MCA Denver by David Adjaye

Having established his career by designing a series of artists' private residences, and after a number of high-profile collaborations with artists like Olafur Eliasson and Chris Ofili, to design an art museum seemed to be a natural next step for London-based architect David Adjaye.

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The Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver, Colorado, opened just a few weeks ago, launching its inaugural exhibition 'Star Power: Museum as Body Electric', and apart from being Adjaye’s first US public building, it is also his first contemporary art museum worldwide.

The corner-located museum features five galleries and a rooftop pavilion, and also education, office and retail spaces, designed in three stacks of varying heights, most spaces enveloped in an exterior grey-tinted glass curtain wall.

The choice of discreet, monochromatic materials, and the volumes' calm shapes and clean lines, underline the architect's decision for the design to support, rather than define the museum's mission.

A highly environmentally sustainable programme complements the building’s elegant design. Plenty of natural light, 20% of recycled construction content, and the use of light coloured, highly reflective concrete are only few of the points to support the MCA Denver's aim to become the first Gold LEED certified contemporary art museum in the States.

The MCA's completion topped some exciting last few months for Adjaye, as a series of his newest buildings have also recently added their finishing touches; Rivington Place in Shoreditch, Stephen Lawrence Centre in Deptford, a private house in London’s de Beauvoir Town, and the Bernie Grant Arts Centre, all opened since September.

29 November 2007 | Architecture