Downtown...
16th Street, 1944
16th Street, 1944, when it was still a two-way street
March 16th, 2013 / No Comments » / by Tom Lundin
Mini-golf at Zeckendorf Plaza
Mini-golf at Zeckendorf Plaza in front of the hyperbolic parabaloid.
Every winter this became an ice-skating rink.
March 16th, 2013 / No Comments » / by Tom Lundin
DeVille Motel
The DeVille Motel on Colfax at Galapago. First the original architectural illustration…
Then the final result, with a different design for the sign. This is now just an empty shell
between the Denver Diner and the new courthouse, destined to be torn down soon, I am sure.
February 23rd, 2013 / 1 Comment » / by Tom Lundin
Tiny Tim visits Denver, 1969
Tiny Tim entertains a large crowd with his ukelele in the Denver Dry Goods book
department 1969.
While on the subject of The Denver, here is the 400 foot main lobby of Denver Dry Goods Co.
February 23rd, 2013 / No Comments » / by Tom Lundin
Denver Gas and Electric Company Building
The Denver Gas and Electric Light Company Building at night.
Designed in 1910 in a Sullivanesque Chicago-style by Denver architect
Harry Edbrooke, nephew of Denver architect Frank Edbrooke.
Still standing intact at 15th & Champa!
February 23rd, 2013 / 1 Comment » / by Tom Lundin
Currigan Hall
Currigan Exhibition Hall, a Brutalist structure completed in 1969 with the incredible use of the space frame, a steel-truss structure using triangular forms (and also, in this case upside-down pyramidal shapes) that gave it rigidity and strength to span large areas without interior support columns. This building was then clad with steel panels that self-sealed through rusting!
The City and County of Denver held a contest in 1965 for a convention center design that was won by William Muchow Associates and architect James Ream. Here is the full stellar lineup of parties involved:
Principal designer: James Ream
Architects: William Muchow Associates, Ream, Quinn and Associates and Haller and Larson
Development team: Karl Berg, George Hoover, Edward Tower
Cheif Engineer: Michael Barrett
Engineers: Ketchum, Konkel, Ryan & Hastings (structural), McCaff & Konkel (mechanical), Swanson-Rink & Associates (electrical)
Contractors: Burkhardt Steel Co. (space trusses), J. R. Orr Construction Co. (general)
The pyramids that raise and lower within the truss are specialized lighting features that could be adjusted over each module of display space. When not in use they were raised and nested back into the space frame trusses.
Denver’s Currigan Hall, a major new exhibition and convention center, is many things simultaneously; its architects have joined in joint venture to create a strong, clear, exceptionally handsome archictural expression, a bold simple structural solution, and a building that competes with the best of its field for the business which is its livelihood.
- Architectural Record, 1970
For Denver to have such a large and beautiful James Ream design in the center of the city for 30 years was quite fortunate, indeed. I know Ream has become one of Shannon’s favorite historic architects. Here are a few James Ream houses to marvel at: the Busch House, the Sorensen House and the Varner House.
Ream also used the space frame concept for this home on Shannon’s site, the Lipman House.
Slit windows contributed additional lighting during the day.
A bridge connected Currigan Hall to the older Denver Auditorium Arena.
The view from inside the connecting bridge.
Brutalist buildings are the most misunderstood and under-appreciated of the modernist era. Despite winning awards from the American Institute of Architects and others, by the early-1980s the city was already looking to replace Currigan Hall. This model above and the photo below show one such plan from 1982. (half the city would have been in shadow!)
Currigan Hall was demolished in the early-2000s to make way for the current Colorado Convention Center.
Special thanks to Denver Eye fan Emerson Schwartzkopf who requested this post and attended his college graduation ceremonies at Currigan Hall!
January 4th, 2013 / 1 Comment » / by Tom Lundin
May Co.
May Co. building circa-1952.
May Co. started in Leadville in 1877 and merged with Daniels and Fisher in 1957, becoming
May-D&F at Zeckendorf Plaza. This building at around 17th & Champa was demolished in 1966.
December 30th, 2012 / No Comments » / by Tom Lundin
16th Street, 1963
Click me!
Yet another view…
December 17th, 2012 / 1 Comment » / by Tom Lundin
Postcards
I was visiting Lee Alex Vintage Modern to see photographer Dan Beahm’s newly mounted works and I spotted these postcards of two of my favorite downtown-Denver buildings.
This first postcard is from 1956 and is a shot of Mile High Center designed by I. M. Pei & Associates. The barrel-roof building in the front is the Transportation Center which is gone now, but much of Mile High Tower is still there.
Daniel Beahm and his wife Erika are Colorado filmmakers whose feature film Leading Ladies is available on Netflix. Lee Alex Vintage Modern just celebrated their one year anniversary in their new location at 24 Broadway.
The second postcard is the First National Bank building on 17th, designed in 1958 by Raymond Harry Ervin. This photo is especially interesting for me to see the roof pattern that you could view looking down from the Sky Deck observation area atop this mostly still intact skyscraper.
August 28th, 2012 / No Comments » / by Tom Lundin
