SCENE WRITTEN BY CHRISTINE DEORIO
THE INSIDER MARGARET SELZER
BLUEPRINT P OP U LU S
Architect Jeanne Gang’s designs have been called daring, visionary and neighborhood-regenerating, but when describing her first Colorado project that takes shape at the intersection of Colfax Avenue, 14th Street and Court Place, the best term may be “city-defining.” Called Populus, in honor of the aspen tree (Populus tremuloides) that inspired its design, the structure’s unique fenestration evokes the eye-like patterns on an aspen’s trunk. “On the exterior, the ‘lids’ of each window stretch outward according to solar orientation to shade the interior, improving the building’s energy performance,” says Jon Buerge, chief development officer at Denver-based Urban Villages, the firm behind the project. “The windows change in size in response to how an [interior] space is used, mirroring the growth patterns of aspens.” The 13-story mixed-use building— slated for completion in 2023—will include a 250-key hotel, 40 micro-apartments, event spaces, multiple food and beverage offerings, and a rooftop bar and view deck. It’s a building “that is worthy of Denver’s rising prominence on the national and international stage,” Buerge says, and “an impressive architectural legacy for generations to come.” urban-villages.com
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What’s your take on “mountain” design? The days of embroidered bear pillows are over. I think good mountain architecture and design has evolved to be a reflection of the
location—a more harmonious response to the environment and how clients are interacting with nature. Do you have any current design obsessions? I’m currently obsessed with Caste, a furniture line from Montana. Their pieces are sculptural and organic—functional pieces of art that make a statement. What’s on the horizon? I’m really interested in the artisans and makers behind the products we buy. Last year, through Jaipur Rugs Foundation, I visited a rug-weaving village in India that helps to create opportunities for women through entrepreneurship and social development. I want to move our firm toward partnering with manufacturers like Jaipur Rugs, so that our purchases can have a much larger impact.
blueprint photo: courtesy studio gang. the insider photo: courtesy river + lime.
Denver-based design firm River + Lime operates under a simple premise when creating spaces for homeowners, architects and developers: “To complement, not compete with, the natural environment,” says founding principal Margaret Selzer, who oversees residential projects that span the mountains of the American West. “You’ll see that we’re drawn to organic materials and the layering of textures to create warmth and interest; minimal palettes that complement the uncomplicated beauty of the location.” Here, Selzer shares what drives her designs and what’s next for her firm. riverandlime.com
ON VIEW
SALVADOR DALÍ: GARDENS OF THE MIND This spring, intriguing species will make their debut at the Denver Botanic Gardens—courtesy of Salvador Dalí. Nearly 40 works by the artist whose name is synonymous with Surrealism comprise the exhibition “Salvador Dalí: Gardens of the Mind” (on view through August 22 in the Freyer-Newman Center). Among them are fanciful color lithographs from the rarely seen “FlorDalí (Les Fruits)” and Surrealist series, for which the artist invented whimsical hybrids of botanicals and symbolic imagery. For Lys (Lilium musicum), he grafted vinyl records and sheet music onto a graceful lily plant (far right). In Pisum Sensuale (Lips), painted fingernails and lips dangle as fruit from a twining pea vine. Beneath the vibrant plants are equally unexpected figures, rendered in simple lines—an equestrian on a unicorn here, a pianist there—completing the scenes Dalí once described as “hand-painted dream photographs.” botanicgardens.org
POST MASTERS WHO: Mother-daughter style mavens Margot Hampleman and Kirsten Schmit, whose international assortment of timeless and trendsetting tile and stone—by brands including Artistic Tile, Pratt + Larson and Salvatori—is showcased in four Colorado showrooms (Denver, Vail, Basalt and Telluride) and on their vibrant Instagram feed. WHAT: Decorative Materials’ feed is “all about bringing the products to life,” Schmit says of photos that showcase some of the team’s favorite projects, products and application techniques—think shimmering gold grout lines, mosaic tile baseboards and pattern-play galore— in inspiring vignettes. WHY: Visualizing tile and stone in your
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own home can be tricky. This feed makes it easier by showcasing a wide range of styles—from rustic wood-look porcelains to of-the-moment terrazzos—in myriad residential applications. And there’s no better place to discover what’s hot right now. “We look at fashion trends for color and pattern cues, and we are constantly in communication with our vendors to stay on top of what is on the horizon,” Schmit says. “Italy and Spain provide a great forecast of what we will see in Colorado over the course of the coming 12 to 24 months.” IN THEIR WORDS: “Currently, our clients are drawn to products that show the hand of the maker, whether it is a handcrafted tile that allows light to dance across the undulating, glossy surface or the organic pitting and chipping of a Moroccan zellige tile.”
on view photos: courtesy denver botanic gardens. post masters photos: courtesy decorative materials.
@DECORATIVEMATERIALS
DISPATCH DESIGN SCENE
MEET THE MAKER TED BRADLEY
A career in tech may seem like an unlikely prelude to the pursuit of fine lighting design, but for Boulderbased artist Ted Bradley, who left Google in 2019 to pursue his passions for ceramics and sculpture, it couldn’t have happened any other way. “I definitely couldn’t have created my designs without being a mechanical engineer,” Bradley says of his light sculptures, like the Samsara fixture, which marries graceful, LED-lit porcelain rings with rigid, geometric brass vertebrae. “The art part, where I envision the design, takes sometimes as little as a few seconds to imagine and 30 seconds to sketch. The making part, the problem-solving, is raw engineering that, in the case of the illuminated rings, took 12 months
and over 1,300 pounds of clay.” Coaxing the delicate New Zealand porcelain—one of the whitest varieties in the world—into the perfect rings required by Samsara and other designs is so complex, in fact, that it takes Bradley more than 300 steps and several weeks to complete just one—“and for every good ring, there are two or three that failed,” he says. But for Bradley, the reward is in that process. “Even deeper than my desire to finally bring together these two areas of perpetual tension—the artist and the engineer—was the desire to pursue the impossible goal of perfection,” he says. “To create a perfect circle with the imperfect tools of my hands.” tedbradleystudio.com
ELECTRIC PASS LODGE
What’s in a name? In the case of Electric Pass Lodge, a new development comprising 53 two- and three-bedroom ski-in/skiout residences at the base of Snowmass Ski Area, the name celebrates a design that’s completely powered by renewable energy. “We set out to design not only a contemporary, Scandinavian-inspired alpine lodge, but the most sustainable, all-electric condominium building in the Colorado mountains,” says Christian Barlock, principal at 4240 Architecture, which collaborated with interior design firm River + Lime on the project. Upon its anticipated spring 2023 debut, “Electric Pass Lodge will set a new standard for the future of building design in Snowmass and hopefully for ski resorts across North America.” A combination of a rooftop solar array and off-site renewable electricity will power the building, which includes a health club, lounge and ski locker room. Triple-pane windows, robust insulation, phase-change ceilings that retain and release heat, and a mechanical system that pre-heats or -cools incoming fresh air will all minimize the structure’s energy appetite while keeping residents comfortable even on the coldest winter days. electricpasslodge.com
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meet the maker photos: benjamin buren. forefront photos: courtesy electric pass lodge.
FOREFRONT