What happens when Denver’s parks meet its best architecture is the heart of this year’s Doors Open Denver.
The annual architectural conference returns Sept. 25-28 with the theme “Architecture and Nature in Harmony.”
Meg Touborg, the president and CEO of the Denver Architecture Foundation, said the theme of nature and architecture working together is something she noticed when she moved here.
“To some extent, I am my own audience because I've had to explore and learn and envision what my adopted city is all about,” Touborg said. “And one of the aspects that I love so much is this combination of the built and the natural environment and how they coexist.”
She said this contrast can be seen in places like City Park — both the park and the neighborhood.
“I think City Park is such a treasure, and walking around the reservoir gives me that sense of the juxtaposition,” Tourborg said. “There's nothing better than driving down 26th Street and just seeing the golf course and the skyline right there, both almost feeling like you could touch them both at the same time.”
While City Park represents the connection of nature and architecture over a broad sweeping area, she also wants Doors Open Denver to help Denverites see other, smaller pockets of the city that fit the theme.
Park tour, keynote speaker and a reception make up the first day
The event starts with a Cloud 9 Park tour on Thursday, Sept. 25, from noon to 1:30 p.m.
“That was an empty city block in the new 9+CO development, and they turned it into a beautiful activated park in only a couple of months. And Anna Fernando installed a beautiful textile sculpture there that essentially speaks to nature as well,” Touborg said. “So right there, what a cool, smaller moment against the redevelopment that's happening on the old hospital campus and the newer buildings. And then bingo, there's a small park with a beautiful art activation in the middle of it.”
After the park tour, the keynote lecture of the weekend will take place from 3-5 p.m. at the Denver Art Museum.
The lecture, “The Geophysical City: Exploring the Intersection of Environmental Change, Geology, and Urbanity,” is presented by Susannah Drake, an acclaimed architect and landscape architect.
“She's going to bring together the forces of environmental change, geology, and then urbanity, meaning city, city building and placemaking,” Touborg said. “She's spoken widely and conducted her own original research essentially on what human beings are doing to our planet and to our land.”
Following the lecture is a reception at the Harry C. James House from 6-8 p.m. The residence is regarded as an example of the shifting style in Denver architecture in the early twentieth century.
Also on Thursday is a reception to celebrate the Y/OUR Denver photography competition, hosted in partnership with the Colorado Photographic Arts Center,.
Thirty photos were chosen for the exhibition, including winners for categories like landscape architecture, nature-based design and best in show. chosen by David Lauer, a Denver architecture photographer.
The photos will be on display at The Chancery building in Capitol Hill through Oct. 3 and available online at both the Denver Architecture Foundation and Colorado Photographic Arts Center through the end of the year.
Tour historic buildings ... or the sea lion exhibit
Friday and Saturday, Sept. 26-27, will function more as a free-for-all, with different tours around the city happening throughout the day.
Many are free, including at the Denver Press Club – the oldest press club in the U.S. – as well as the governor’s mansion and the Capitol Hill Mansion.
There are also a number of locations that offer paid “insider” tours, from historical places like The Brown Palace Hotel and The Mayan Theater to the sea lion exhibit at the Denver Zoo.
“They are led by the people who did the project. So it will either be an architect or a project manager or somebody who actually worked on the project will be guiding the group essentially through their own work, which I think is, again, just a really neat opportunity to get the real story,” Touborg said. “And that's why we call them insider tours, because the person who did the work is actually welcoming you into their project and their thought process. And oftentimes the challenges, what did they have to solve?”
Pop inside architecture firms and see the science museum's renovations
Also on Friday, an event called “On the Boards” will open the doors to 23 different landscape architecture design firm offices.
Touborg said this is a way for people to get an insight or different perspective on projects in the city.
“They're going to have examples of their work,” she said. “They have models, blueprints, drawings, 3D, everything, and people can just stop by for a few minutes or an hour and talk to the designers who are shaping Denver.”
On Saturday, a speaking event called “Speer Reimagined: A New Vision for Mobility, Ecology, and Public Life” from 4:30-7 p.m. will bring Doors Open Denver attendees to 16th Street in its final weeks of construction.
The conference will wrap on Sunday with an insider tour of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, showcasing a new “outdoor experience” in City Park and recent renovations in the museum building.
“What's really important about that, which is also a great way to, a final punctuation mark on the weekend, is the museum really solicited community involvement and engagement before conducting this creation of the park and the renovation. So we're going to learn about that, how the people of our city, how their voices were heard in creating their new wing and in the parks,” Touborg said. “So I also just feel like that's a perfect way to end a weekend that's all about buildings, land, and people.”
You can learn more about Doors Open Denver and buy tickets to speaking events and insider tours here.
