The City of Denver has launched “Imagine 2020,” a pro-arts cultural plan that will pave the way for more city-wide “art opportunities” over the next seven years. According to the Denver Post, this initiative will include the revision of “plans, permits and codes” to allow for more installations, offer small micro-art grants for residents and neighborhoods, and establish large public gathering places throughout the city. You can learn more, here.
Seattle’s Olson Kundig Architects has been tapped to design The Kirkland’s new headquarters in downtown Denver, just a block from Daniel Libeskind’s Denver Art Museum and Allied Works’ Clyfford Still Museum. The commission, which is expected to cost “tens of millions,” will double the museum’s gallery space and be used to display Colorado’s largest repository of art that includes a collection of 15,000 objects by Frank Lloyd Wright, Frank Gehry, Andy Warhol, Eero Saarinen, Philip Johnson and Mies van der Rohe.
Colorado’s Biennial of the Americas has invited artists and architects from across the Americas to participate in the second edition of Draft Urbanism: a citywide exhibition that examines the evolving relationship we have with our cities. This year, four architects - plan:b arquitectos (Colombia), Pezo von Ellrichshausen (Chile), June14 Meyer-Grohbrügge&Chermayeff (New York/Berlin), and Alex Schweder (New York) - were commissioned to each design and build a large-scale installation that address site-specific urban challenges and key planning issues presently facing downtown Denver.
With urban challenges ranging from Denver’s over abundance of surface parking lots to the effects of an 8-lane thoroughfare that splits the downtown core, these four installations aim to portray a deep understanding of the city’s history while proposing innovative ways in which art can address our urban future.
Read on to learn about the installations and view a short film for each by Cristobal Palma.
"It's not where you start in life, it's where you end up and all the places you went in between." - United States General Colin L. Powell
For the closing keynote speaker of the stimulating, three-day “Building Leaders” convention in Colorado, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) selected one of America’s most admired public figures to share wisdom and insight to becoming a great leader.
General Colin L. Powell, a first-generation American born from Jamaican immigrants in 1937, is the epitome of the American dream. Starting life in the South Bronx, Powell paved his way to becoming a highly respected, four-star general in the United States Army and the first African American to serve as Secretary of State. A natural storyteller, Powell effortlessly captivated the audience of architects with a series of experiences and lessons he had learned throughout his lifetime of service.
General Colin Powell’s top ten lessons of leadership after the break...
Thousands have flocked to the Mile High City in Colorado to attend the American Institute of Architects (AIA) 2013 National Convention. The three-day event was enthusiastically kickstarted this morning by AIA president Mickey Jacobs who honored Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects with the 2013 Architecture Firm Award; highlighted this year's theme of leadership; and featured words of advice from TOMS founder and chief shoe giver, Blake Mycoskie.
Learn TOMS Founder Mycoskie’s top advice for architects after the break.
Architecture for Humanity-Denver is seeking to raise money for the transformation of a museum parking lot into an outdoor classroom for children in need. The goal of Denver's Museo de las Americas is to educate the community about the diversity of Latino Americano art and culture from ancient to contemporary through innovative exhibitions and programs, but the museum is lacking the necessary space for its increasingly popular youth summer camp.
The ‘Now Boarding: Fentress Airports + the Architecture of Flight’ exhibition, opening July 15 until October 7 at the Denver Art Musuem, will take visitors on a multi-media tour of airport design of the past, present and future. Visitors will journey through six airports designed by Denver-based Fentress Architects, encountering sketches, renderings, photographs, video installations and large models of these technically advanced public spaces. More information on the exhibition after the break.
V Tower is a residential high rise positioned atop of a base of retail, restaurant, cafe, and parking designed by Meridian 105 Architecture. The tower provides an urban park for the neighborhood in Denver, Colorado while establishing a new ground plane for street-life to develop at the site.
Read on for more on this project after the break.
Architects: Allied Works Architecture Location: Denver, Colorado, USA Project area: 28,500 sqm Project year: 2011 Renders and drawings: Allied Works Architecture
Chad Mitchell, president of Denver based Meridian 105 Architecture, has shared with us his proposal for a planned mixed use complex in downtown Denver Colorado. After the break, be sure to look over the proposed passive wall systems used throughout the design proposal in addition to the rest of the renderings and description from M1A.
