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Denver Art Museum / Gio Ponti

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The Denver Art Museum by Gio Ponti and  James Sudler  (1971).  Although Ponti designed a few interiors in the United States, this is the only complete building realized. Ponti  described it as “an invitation to the sun.” The Denver Art Museum was in search of a big name architect to raise the museum's profile. I.M. Pei and Le Corbusier declined the project, but i n 1965, the museum hired Gio Ponti to design the library, with local firm,  James Sudler Associates . A multi-year funding campaign included backing from corporations, foundations, private donors, and public entities.  Dr. Otto Karl Bach, the museum’s longtime director, called for a very specific interior plan. He wanted 11 square-shaped galleries measuring 10,000 square feet each. This was the amount of space Dr. Bach believed would be right for the 45 minute attention span of the average museum visitor.  Source: Architectural Record, March 1972 James Sudler and Joal Cronenwett went to Ponti'...
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Highland Park Presbyterian / Denver

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Highland Park Presbyterian (now DEVO) Church by James H. Johnson (1955)  I headed out to the West Highland neighborhood of Denver to see a great example of ecclesiastical modern architecture. Johnson was a Denver architect, whose firs also designed the Life Sciences Research Laboratory at the University of Colorado, Boulder and the Adams County Golf Clubhouse.  I'm not sure what DEVO would say about a church being named after them. It was Sunday but I didn't see any worshipers, so it's unclear if they wear the traditional energy dome hats.
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Weekend / Stuff

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Wall sculpture and Cado "butterfly" shelves by Poul Cadovius.  I just now figured out where Cado shelves got their name.  The tray has this label. You know I love a good obscure little start-up from back in the day. Neal B Gregg and his wife, Patricia Lee Gregg, established Gregg Industries in 1953. They were operating out of a small industrial space in Van Nuys, CA. The venture must have been short-lived. By 1955 there was a new business operating out the space. Besides this piece and and the fictitious business name posting in the paper, all I found was the following mention about Neal...  A USC and Valley guy. Source: The Independent, Oct. 27, 1963 Interesting Soleri bells.  It rattles.
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The Mesa Laboratory / I.M. Pei

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The Mesa Laboratory of the National Center for Atmospheric Research by I.M. Pei (1967),  in collaboration with landscape architect Dan Kiley.  The complex sits on the redundantly-named Table Mesa, at the foot of the Flatirons rock formations in Boulder, Colorado. It's surrounded by a 565-acre nature preserve. Pei was inspired by Puebloan cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde. The structures are built from poured-in-place concrete, mixed with local red Lyons sandstone aggregate to match the rose-pink color of the surrounding hills. A large model of the planned complex is on display. Some of the buildings seen here were never realized. The surfaces were bush-hammered to create that rough texture. I was under the impression that the surface was combed (when wet) like they do when putting in the grooves on concrete highways.  However, here is a slightly smaller example of the chisel they used. I love that they had to point that out. I'm guessing one of the scientists working at the f...
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