Mid-Century Modern on the Front Range
When people think of American cities with great Architecture, they don’t think of Denver.
Until WWII was over, most of the buildings around the metropolitan region were inspired by traditional, classical, and Victorian ideals.
There was a huge building boom along the front range in the post war years. It was fueled by veterans who had passed through during the war and by the threat of nuclear war with the Soviet Union. When Russia got the bomb, it seemed a good idea to move some of the essential functions of government to somewhere more safe than Washington DC. Metro Denver was out of range of any Russian missile until the 1960s. The government already owned land where the Remington company had made munitions throughout the war. Soon, important agencies like Weights and Standards and the USGS moved mile high. Not long after that, the aerospace industry followed.
The boom that resulted brought architects like I.M. Pei to town. Across the region, there was an openness towards what would become known as Mid-Century Modern.
As development pressure increased in recent years, the bulldozer took many a Mid-Century treasure before the public grew to appreciate what we scraped. Case in point would be the loss of I.M.Pei’s local masterpiece, the Hyperbolic Paraboloid. City Council allowed a hotel chain to scrape the building and replace it with a box that holds the bar.
So far, this building along the US 6 frontage road, survives.
This is a forced perspective photograph of 1/24 scale die-cast model cars in front of a real background.
1957 Dodge Sweptside D100 Pickup is by Danbury Mint
1963 Studebaker Avanti is by Franklin Mint
1962 Ford Thunderbird Sports Roadster Convertible is by Danbury Mint
Mid-Century Modern on the Front Range
When people think of American cities with great Architecture, they don’t think of Denver.
Until WWII was over, most of the buildings around the metropolitan region were inspired by traditional, classical, and Victorian ideals.
There was a huge building boom along the front range in the post war years. It was fueled by veterans who had passed through during the war and by the threat of nuclear war with the Soviet Union. When Russia got the bomb, it seemed a good idea to move some of the essential functions of government to somewhere more safe than Washington DC. Metro Denver was out of range of any Russian missile until the 1960s. The government already owned land where the Remington company had made munitions throughout the war. Soon, important agencies like Weights and Standards and the USGS moved mile high. Not long after that, the aerospace industry followed.
The boom that resulted brought architects like I.M. Pei to town. Across the region, there was an openness towards what would become known as Mid-Century Modern.
As development pressure increased in recent years, the bulldozer took many a Mid-Century treasure before the public grew to appreciate what we scraped. Case in point would be the loss of I.M.Pei’s local masterpiece, the Hyperbolic Paraboloid. City Council allowed a hotel chain to scrape the building and replace it with a box that holds the bar.
So far, this building along the US 6 frontage road, survives.
This is a forced perspective photograph of 1/24 scale die-cast model cars in front of a real background.
1957 Dodge Sweptside D100 Pickup is by Danbury Mint
1963 Studebaker Avanti is by Franklin Mint
1962 Ford Thunderbird Sports Roadster Convertible is by Danbury Mint