Q&A: Christoph Heinrich on the Denver Art Museum Revitalization and Gio Ponti
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The Denver Art Museum (DAM) announced the largest-ever donation in its history last week: a $25 million gift from Board Chairman J. Landis Martin and his wife Sharon Martin, intended to help revitalize and enhance the museum’s iconic North Build
Q&A: Christoph Heinrich on the Denver Art Museum Revitalization and Gio Ponti
The Denver Art Museum (DAM) announced the largest-ever donation in its history last week: a $25 million gift from Board Chairman J. Landis Martin and his wife Sharon Martin, intended to help revitalize and enhance the museum’s iconic North Building. The seven-storey structure, inaugurated in 1971, is the only project by Italian modernist architect Gio Ponti ever to be realized in the United States, and was one of the first high-rise art museums. Starting in 2017, the DAM aims for an ambitious overhaul, scheduled for completion by 2021, when the structure celebrates its 50th anniversary.ARTINFO caught up with the DAM’s director Christoph Heinrich to talk about the ambitious $150 million project.The revitalization of the Gio Ponti designed North Building will transform the museum campus as a whole. What are the major challenges to be considered and how have Fentress Architects and Machado Silvetti, who will be leading the project, decided to meet them?Maintaining the integrity of the original design Gio Ponti envisioned is at the forefront of the revitalization. The design objectives involve bringing education to the heart of the campus to expand the museum’s capacity to serve families and student groups. The completed project aims to open the arms of the museum to invite the community to explore knock-out art experiences in every space, improving in-gallery experiences into appropriate 21st century standards. The project is also intended to upgrade the North Building in alignment with the Daniel Libeskind designed Hamilton Building and its “21st-century systems and art experiences” — could you elaborate?Some elements of Gio Ponti’s original vision for the North Building were never realized when the space opened to the public in 1971. The North Building project will complete Ponti’s plan for a completed 7th floor. This new gallery space will be dedicated to the museum’s Western American art collection, bringing that collection onto one floor for the first time in over a decade. The 7th floor will also feature two patios for outdoor viewing of the building’s unparalleled city and Rocky Mountain views.Art experiences for the Design & Graphics collection will also be improved. The collection is one of the fastest-growing areas of the DAM’s holdings but currently has one of the smallest gallery spaces on level 2 of the North Building. The museum is the national repository for AIGA, the professional association for design, which includes material that surrounds us at all times—from opening credits of films to water bottles we drink from. By vertically bisecting the oversized Bonfils-Stanton Gallery in the North Building, the museum will create more than 7,500 square feet of new gallery space to showcase this collection and launch a design lab on the second floor. The double-height Bonfils-Stanton Gallery will become a more functional gallery space to present exhibitions drawn from the DAM’s own collections, bringing an active gallery space to the main floor of the North Building for the first time since 2008.The North Building project will include upgraded environmental and safety systems that will make operations more efficient and bring the building and its technology into the 21st century. This segment of the project will include an upgraded fire sprinkler and HVAC systems, improved vapor barriers and security and life safety features. These updates are critical to ensuring the longevity of the building and the safety of the people and objects inside. Further, the project calls for expanding vertical circulation by doubling the number of passenger elevators. Will there be any substantial modifications to the North Building’s architecture and infrastructure?The North Building’s oval entrance will be revitalized and reopened to serve as the entrance for the museum’s educational programs. Further, just outside the North Building a terraced space will be added allowing for performances, as well as a safe space for school groups to safely gather and eat lunch. A new welcome center also will replace the current South Structure that adjoins the North Building by providing a welcoming experience for all visitors arriving from the south and the Cultural Center Garage. From that point of arrival currently, the entrance to the North Building is hidden and unclear. This new design will welcome guests from all angles, visually connecting the buildings and making it clear that visitors are arriving on the museum campus. For school visitors, the new exterior will enable more streamlined bus drop off and pick up from 14th Ave. Parkway.Gio Ponti designed the North Building in collaboration with Denver-based James Sudler Associates as a ‘fortress for the arts’ in 1971. How does this perception work for the DAM’s identity today?Gio Ponti’s museum design is a beloved castle-like fortress that has become a visual icon in the Mile High City. With that, the museum’s mission is to preserve and protect works of art and will continue to do so moving forward.How has the role of the museum in general changed since then?The museum’s mission to preserve and protect works of art now and into the future has not changed. What has changed dramatically is the number of visitors the museum’s welcomes on an annual basis. When the museum initially opened in 1971, it welcomed 100,000 visitors per year. That number has since seen an increase seven times that amount. Our goal is now to improve the visitor experience by updating the North Building to be able to accommodate more guests and showcase works in galleries that meet 21st century standards. The revitalization is scheduled for completion in 2021, just in time for the building’s 50th anniversary. What are your hopes and aspirations for its future?The North Building project will help the museum realize its vision to complete its campus so that it connects seamlessly as a whole. It will enable proper stewardship of a 50-year-old icon of modernist design, and Gio Ponti’s only realized building in North America. Read more
