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Knife Fork Spoon / Denver Art Museum

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Knife Fork Spoon: Everyday Tools, Extraordinary Design at the Denver Art Museum. Curated by Dung and Darrin Alfred, Curator of Architecture and Design.   Dung Ngo has spent decades piecing together an extensive flatware collection. He estimates it to be around 10,000 pieces. This exhibition includes 150 sets.   It's arranged chronologically. In my opinion, Russel Wright had one of the best knives in the game. A group of Dung's friends were in Denver to see the exhibition and lection. Inevitably everyone was asked what they use at home. Sori Yanagi is what I use. Snow Peak is what I use for bike camping. It's titanium, for the weight weenies. I have a handful of pieces of Nth by Adolph Tischler Nth. I would like to get more but I do eat my yogurt with the spoon. Tischler commissioned R.M. to design a house for him, which included a carport Adolph used as a studio. Learn more,  here .  Museum visitors can even test drive some flatware.  The exhibition c...

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'...

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.