The show is more informational than inspirational, laying out a simple narrative about the past, present and future of the Ponti. There are enlargements of old and new photos of the building and the key players in its creation; artist renditions of the planned changes; archival items such as scrapbooks, stationery and cards; sample tiles from both the exterior and the interior, and other ceramics and graphics by Ponti.
One of the most important displays is the absolutely sublime original model of the building, created in 1966 by Ponti and James Sudler, Ponti’s Denver-based collaborator and a significant architect in his own right. The model is made of painted cardboard and, considering the fragility of the materials, is in remarkable condition. The model comprises two conjoined towers wedged into the outrageously odd-shaped lot; next to the towers is a one-and-a-half-story box that remains from the previous museum on the site. A vintage aerial photo shows that the old museum comprised a collection of facelifted buildings (demolished to make room for the Ponti) and that still-existing box, which was a 1954 built-from-the-ground-up structure designed by Burnham Hoyt. The box was originally constructed to satisfy the requirements of a gift of part of the Samuel H. Kress Collection to the DAM. Unlike the actual Ponti building, the model includes a football-shaped structure adjacent to the tubular entrance; the curved concrete wall that today runs behind the Edgar Heap of Birds sculpture is the only part of it that was built.

Gio Ponti (far left), traveled to Denver during the design and construction phases and for the opening of the North Building, with (from left, in glasses) architect James Sudler, museum director Otto Bach and Robert L. Silber, president of the Board of Trustees.
Courtesy Denver Art Museum
Not far from the original model is a new model done by Fentress Architects and Machado Silvetti, the two firms overseeing the rehabilitation work. Before I saw Then, Now, Next, I interviewed Jorge Silvetti, a principal at Machado Silvetti, and asked what was in store for the Ponti. Silvetti is an expert in museum design and, more important for this particular project, a scholar with a longtime interest in Ponti. His obvious appreciation of the building was impressive, and he pointed things out that I had never considered. For example, the Ponti is actually a bulky, hulking shape that should be oppressive, but Ponti made the massive volume disappear behind a multiplicity of 28 thin planar walls overlapping one another. The reflective glass tiles that cover the walls, along with the various patterns in which they are laid and the arrangement of the eccentric window shapes scattered across those walls, all come together to make the building’s mass dematerialize, so that it appears light and soaring instead of squat and inert, as its form might dictate.

An architectural rendering of the new site.
Rendering Courtesy of Fentress Architects and Machado Silvetti

The new entrance and welcome center.
Rendering Courtesy of Fentress Architects and Machado Silvetti.
The other major change to the exterior is more subtle and will be barely discernible from the street. The seventh floor is only half enclosed; the other half is a roof deck. Ponti had proposed a members’ club and patio for that level, but they were never completed. The new plan calls for constructing galleries to cover most of the open area, yet retain roof access with two new terraces.
Inside, in addition to those new seventh-floor galleries, the second floor, which is a mezzanine, will be extended, greatly expanding its floor space. The main floor and the garden level will be reconfigured to accommodate school groups and regular visitors. The two existing elevators will be replaced and two new elevators added. And plumbing, heating, ventilation, electrical and other mechanical systems will be brought up to current standards.

A view of the proposed welcome center from the Hamilton parking garage.
Rendering Courtesy of Fentress Architects and Machado Silvetti
When the Hamilton was completed more than a decade ago, the need to upgrade the Ponti was already known. Initial planning began over five years ago, shepherded along the way by DAM director Christoph Heinrich, who is determined to ensure that the building will serve future generations. If you haven’t been there for a while, go now — not only to catch Then, Now, Next, but to take a last look at the Ponti in its current form.
Then, Now, Next, through February 25, Denver Art Museum, 100 West 14th Avenue Parkway, 720-865-5000, denverartmuseum.org.