16th Street Mall - Denver, CO, USA - Architecture Prizes on Waymarking.com

"The idea to create a mall on 16th street in Denver began as early as 1959, but was not given serious consideration until 1971. Following years of planning and construction, the 16th Street Mall, designed by the internationally renowned architectural firm I.M. Pei & Partners of New York, opened on October 4, 1982 to a crowd of over 200,000 people. The main features of I.M. Pei’s design include poly-chromatic granite pavers, wide sidewalks, and a central tree lined corridor flanked by iconic lighting fixtures. Now, decades later, the 16th Street Mall has evolved into the veritable “heart and soul” of downtown Denver and a top visitor attraction in the metropolitan area. Its free shuttles serve an average of 55,000 commuters and tourists per day, creating significant wear and tear that jeopardize the original design and materials. However, in May 2008 a panel of experts from the Urban Land Institute declared the 16th Street Mall to be “public art of the highest international quality,” and strongly urged Denver to fix, not physically modify, the Mall.

Historic Denver supports and advocates for the preservation of this unique and iconic space, specifically noting the significance of the granite pattern, the trees and the lights, and the intricacies of these relationships in the original I.M. Pei & Partners design.

The Mall was designed as a cohesive whole. Its pattern, inspired by southwestern imagery — including the Navajo rug and a diamondback rattlesnake — was intended to dissipate as it stretched toward its edges in order to not distract from the building façades or retail displays within. The pattern, consisting of granite tiles in charcoal gray from Minnesota, light gray from Massachusetts, and Colorado red, helped to ground the surface and reduce material monotony, which can plague streetscape interventions of this size. The lighting was designed to complement the honey locusts and red oaks planted precisely within the field of the paving pattern. The trees provide a highly formalized nod to the natural surroundings both within and near the City, while the lighting provides a unified glow along the promenade that was intended to fade and brighten according to the daily rising and falling of the sun. Each design element on the Mall was special and inter-connected, making planning and problem-solving on the mall particularly complex.

For this reason the Mall has sometimes been described as a “Swiss watch.” In 2008, an Urban Land Institute study commissioned by RTD, the Downtown Denver Partnership and the City of Denver proclaimed that “the Mall is a unified concept and public art of the highest international quality.” The panel explained that “the lighting, landscaping and paving all form part of a single unit” and that any changes “must be made cautiously and with full respect for the original design.” It even went on to state that “the panel recognizes the need to address challenges posed by deferred maintenance and failed construction technologies; nevertheless, upgrades and repairs should be made with full respect for the original design." " (from (visit link) )

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NOTE: The 16th Street Mall originally ran from Court to Arapahoe Streets (in 1992) and was later expanded to Broadway down to Wynkoop. The above coordinates are from the northeastish end of the mall where the pavers begin/end.

Architect: I. M. Pei Prize received: AIA Gold Medal In what year: 1979 Website about the Architect: [Web Link] Website about the building: [Web Link]

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