however, outside of the atrium the angles tend to tone down and become more enjoyable.
This monumental structure has stood as Denvers most recognizable landmark since opening on October 7, 2006. Functioning not only as a gallery space for the display of artwork, the museum plays host to a number of conventions each year, along with a series of child-friendly programs. The astounding efforts of fundraising have created a space visited by tourists from around the United States and the world, and maintain hope for future expansion of the interior spaces and programs, further blossoming Denvers civic amenities.
(Data drawn exclusively from: http://expansion.denverartmuseum.org, official website of DAM)
(Stephen Cardinale 2008)
ID Number.Former Image Accession VISC: 162179
Date.Image: 2004
Rights Description: Copyright owned by The Regents of the University of Colorado, a body corporate, and the photographer. All rights reserved.
Creator.Comments: (1946- )
Collection Name: Architecture and Planning Collection
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