by: Melissa Simonetti
Event: Films and Conversations with the Architects: Daniel Libeskind: Denver Art Museum: Frederic C. Hamilton Building. Producer: Edgar B. Howard; Director: Muffie Dunn
Location: Center for Architecture 01.29.09
Speakers: Daniel Libeskind, AIA — Principal Design Architect, Studio Daniel Libeskind; Suzanne Stephens — Deputy Editor, Architectural Record
Organizers: Checkerboard Film Foundation; AIANY
Sponsors: Benjamin Moore
The titanium-clad exterior of the Denver Art Museum’s Hamilton Building.
Courtesy Denver Art Museum
After being recognized for many of his museum designs in Europe, the Frederic C. Hamilton Building, an extension to the Denver Art Museum, is the first built work in the U.S. by Daniel Libeskind, AIA. Using inspiration from the Rocky Mountains, Libeskind’s museum is like a crystal cantilevered from a central point. The sharp angles and sculptural form create new forms while keeping the building in an open dialogue with the existing environment.
Libeskind uses this form to produce an ever-changing experience that stays true to Denver. Outside, the titanium cladding picks up light and creates shifts in color; the structural folds invite natural light and sweeping vistas of the mountains. The variety of walls and spaces inside allow artists to come up with innovative ways of displaying their art. But for the visitor, it is the journey through these varied spaces and the experience of the plaza outside that is important.
Libeskind’s other recent endeavors include the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco; Tangent in Seoul; Westside in Brünnen, Switzerland; Zlota 44 in Warsaw; and Fiera, Milan. Each uses his design language and expresses his desire for challenge, celebrating the impossible.
The next Films and Conversations with the Architects event is this coming Thursday, 02.12.09, featuring Peter Eisenman, FAIA. Click here for more information.
Melissa Simonetti is an architectural designer at Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates and a new contributor to e-OCULUS.