Architecture

"The Field": An ode to America's obsession with criminals, sports and commercials

By Britt Chester Mon., Feb. 4 2013 at 11:27 AM
Categories: Architecture, Poetry, Popular Culture

Ray Lewis 55.jpg
My disdain for American football knows no bounds, and I don't believe in wasting my Sundays watching testosterone-addled meatheads run up and down a field with the hopes of placing a ball. In honor of yesterday's Super Bowl game -- as well as all the attendant hoopla -- I created a poem that follows the wonderful pentameter of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven," and emphasizes the importance of reading books over watching a game.

See also:
- GIFs: Mayor Michael Hancock does Ray Lewis dance to make good on Baltimore bet
- Michael Hancock bet-losing Ray Lewis dance delayed due to injury?
- Denver Broncos 2014 Super Bowl favorites: Wanna bet?


More »

Tags:

Edgar Allan Poe, football, pigskin, the field, the raven
Email to Friend
Print Article
Colorado History

Historic Elitch Gardens Theatre: a peek inside the 121-year-old building

By Bree Davies Fri., Nov. 30 2012 at 9:15 AM
Categories: Architecture, Colorado History

ElitchTheatreInterior.jpg
A view from the balcony of the Historic Elitch Gardens Theatre. Slide show: A Tour of the Historic Elitch Gardens Theatre
When the Historic Elitch Gardens Theatre closed in 1991, the fate of the century-old building was uncertain. Although the city said it wanted to save this last vestige of the original Elitch Gardens Amusement Park, there was no money for the project. So in 2002, the Historic Elitch Theatre Foundation was created to not just remind people of this piece of cultural history, but actually restore it. Since then, the non-profit has been able to stabilize the structure, but without enough funding, a full renovation has been out of reach.

So this Tuesday, December 4, the Highlands Garden Cafe will host a Historic Elitch Gardens Theatre Holiday Benefit to raise both interest and money for the massive undertaking. In advance of the fundraiser, the organization gave Westword a peek at the grand space, which has sat unused -- but hardly unloved -- for more than two decades.

For more photos, visit our full slide show: "A Tour of the Historic Elitch Gardens Theatre."

See also:
- Slide show: A Tour of the Historic Elitch Gardens Theatre
- Radium and roller coasters: A brief, dirty history of Elitch Gardens
- Historic Elitch Gardens Theatre Holiday benefit
- Another Act for the Elitch Theatre
- For Your Amusement: The city is up to its neck in the old Elitch's


More »

Tags:

Amusement Parks, Elitch Gardens, historic Denver, Historic Elitch Gardens Theatre, Mary Elitch
Email to Friend
Print Article
Architecture

Now Boarding takes off at Airport Exchange 2012 in Amsterdam

By Nathalia Vélez Tue., Nov. 27 2012 at 12:58 PM
Categories: Architecture

2062 airport fentress.jpg
Fentress Architects
2062 Airport of the Future.
Over the summer, the Denver Art Museum explored the history and future of airport architecture through the design of local architect Curtis Fentress, the founder of Fentress Architects who designed Denver International Airport, including its iconic tent roof. Now highlights of the Now Boarding: Fentress Airports + The Architecture of Flight exhibition, which was curated by Donald Albrecht and the DAM, are on display at the Airport Exchange 2012 conference in Amsterdam.

See also:
- Curt Fentress exhibit ready to take off at Denver Art Museum
- Vochol Art on Wheels exhibit rolls into DIA today
- Heather Purcell Leja of Design OnScreen talks architecture and modernist preservation


More »

Tags:

airport design, Airport Exchange, Amsterdam, Curtis Fentress, Fentress Architects, future, Now Boarding
Email to Friend
Print Article
Arts and Culture

Works in progress: Behind the scenes at the revived McNichols in Civic Center Park

By Susan Froyd Wed., Oct. 24 2012 at 6:50 AM
Categories: Architecture, Arts and Culture

Street artist Jolt, at work on his McNichols Building installation "Born Funky."
At 11 a.m. today, a small group of dignitaries led by Mayor Michael Hancock will gather at the McNichols Building at the edge of Denver's Civic Center (just named a national landmark) to cut the ribbon on the classical structure's new lease on life. Built in 1910 as a Carnegie Library, the open, sparsely renovated McNichols building will now serve as a cultural center, rental-event hall and multiple gallery space, right in the heart of the city.

See also:
- Slide show: Historic McNichols Building
- Let there be Light
- Denver beer culture will meet the city's history with Festivus, an all-Denver beer fest
- Denver's Civic Center named a national landmark
- Biennial of the Americas will fill McNichols with ideas -- and it could use a few of its own
- Yum, yum! Kenny Be has delicious designs on Civic Center

More »

Tags:

Civic Center Park, Collin Parson, Fuera de la Frontera/Outside the Border, Light, McNichols Building
Email to Friend
Print Article
Design

DasHAUS: The future is here, in Sustainability Park

By Susan Froyd Mon., Oct. 15 2012 at 6:42 AM
Categories: Architecture, Design

dasHaus copy.jpg
dasHAUS: What's on the horizon of home-building.
What is dasHAUS? Created in Germany, the compact pavilion demonstrates the most up-to-the-minute green technologies in home-building, from the sleekest of sustainable materials to renewable energy systems. Packed full of bright ideas, dasHAUS started a fourteen-city tour of the U.S. a year ago; now it's at home in Denver's Sustainability Park, the tour's last stop, for a ten-day layover. Following is an introductory video.

See also:

- Design for the Other 90% reinvents the wheel and more, tonight at RedLine
- Mayor's Design Awards: A look at the seventeen winners
- Going Local

More »

Tags:

dasHAUS, demonstration tour, Sustainability Park, sustainable housing
Email to Friend
Print Article

Heather Purcell Leja of Design OnScreen talks architecture and modernist preservation

By Bree Davies Thu., Sep. 27 2012 at 10:15 AM
Categories: Architecture, Colorado Film

HeatherPurcellLeja.jpg
Since 2007, Design OnScreen has worked to preserve modern architecture across America by producing and presenting films focusing on unheralded architects and designers, and also curating architecture-centered film festivals around the world. And it's fought this good fight from its headquarters in Denver, Colorado.

As Design OnScreen's Architecture + Design Film Series comes to a close this week, Executive Director Heather Purcell Leja took some time to speak to Westword about the foundation's origins and what's in store for the non-profit.

See also:
- Architecture + Design Film Series opens with a celebration of midcentury modern style
-Follow that story: Neighborhood Flix space to become DenverFilmCenter
- The 35th Starz Denver Film Festival is looking for volunteers

More »

Tags:

architecture, Architecture and Film Series, Design OnScreen, Donald Wexler, Heather Purcell Leja, Samuel Wainwright Douglas, William Krisel
Email to Friend
Print Article
Architecture

The architecture of Colorado's transportation hubs is the focus of this bus tour

By Bree Davies Wed., Sep. 12 2012 at 9:12 AM
Categories: Architecture

DIA1.jpg
Courtesy of Historic Denver
An aerial perspective of the forthcoming addition to DIA.
As light rail expands full force to the east and to the west of Denver and the B-cycle bike sharing program builds in Denver and Boulder, it's clear that Colorado is embracing a desire for accessible transportation. Historic Denver and the Denver Architectural Foundation are capitalizing on that with "Traveling Through Time: An Architectural Exploration."

See also:
- Photos: Union Station tour digs dirt on transit hub, light rail
- Hangar 61 - Saved by Colorado preservation
- Architecture + Design Film Series opens tonight with a celebration of midcentury modern style


More »

Tags:

architecture, Denver Architectural Foundation, Denver International Airport, Hangar 61, Historic Denver, Stapleton, Union Station
Email to Friend
Print Article
Arts and Culture

Q&A: Francisco Sotomayor has captured the "American Woman" in all her marble glory

By Natalie Gonzalez Wed., Aug. 1 2012 at 10:04 AM
Categories: Architecture, Art, Arts and Culture, Interviews


statue-flag-560.jpg
Photos provided by Francisco Sotomayor.
Francisco Sotomayor's "American Woman" is touring the country.
When we think back to the ideal of the true American Dream, images of freedom and the great frontier contribute to the Manifest Destiny that shaped our country. Artist, sculptor and Colorado native Francisco Sotomayor combined that revolutionary mindset with imagery from American culture to form his most monumental piece: "American Woman." Seriously, it's monumental. Carved from a 21-ton block of white marble, Sotomayor's "Woman" depicts a lovely lady lounging atop a grand piano. Weighing about 10,000 pounds, this gorgeous gal has been touring the country, so far traveling more than 28,000 miles and stopping in 46 cities and venues.


More »

Tags:

American Dream, American Woman, Fox News, Francisco Sotomayor, grand piano, Madonna, marble, Marilyn Monroe, Michelle Pfeiffer, Natalie Gonzalez, sculpture, Sharpie, signed, tour
Email to Friend
Print Article

Summer Guide 2012: Lakeside Amusement Park

By Bree Davies Tue., Jun. 12 2012 at 7:55 AM
Categories: Architecture, Art, Events

lakeside-amusement-park.jpg
Stephen Cummings
Scream this summer at Lakeside Amusement Park. More Lakeside Amusement Park photos.
Steeped in local lore, Lakeside Amusement Park, at 4601 Sheridan Boulevard, is an art-deco wonderland. Framed by mature trees and blinking lights, the classic theme park is one of the oldest still in operation in the country.

More »

Tags:

Lake Rhoda, Lakeside Amusement Park, Tilt-A-Whirl
Email to Friend
Print Article
Architecture

New York Times on History Colorado Center: Does Colorado even have that much history?

By Patricia Calhoun Mon., Apr. 30 2012 at 11:03 AM
Categories: Architecture, Art

historycoloradoextrer7791879.28.jpg
This weekend the New York Times published a review of the new History Colorado Center, which started in a very New York-centric way:
An East Coast visitor's first reaction, provincially enough, has to be skepticism: does Colorado even have that much history?


More »

Tags:

History Colorado Center, New York Times
Email to Friend
Print Article
VOICE Daily Deals

From the Vault

 

Slideshows»

Links


Send story tips, photos and video to showandtell@westword.com, and follow us on Twitter.

©2013 Denver Westword, LLC, All rights reserved.
Browse Voice Nation
  • Voice Places Denver / Boulder

    Voice Places

    Find everything you're looking for in your city

  • Happy Hour App

    Happy Hour App

    Find the best happy hour deals in your city

  • Daily Deals

    Daily Deals

    Get today's exclusive deals at savings of anywhere from 50-90%

  • Best Of

    Best Of...

    Check out the hottest list of places and things to do around your city

Join
Log In