Gio Ponti’s Denver Art Museum is expanded and updated

After being partly closed for years, Denver Art Museum, designed by Gio Ponti will fully reopen to the public on 24 October 2021. The enhancements – made by US firms Machado Silvetti Architects, based in Boston, and local Fentress Architects include a new rounded welcome centre, outdoor areas and reconfigured galleries, along with additional space for events, dining and education. The iconic museum is one of the first high-rise art museums and the only one Ponti completed in North America. Opened in 1971, it sits within the heart of Denver: a sevenstorey, asymmetrical tower clad in shimmering tiles, with 24 different sides – so it has been referred to as “castle-like” in appearance.

In addition to this facility the architects, conceiving the overhaul, had to consider also another structure: a spiky, standalone addition designed by Daniel Libeskind and opened in 2006. The team therefore decided to design a structure simultaneously in dialogue with the vibrant visual language of Ponti and Libeskind’s sculpted rostrums, while also providing connection to the different function of the museum.