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Architect David Adjaye’s vision for the Museum of Contemporary Art | Denver promises an interactive artistic experience

Cities express themselves through parks,  libraries, galleries, cafes and museums. Denver’s urban spirit can be found in all of these venues, but the Museum of Contemporary Art | Denver, founded in 1996, has become a driving force toward defining the city’s future identity.

Taking a step in that direction, the MCA | Denver hired renowned architect David Adjaye to design its new building, creating an environment from the ground up. 
The Museum’s goal is to shorten the gap between art and the viewer, bringing the two sides together. So the young British designer  created not only a space for art and experience, but a neighborhood oasis as well. When finished, the building will glow like an over-sized cubist terrarium of the mind for the newly-developing communities on Delgany, Wewatta and Little Raven Streets.

Limited parking will encourage museum-goers to walk, ride their bikes or receive a public transportation discount; the idea box (a play on Adjaye’s terminology for a library) will act as an interactive learning tool for young visitors; the artists-in-residence gallery will lead to an exchange of ideas and information; and purposeful distances between the exhibition galleries will provide visitors time and space to sit and ponder.

Built to accommodate the Museum’s extensive and ever-growing collection of modern works, as well as traveling exhibitions, the structure includes five interior gallery spaces, covering 11,000 square feet, and two permanent exterior installations. 

The highlight of the new MCA | Denver building is the rooftop garden café, a jewel of locally-inspired Gold LEED-certified architecture and an active element of the building as a whole.

As the new Union Station development begins its growth across 15th Street and pumps new life into downtown’s slowly beating heart, the MCA | Denver is a visible, inviting, living piece of architecture poised to become a destination for people of all addresses and artistic desires.