The North Building at Denver Art Museum will close for renovations on November 19 There?s plenty of gorgeous museum architecture in the U.S. and around the world, but you?ll seldom find something like the North Building of the Denver Art Museum.
The only U.S. work by renowned Italian architect Gio Ponti, the 1971-built structure was appropriately dubbed a ?fortress for art? by James Sudler, the Denver-based architect who collaborated with Ponti on the project.
At seven stories tall, it?s unusually vertical for an art museum. But one look at its facade of irregular windows and over a million glass tiles should be enough indication that this is no boring office tower.
A local landmark for nearly half a century, the North Building will soon close to begin a $150 million renovation that will add a total of 33,000 square feet, a fact that?s sure to leave some preservation-minded architecture fans wondering: How much of Ponti?s original design will change" Work on the long-planned revamp will kick off in November. According to Boston-based firm Machado Silvetti, who teamed up with Denver?s Fentress Architects on the renovation, construction documents are 100 percent done and under review.

Denver Art Museum
A model of planned revamp.

The museum had two primary goals for the project. The first is to extend the life of the Ponti building and revitalize it while ?being committed to the integrity of the building and celebrating it as a work...