Libeskind’s crystalline palace

The Denver Art Museum, the largest art museum in the Western United States, will open its doors to the public 7 October 2006. Designed by Studio Libeskind, the 146,0000 square foot structure, which is one of two at the museum complex, is the architect’s first completed building in North America. The dramatic and angular, titanium-clad structure derives its inspiration from the mountain range that surrounds it. The expansion doubles the Museum’s size. Visitors will enter the building through a 120-foot high sky lit atrium that features dramatically sloping walls and a grand stairway that provides access to the galleries. An additional two-story atrium is located in the 17,000 square foot bi-level modern and contemporary galleries. Those galleries house a sculpture garden that affords magnificent views of the majestic Colorado Rockies.

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Sharon McHugh
WAN US Correspondent