MCA Denver

The Museum of Contemporary Art - Denver set out in 2004 to build a world-class museum with the mission to create 'a place where architecture supports rather than defines the museum's mission.' With the Denver Art Museum addition, designed by uber-architect Daniel Libeskind, dominating so much attention - it isn't hard to figure who exactly the MCA was taking shots at.

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The selection committee chose David Adjaye, an architect on the rise with recent projects in London, to design the museum to be located in Denver's urban center. The location in LoDo rests against 15th Ave. - a high traffic route - with increased pedestrian traffic from downtown attractions and a metro station east of the site.

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The exterior wall system of the museum consists of double-glazed panels with grey-tinted glass on the outside and clear glass on the inside. Between the glazing is a translucent platic which provides thermal insulation. The "Box" style of architecture has become quite popular in different locations lately - it's effectiveness usually dependent on the elements surrounding the site. In this context, the museum succeeds in standing as a clean, dignified building without distracting from the other buildings in the downtown area.

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The entrance to the MCA is a large opening that has no doors - meant to serve as a transition from the urban environment into the contemporary art displayed inside. The interior consists of three separates stacks for exhibition enclosed by circulation spaces. Above the three storey circulation spaces is a T-shaped rooflight to flood the space with natural light. The MCA has no permanent collection, relying on temporary exhibits to move in and out of the museum. The exhibition areas serve as receptacles for the variety of contents that will be on display.

Modern Art Museum of Ft Worth

Located near the Kimbell Art Museum, The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth is an impressive response to Louis Kahn’s classic building. The museum was completed in 2002 and appears to be a modern variation of the Kimbell’s more traditional, elegant presentation.

The Modern Art Museum was designed by the Japanese architect Tadao Ando. Ando's design, which embodies the pure, unadorned elements of a modern work of art, is comprised of five volumes of glass, steel, and exposed concrete. These rectangular blocks are arranged in succession similar to the barrel vaults in Kahn’s design.

The massive planar walls are capped at the end by 40-foot-high transparent walls of glass framed in metal, providing magnificent public circulation areas from which to view the surrounding building and site, as well as creating tall display areas for dramatic items of Modern art.

Supporting the concrete roof slabs are five forty-foot-tall concrete Y-shaped columns, which allows visitors to appreciate the art of the building itself as well as the collection contained within. I wasn’t as familiar with this museum as the Kimbell when I was planning my trip. The collection of art was quite impressive. Usually when I'm walking around these museums, I'm focused on the architectural features, but there have been a few displays that have caught my eye as well. There were a few Warhols and definitely some intriguing sculptures. The building was an effective showcase for contemplation of these pieces.

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Ross-Broadway Library

The Ross-Broadway Library is a hidden treasure in the urban bustle of Denver. Opened in the early 1950's, this branch library was designed by Victor Hornbein in the Prairie Home style developed by Frank Lloyd Wright (see the Price Tower). Hornbein was an accomplished Denver architect who was also involved in the Botanic Gardens and other notable Denver projects.

Although the Prairie style has its origins in natural, organic design, the Ross-Broadway Library seems right at home in this urban environment. The flat cantilevered roofs reach out over the building indicating the importance of the intersection of Bayaud and Lincoln.

The library is located in the neighborhood where I live and I've visited this location many times over the years. It functions perfectly as a branch library, meaning that it serves a local population but because of its size doesn't contain the large volume of books and materials that are located at the central library. Libraries today serve as a sort of video store/internet cafe in many respects. Online reservations allow visitors to swing by the branch library to pick up DVDs or CDs or perhaps to use the internet connection at the computer terminals.

Every time I visit this library, I take a moment to enjoy the design and craftsmanship. The large open space is covered with natural daylight that enters the space through the string of banded windows above the book shelves. Nestled in this high traffic area, the Ross-Brodway library empasizes the need for distinctive design in the congested city.

the Price Tower

The tree that escaped the crowded forest ...

Frank Lloyd Wright stands as an American icon of architecture, but despite his notoriety his only built example of a skyscraper stands in - of all places - the open prairies of Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

Toward the end of his career, FLW had a resurgence of popularity that secured his place in history. In the early 1900s, accomplishments with Louis Sullivan in Chicago and the prairie-home style - were followed by years and years when FLW’s designs had fallen out of favor. The Modern movement focused more on the advances of technology and scoffed at the era of hand-crafted ornamentation. It wasn’t until FLW reluctantly incorporated the Modern style with his own that he rose from obscurity to once again design amazing works such as Fallingwater in Pennsylvania and the Guggenheim Museum in NYC.

In the 1950’s, the Price Oil Company selected FLW to design their office headquarters on the recommendation of Bruce Goff (see Boston Ave. Church). FLW was excited by the challenge of combining his organic system of geometry with the open space of the prairie to form a relationship in a skyscraper.

Many of FLW’s designs have a reliance on grids and squares. By rotating these squares around an axis, FLW created a symmetry of the diagonal forces that he developed into the pinwheel geometry that is the footprint of the Price Tower. His interest in organic design led him to design a central core that grows out of the ground as the support for the cantilevered floors - rotated 30 degrees - that branch out from the core. By focusing the structure away from the building envelope, the exterior curtain wall consists of windows and exterior copper cladding that allows for unobstructed views from every floor.

FLW had been working on many designs for multi-use skyscrapers in urban environments. The plans for the Price Tower look very similar to designs he created in the 1930s for a series of residential buildings in NYC that were never built. He also designed a massive building with soaring spires for Chicago that was never realized as well. In a way, his designs were transplanted from the congested cityscape to the open prairies where it could thrive on its own.

The floor plan of the Price Tower is divided into quadrants with three office spaces and a two-storied apartment on each level with the elevators contained in the core. FLW was definitely a control freak and designed all aspects of his projects including furniture, fireplaces, sidewalks, door handles, mailboxes, and etc. Definitely admirable, but the angular furniture designed for the confined spaces were impractical and generally disliked by most of the employees in the building.


The exterior louvers were designed with different treatments for the office spaces and the apartments. After installation the copper was patinated with acid to create the green effect that usually takes place over time. Speculation is that FLW demanded this treatment so he could witness the final product before his death. Indeed, he died in 1959, three years after the building’s dedication.

Experiencing this building in person is once again something difficult to express in words. The level of detail - which I’ve tried to capture in these pictures - is just amazing. The exterior cladding, which has a feel of Oriental ornamentation to it, changes from every view point. Finally, the cramped spaces were awkward and inspiring at the same time. While I was there I learned that FLW was actually quite a small man in stature and he had a tendency to design to his own proportions (nobody ever said his ego was small).

Boston Ave. Methodist Church

Bruce Goff isn’t a household name in architecture, but in his heyday he was a prolific and creative designer of many impressive art deco projects. Art Deco was purely decorative style, seen as elegant, functional, and ultra modern as well. Early in his career, Goff designed the Boston Ave. Church in Tulsa, which is considered the first church designed in a strictly American style of architecture.

What is interesting about this church is the ongoing dispute over who actually designed it. From what I understand, Goff had an art instructor that developed the motif for the church. The soaring straight lines of the 200 ft. tower represent outreached arms raised up to heaven. Goff developed these sketches into the designs for the church. There is also some dispute from the firm where Goff was working at the time, who claim that other members of the firm also contributed to the project.

The sculptures that adorn the entrances to the church were designed by sculptor, Robert Garrison. While visiting the church, staff members pointed out to me that the church credits Goff’s instructor, Adah Robinson, with the design of this building.

Inside the tower serves as an entrance into the 1,800 seat auditorium on the right. Sunlight enters through the ceiling and through the eleven tall exterior windows behind audience seating. Goff considered geometrical shapes and found materials (common archi-speak) as his motivation in design. Visiting the Boston Ave. Church the complex detail and grand scale of the church were very awe-inspiring.

Church of the Holy Family Shrine

Is there great architecture in Nebraska? Some might argue for the State Capitol - or there is a FLW house in McCook - or what about Carhenge? All excellent choices, but for this blog, I'm going to focus on a small church that sits atop the bluffs between Omaha and Lincoln - the Church of the Holy Family Shrine in Gretna.

This simplistic form made from Red Cedar, limestone, steel, and glass overlooks the heartland providing fantastic views of the wheat fields which were the inspiration for the intertwined structural features. A small flow of water runs from the altar, down the sides of the aisle, outside through the courtyard, and finally into a small pool which sits inside the visitor center.

The Church of the Holy Family Shrine was completed in 2001. It has been argued that the design is very similar to the Cooper Chapel in Arkansas. Regardless, it is a truly inspirational space which integrates so well with the nature surrouding the site, seemingly erected from the Nebraska plains.

Kimbell Art Museum

The Kimbell Art Museum in Ft. Worth, Texas - and other works by Louis Kahn - were an inspiration to me while I was in school. Kahn displayed a sensitivity in three areas - form, material, and light. I was in awe of how Kahn would design with a sophistication and still allow the natural elements (and flaws) of his materials to be exposed. Visiting this museum, and walking up the enclosed stair into the main lobby, is one which I will never forget.

The overall form for the museum comes from a grain silo - at one time visible from the site - resituated horizontally on the landscape. The materials were chosen due to their similarity to each other and their compatibility with the site. Kahn often used concrete on many of his projects, claiming that "concrete must be taken for whatever irregularities or accidents in the pouring reveal themselves."

The Kimbell consists of a series of barrel vaults (100 ft. long, 23 ft. wide) with curved concrete roof/ceilings that are radially offset from the curve of the travertine-clad walls. This narrow slit allowed diffuse natural light to run the length of each vault and into the space below without causing damage to the artwork on display. The end vault is left open to create a transition from the building to the pond and park beyond.

Louis Kahn was quite a character. In addition to being a reknown architect with projects around the world, he was also a college instructor and, if you've ever seen the documentary "My Father, the Architect," he also managed to secretly lead separate lives with two different families on opposite ends of the country ... and I often complain that I can't get my lazy ass out of bed to go to my one job.

Denver Art Museum

First off is the addition to the Denver Art Museum, which opened last year to a lot of media attention. The building has sparked a lot of debate because of it's role in the "Bilbao effect" in architecture. A recent movement in architecture that began with Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. The building itself has overshadowed the collection of art contained within but the mass exposure the building has received has significantly increased tourism in a city that was struggling.

The DAM addition was designed by Daniel Libeskind. He claims the form was inspired by the mountains as he flew into Denver, but the design looks peculiarly similar to other projects he has worked on. The angled walls have caused some visitors to feel vertigo, or a sense of dizziness. It is important to note that the attendance for the DAM have fallen well short of projections, which have only fueled the debate of the building's effectiveness. Also, the building is currently undergoing repairs due to leakage in the rooftop windows following the buildings first exposure to Colorado snowfall.

Architecture in America

My goal is to visit as many landmarks of architecture as I can. I plan to post photos and posssibly my musings on these buildings. All of the photos posted are from my trusty Kodak digital camera.