DECEMBER 2014 \ BUILDING DIALOGUE \
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Landmarks
M
ichael Graves is the architect of the Central Library. Some
of Graves’ best-known projects are the Walt Disney Cor-
porate Headquarters in Burbank, California; Disneyworld
Swan andDolphinHotels inOrlando, Florida; The Portland (Ore-
gon) Building; and The Humana Building (Louisville, Kentucky).
TheNewYorkTimes callsMichael Graves “themost trulyoriginal
voice that American architecture has produced in some time.”
Graves’ palette of steel blue, terra cotta, sagebrush green, mus-
tard and copper has become his signature. This scale of color-
ationGraves’ used in theCentral Library. Including the limestone
of the original building designed by the acclaimed Denver ar-
chitect BurnhamHoyt.
Timeline for the new Central Library:
• August 1990: 75 percent of Denver’s voters approved a $91.6
million bond to build a new Central Library and renovate,
expand or build new branch library buildings.
• March 1991: Architect Michael Graves and Klipp Partner-
ship were selected to design the new Central Library follow-
ing an international design competition.
• April 1993: Groundbreaking takes place for construction of
the new Central Library.
• March 1995: The 540,000-square-foot Central Library
opened to the public. Branch improvements were also
completed by 1995.
In 2013 the library welcomed more than 4.3 million visi-
tors and circulated over 9.8 million items, including books,
movies and music. It saw a 37 percent increase in eBook
downloads; technology classes exceeded 7,900 in attendance;
and served more than 41,000 kids in its Summer of Reading
program.
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Denver Public Library
Michael Graves designed the Central Library in downtown
Denver.
