Skyscrapers...
Bureau of Reclamation
Reading a book by famed architectural photographer Julius Schulman, I was startled to see these photos of Building of Reclamation, the only ’skyscraper’ in the Denver Federal Center off of 6th Avenue.
This energy-efficient International-style building is an early HOK design (Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum), started 1964, completed 1967.
August 30th, 2010 / 1 Comment » / by Tom Lundin
Curtain wall
One last curtain-wall building photo from downtown…
The famous Miesian Mile High Tower, part of the Mile High
Plaza designed 1956 by I.M. Pei and Henry Cobb. The plaza
is now incorporated into Philip Johnson’s Norwest Plaza.
July 27th, 2010 / 1 Comment » / by Tom Lundin
Western Federal Savings
Another Formalist high-rise with glass-curtain walls by Raymond
Harry Ervin, built 1962. Originally there were large “W”s on each
side of the rooftop box.
July 27th, 2010 / 1 Comment » / by Tom Lundin
First National Bank
One of Denver’s earlier skyscrapers, the Formalist First National
Bank Building.
Designed 1958 by Raymond Harry Ervin, the same architect who
designed the Art Deco Harry Huffman Mansion from the post
below.
July 26th, 2010 / No Comments » / by Tom Lundin
First National Bank building
First National Bank building, designed by Raymond Harry Ervin, 1958.
November 17th, 2009 / No Comments » / by Paul Schutt
Denver Club Building
Miesian design by Raymond Harry Ervin, 1954.
November 17th, 2009 / No Comments » / by Paul Schutt
Zeckendorf Plaza
Zeckendorf Plaza, also referred to as Court House Square as this was once the location of the Arapahoe County Courthouse.
Built for William Zeckendorf’s Webb & Knapp firm by I.M. Pei, Henry Cobb, Araldo Cossutta and the firm of Rogers and Butler. The Plaza, parabaloid and May D&F Department Store were finished in 1958, the Hilton Hotel was completed in 1960.
This was I.M. Pei’s second major commission in Denver, the first being the classic Mile High Tower.
May Company and Daniels & Fisher were merged in 1957 in anticipation of the plaza. Both were Colorado based companies. As you can see above, May Co. was started in 1877 in Leadville, Daniels started the store that became Daniel’s & Fisher in Denver in 1864.
One of the most outstanding features was the decision to build the country’s widest concrete shell Hyperbolic Parabaloid structure on the site. The roof was actually four hyperbolic parabaloids put together. Engineered by Anton Tedesko.
Intended to be Denver’s version of Rockefeller Center, the plaza featured a skating rink, reflecting pool, mini-golf, trees, and a flag display.
Across the street from the plaza was the block-long Hilton Hotel, here shown under construction in 1959. Zeckendorf Plaza was the first major development to combine a hotel, department store and a public plaza in the U.S.
The Hilton Hotel design has similarities to Le Corbusier’s Unite d’Habitation in Marseilles.
One of the saddest moments in Denver’s architectural history was the loss of the plaza, the parabaloid, and the accompanying changes to the department store and hotel in 1995 when Adam’s Mark Hotel took over the location. I.M. Pei’s masterful Denver landmark parabaloid was replaced with an uninspired box. (Adam’s Mark Hotel has since sold the location).
The Hilton Hotel, now The Sheraton Hotel, retains most of it’s exterior charm despite the alterations. It was made from pre-cast concrete that included soil escavated from the court house site, giving the structure it’s unique coloring.
October 27th, 2009 / 3 Comments » / by Tom Lundin
Denver’s First Skyscraper: Mile High Center
The Mile High Tower, at 23 stories tall, was the first skyscraper designed for Denver, in 1952. A part of the three building Mile High Center complex, completed 1956, it was an the first large project of world renowned architect I.M. Pei and Henry Cobb.
I.M. Pei is famous for glass structures like the Louvre Pyramid in Paris and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, and the Brutalist design of the Nation Center of Atmospheric Research in Boulder.
Pei, a Chinese-American, was a student of Walter Gropius at Harvard Graduate School of Design, where he later became an Assistant Professor.
In 1955, he became Director of Architecture for William Zeckendorf’s Webb and Knapp real estate development corporation.
Mile High Tower still survives from the original Mile High Center complex, which also included an open arcade with benchs, trees, and a trout pool, an exhibition pavilion with shops, the four-story remodeled bank building next door, and a two-story barrel-vault structure with a stainless steel roof.
The Mile High Center was considered a Miesian design, after architect Mies van der Rohe. Van der Rohe had been designing structures in Chicago, such as his famous Lake Shore Drive Apartments, that were similar rectangular boxes sitting on columns, with glass curtain walls and a glass-enclosed first-story lobby setback from these columns to create an open arcade.
When Mile High Center was completed in 1956, the Webb & Knapp firm were also in the process of building Denver’s Court House Plaza, often referred to as Zeckendorf Plaza. This design also incorporated public space and for this design an even more ambitious hyperbolic parabaloid.
The barrel-vault structure originally contained a restaurant named The Matchless, named after the famous Leadville mine owned by Baby Doe Tabor.
Drawing of the Mile High Center barrel vault.
In 1984, another world famous architect, Philip Johnson, completed One United Bank Center, later called Norwest Plaza (and usually referred to as the Cash Register building, or the Mailbox). This included an atrium that spanned Broadway and swallowed up much of Pei’s plaza design. Here you can see Mile High Tower struggling to peek out of Norwest Plaza, the barrel-vault now gone.
Denver Skyline 1959: D&F Clocktower, Denver Club Building, First National Bank, Brown Palace West, Mile High Tower
August 30th, 2009 / 1 Comment » / by Tom Lundin
Denver 1959!
A beautiful shot from 1959, showing some of Denver’s first skyscrapers. Click on the picture.
July 6th, 2009 / No Comments » / by admin
