Following an invited international competition in 2006, Allied Works was selected to design the Clyfford Still Museum, a single artist institution devoted to the life and work of the 20th-century painter. Opened to the public on November 18th, the museum houses 94 percent of Still’s total creative output, spanning nearly six decades of work. It is one of the most comprehensive single-artist collections in the world.
One first encounters the museum through a grove of trees and landscaped forecourt, which provides a place of contemplation, decompression, and transition from the museum’s surrounding urban context. Through the trees, the structure of the building is visible, consisting of castin-place architectural concrete walls with a variety of surface relief and texture. The façade features thin, vertical lines of concrete that project from the building’s surface in a fractured, organic, and random pattern, creating a rich surface that changes in the intense Denver sunlight and forms varied shadows across the building.
The entry is revealed beneath a canopy of trees, and visitors are welcomed into the museum by a low, long reception lobby. Visitors rise from the lobby and reception area toward the natural light falling from the galleries on the second floor. The museum’s second level features nine light-filled galleries, totaling approximately 10,000 square feet. Each gallery is distinctly defined and proportioned to respond to specific aspects and needs of the collection and helps trace the different phases of Still’s career in chronological sequence.
Gallery heights vary to accommodate changes in scale and media; those with 17-foot, 6-inch-high ceilings showcase Still’s monumental Abstract Expressionist canvases, some of which extend to over 12 feet tall and 16 feet long, while smaller galleries with 12-foot ceilings create a more intimate viewing environment for the presentation of smaller-scale paintings and works on paper. Two outdoor terraces and an education gallery offer visitors a moment of reflection and investigation during the gallery sequence, and allow them to re-orient themselves with the surrounding and distant landscape. Moving between galleries, visitors are provided glimpses down into the collection storage and interpretive galleries on the first level.
The visitor’s experience of the collection is enlivened by natural light that enters the galleries through a series of skylights over a cast-in-place, perforated concrete ceiling. The geometry of openings in the ceiling creates an even field of soft and changing daylight in the galleries. Diffusing glass, motorized shades, and electric light give curatorial flexibility to the gallery spaces, helping to support different gallery configurations and the museum’s rotating exhibition program.
Upon completing the primary gallery sequence, visitors may descend back to the museum’s first level to explore the painting storage, archive, and exhibition spaces viewable from above. An open double-high corridor connects these facilities and serves as an exhibition hall allowing visitors to further their learning of the history and life of Clyfford Still. A “timeline” section of the corridor places the artist’s work in context with historic events and other artistic movements, and an “archive” hallway presents the everyday artifacts of the artist’s life and information about his painting technique and media.
From this corridor, visitors are also able to view the collection storage rooms, and assess the number of paintings produced during the artist’s prolific career. A visible conservation lab and a research center offer visitors additional resources for furthering their knowledge of Still’s career. This open corridor speaks to the institution’s founding principle of unveiling this once-private and very personal collection to the public, as it invites a gradual immersion in the works of Still.
Project Details:
Location: 1250 Bannock Street, Denver, Colorado, USA
Type: Cultural – Public
Architects: Allied Works – www.alliedworks.com
Building Size: 28,500 square feet, including 10,000 square feet of exhibition galleries.
Special Features: Nine exhibition galleries, education facilities, library and archives, collection storage, conservation laboratory
Project Team: Brad Cloepfil, Design Principal – Chris Bixby, Project Lead
Project Team: Dan Koch, Brent Linden, Susan Barnes, Robin Wilcox, Scott Miller, Chelsea Grassinger, Andrew Hamblin, Jonathan Ledesma, Emily Kappes, Keith Alnwick
