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Architecture and Design
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Architecture and Design

The architecture and design collection features modern and contemporary architecture, furniture, and industrial and graphic design, and showcases designers and movements from this period. Also in the collection are works from the Middle Ages to the 1900s that represent major developments in style, form, material, and technique in European and North American furniture and decorative arts. More

    • Learn More about the Eames Storage Unit
      Blog: Inside the Collection

      Learn More about the Eames Storage Unit

      On View in Serious Play through August 25, 2019

      Following the trauma of World War II, American architects and designers began to explore new ways of living and reimagined ordinary objects throughout the home in innovative ways. The Eames Storage Unit (ESU), a lightweight system of freestanding cabinets, was promoted as an inexpensive solution to the changing storage and display needs of postwar families. With the end of wartime rationing and a booming economy, Americans were acquiring more goods, and the storage and creative display of their possessions became a significant interest. More

    • Clock that is made in the shape of an eye
      Blog: Behind the Scenes

      Time to Check Out the Clocks in Serious Play

      Today is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year with 14 hours and 59 minutes of daylight. Since we're thinking about time passing today, we invite you to celebrate the solstice by visiting the whimsical clocks currently on view in Serious Play: Design in Midcentury America. The exhibition features 12 clocks (11 of which are shown on the wall above), each a playful design in bright colors and surprising materials.

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    • children playing in Tri-Tower play structure
      Blog: Kids & Families

      Build Your Own Backyard Play Structure-Inspired by Serious Play

      Does your backyard need a DIY play structure this summer? Look no further! Download the instructions and plans for the Tri-Tower and see a full-size model of the Tri-Tower we built for Serious Play: Design in Midcentury America in the exhibition now. More

    • Serious Play Design in Midcentury America May 5-August 25
      Blog: Behind the Scenes

      New Exhibition Explores the Influence of Play on Midcentury Design

      Serious Play: Design in Midcentury America is the first major museum exhibition to present the concept of play, in mid-20th century American design, as a catalyst for creativity. Beginning in the late 1940s—after the trauma of World War II—American designers intentionally intertwined work and play, generating designs characterized by innovation and whimsy. More

    • Pirate products created by Office for 826 Valencia
      Blog: Behind the Scenes

      Here Be Treasure: Pirate Products in the DAM Design Collection

      Ahoy, me hearties! In honor of International Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19) the Denver Art Museum is taking a look at some of our favorite pirate-inspired work. The AIGA Design Archives—which is part of the DAM’s architecture, design, and graphics collection—features approximately 20 ‘pirate’ supplies created by San Francisco-based Office and 826 Valencia, a nonprofit tutoring center. More

    • Terence Conran for Midwinter Showcases Progressive British Tableware
      Blog: Don't Miss

      Terence Conran for Midwinter Showcases Progressive British Tableware

      The DAM is hosting an exhibition of industrial designer Terence Conran’s dinnerware from the 1950s in Terence Conran for Midwinter.

      During the 1950s, W.R. Midwinter Ltd. became the first British manufacturer to mass-produce ceramic tableware in fashionable shapes and lively patterns that reflected the youthful informality of postwar life. More

    • Neo-Classical Work Table Now on View
      Blog: Behind the Scenes

      Neo-Classical Work Table Now on View

      Despite its size, this clever little table seems to defy logic with its moving parts and what it can do. Acquired by the museum in 2005, it is now on view for the first time in the David W. and Ellen N. Moore Decorative Arts Gallery on level six of the North Building. The table was made in England of mahogany, brass, and gilded metal trimmings around 1820. It has a silk compartment and elaborately carved legs and feet. More

    • A Brief History of the Chair in Design
      Blog: Behind the Scenes

      A Brief History of the Chair in Design

      Roaming through the museum’s North Building you may find yourself asking, “What’s with all the chairs?” I know I have. To answer this question for myself and all of you, I did a little digging into the history of design. As it turns out from reviewing Centuries and styles of the American chair, 1640-1970 by Robert Charles Bishop and 1000 chairs by Charlotte Fiell, a chair can say a lot. More

    • Open For Design Submission Pick-Up Day September 4
      Blog: Behind the Scenes

      Open For Design Submission Pick-Up Day September 4

      Summer is coming to an end and so is our first exhibition sourced entirely from the public, Open For Design: A DAM Community Challenge. Submission pick-up day is September 4. You still have a few more days to see the inspiring works made by Colorado residents before it closes September 2. More

    • Installing the Now Boarding 2-D & 3-D Timeline (Video)
      Blog: Behind the Scenes

      Installing the Now Boarding 2-D & 3-D Timeline (Video)

      After months (sometimes years) of planning, deliberating, and visualizing, the fun part of installing an exhibition is when all the pieces start to come together physically in the gallery space. In the Now Boarding exhibition, that included two-dimensional (2-D) objects such as photos and sketches of the airports, three-dimensional (3-D) objects like architectural models and various airline travel-related artifacts, multiple videos, and a spectrum of graphics. More

    • Section of Now Boarding Features Airport Nostalgia from LAX
      Blog: Behind the Scenes

      Section of Now Boarding Features Airport Nostalgia from LAX

      The exhibition Now Boarding: Fentress Airports + The Architecture of Flight takes visitors on a journey through six airports designed by Curtis Fentress. The designs featured meld art and practicality, embodying the regions they were designed for. More

    • What Madeleine Albright Bought at the Museum Shop
      Blog: Behind the Scenes

      What Madeleine Albright Bought at the Museum Shop

      We were fortunate to host former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright at the museum recently during the opening of her exhibition, Read My Pins: The Madeleine Albright Collection. More