Voelz Chandler: A work of art, for art's sake

Published September 30, 2006 at midnight

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The exuberant, blossoming, titanium-clad museum designed by architect Daniel Libeskind is a brilliant container for art and a stunning work itself.

This dual success of the Denver Art Museum's new Frederic C. Hamilton Building will be clear to all when it opens to the public next weekend.

And it's time to acknowledge what the project, which has grown in three years from a hole in the ground to Denver's most innovative building, means to the community. It's the most important structure to open here since its predecessor, Gio Ponti's original museum building, debuted 35 years ago.

Other buildings have attracted attention, from the white peaks of Denver International Airport to the multicolored Denver Central Library. But for importance in terms of a big step toward a new regional design maturity, the $110 million Denver Art Museum project wins hands down.

A look at the attention it's already received from the likes of Time, Newsweek, Vanity Fair and The New York Times only reinforces its national prominence. The fact that museum officials predict it could attract 1 million visitors in its first year speaks for itself.

It's fitting the institution that hired a noted Italian architect to create his only North American building would, 35 years later, retain another intellectually vigorous designer to add a structure that not only extends the space, but complements its intent, mission and aesthetic.

In 2000, less than a year after Denver voters overwhelmingly approved a $62.5 million bond to cover basic construction of the building, Libeskind was tapped from a field of three designers (the others: Arata Isozaki and Thom Mayne) known for their inventive work.

Part of the building's success stems from the fact that it was designed by an architect chosen at the point when his aesthetic was as sharp as the museum prow jutting over West 13th Avenue.

Libeskind burst into prominence as his Jewish Museum in Berlin neared completion in the late '90s. That building was a Star of David reconfigured to create a jagged, meandering set of lines that conveyed a space of sorrow and healing.

The Hamilton Building is all about joy, possibility and connection. It works with its neighbors, neither dwarfing nor disrespecting Michael Graves' library nor Ponti's original museum building. The museum addition points the way north, through the plaza between the Ponti museum and the Graves Library, to Civic Center into downtown. And it slopes toward the south into the Golden Triangle neighborhood, gesturing toward the venerable Evans School.

A design evolution

In the process of siting the building, Libeskind slightly tweaked the axis south of Civic Center. That's one of many ways this building demonstrates the evolution of design that has grown up around a site rooted in the Beaux Arts flair of the City Beautiful movement.

Over the years various state office buildings have added more modern lines around Civic Center. The Ponti museum added verticality and the Graves library color. The Libeskind museum offers both a new material (metal) and a redefinition of angularity.

There have been only a few changes since Libeskind unveiled his design. There is less glass and the building is now completely titanium: In earlier descriptions the architect had discussed using both titanium and granite in the building.

Some elements take time to appreciate - including the fact that at street level there are no real views inside, except at the entry and the first floor mini-prow (into a space called the director's lounge).

As construction began and steel began to sprout, it seemed this could not possibly be a 146,000-square-foot building. Once the skin was on, with the velvety matte gray of the titanium unveiled, that size seemed believable. The building meets the ground softly, though, and seems to float above those walking by, a profusion of dynamic geometric forms.

The new Martin Plaza is more than just an economical ramble to the north or south. It also links the stark, clean Hamilton Building and the Museum Residences, which feature more applied surface decoration than may be necessary. (That big S-shaped zigzag form down the center is almost over the top; it should spark some sort of nickname.)

The plaza, with its red and gray elements, is crucial in terms of tying the components of the complex together, just as the garage and residential development help balance the museum on the site.

Grand entrance

The bridge linking the old and new buildings provides a great vantage point for watching traffic, viewing new public art on the Hamilton Building site and enjoying the mountains to the west. It also provides a way into the addition from the original structure.

But that's not the entry that offers major impact: The museum has a new front door, off the plaza, that leads into one of its most intriguing spaces. First, there is a visitors' services area: an intimate, pure-white area that serves as pause before moving into the spectacular volumes of the 120-foot-high El Pomar Atrium.

The atrium staircase - at times wide, narrow and, not surprisingly, angular - leads in a twisted path to the three floors above, bold yet human-scaled at the same time. It is an unforgettably powerful, yet peaceful, space, with the contrast of dark gray granite pavers set against stark white walls. It's augmented by the lighted components of the Percent for Art piece installed up and around the atrium walls.

The first floor also contains one of three special exhibition galleries, with the other two on the second floor. All three have identities and have the flexibility needed for imported shows. They manage to mix the building's angular forms with standard exhibition practices.

The largest, on the second floor, will open with a massive show from the Kent and Vicki Logan Collection of contemporary art. It's a combination of giant spaces that work well with giant artwork, though long galley-like thoroughfares take a while to get used to until it's clear that these are streets for art.

The first floor sets the paradigm for the relationship of art and architecture throughout. Yes, there are specific galleries, behind large glass doors. But the play of light from the skylights that ring the slanted atrium "roof" and various slit-like openings also offers unexpected places for pieces to be installed, while offering up architectural elements up as art objects, too.

Moving up

The staircase leads to landings/walkways on each floor that provide a chance to look up and down into the atrium. It's a view both captivating and precipitous, and at times surprising, because from an angle some of these broad expanses of drywall look almost wavy. But Libeskind has put us inside an iceberg, and we like it.

The second floor, which is where visitors pass between the buildings, is a mix of activity and calm. The two special exhibition galleries have their own discrete entrances and can be connected to accommodate a larger show.

An equal draw is the second-floor galleries for Western art, centered on a "main street" type of connector that flows from the bridge. Some of the museum's strongest works reside here, pieces that speak to our region, its beauty and challenges.

But the place is bland. Color plays a role in that: Walls that reflect structure, designed by Libeskind, are white, while walls or panels added to display art are tan. I understand keeping this differentiation, though it has not been followed in other galleries. But I miss the range of colors, from buttery to coral, in the old seventh-floor Western galleries in the Ponti building. Somehow the all-white spaces on the first floor and floors three and four seem more lively than that somber mix of white and tan.

Visitors will find that galleries on the third and fourth floor hew closely to the exterior form, soaring spaces for modern and contemporary art (especially on the fourth floor) that seem to cradle each work while providing room to breathe.

The Oceanic and African galleries on floors three and four, respectively, face a challenge. They are smaller offshoots from the main galleries with complicated angles with which to deal. The African gallery is awash in cabinetry (again, tan), making things seem more complicated than they need to be, while the Oceanic space is more traditionally installed.

The modern and contemporary floors are linked by an interior stairway, as well as the placement of an Alexander Calder mobile. It's a nice touch to hang that here and not in the atrium, a la so many museums. And it's an example of how Libeskind worked with making places for art and the curators worked with architecture to tie things together.

The Hamilton Building has prompted discussion about what a museum - really, what a building - should be. In one camp are those who revel in the flamboyance of a building by Libeskind or Frank Gehry, the neo-expressionism that pushes the technology of construction as well as our conception of our built environment.

On the other are those looking for more restraint and severity, in the realm of neo-modernism, a David Adjaye, perhaps, or Tadao Ando or Yoshio Taniguchi. The building may be beautiful, but it must also serve more as wrapper than architectural object - certainly not as showpiece.

It's too much to ask everyone to agree to disagree, since both viewpoints are valid. But this much is clear: the Hamilton Building is an outstanding achievement, no matter your perspective.

If you go

Here's what you need to know for the museum's opening weekend and beyond.

FRIDAY

• Hot DAM: Party on the Edge: Celebrate the opening in style at a benefit party starting at 7 p.m. Tickets: $200; $150 for members.

OCT. 7-8

• Hours: The museum will be open continuously from 10 a.m. Oct. 7 through 9 p.m. Oct. 8.

• Tickets: Timed tickets for the weekend are free, but must be picked up at the museum. They will be available at kiosks located outside the existing museum building and at the base of the Museum Residences.

AFTER OPENING WEEKEND

• Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays; noon to 5 p.m. Sundays; closed Mondays.

• Prices: $10 (Colorado residents); $13 (out of state visitors); $8 for 65 and older and college students ($10 out-of-state); $3, ages 6 to 18 ($5 out of state); free for those 6 and younger.

• Ordering tickets: During the opening months, tickets will be timed and dated for entering the new building. However, entry to the original building is available any time of that date. They may be purchased at the museum, by phone (866-4090-ART) or online at www.denverartmuseum.org. Processing fees apply even to free members' tickets ($1 online, $3 via phone).

• Free Saturdays: The first Saturday of every month will remain free to Colorado residents, beginning in November.

• Memberships: Museum members receive a variety of benefits, including free admission. Individual membership: $50; seniors, students and teachers: $45; family: $70. Further information on other levels of membership, including those for teachers, available at: www. denverartmuseum.org

Mary Voelz Chandler is the art and architecture critic. Chandlerm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2677.

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