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"Contemporary architecture has never been high on the list of Aspen\u2019s primary attractions, but that may change this week with the opening of the new Aspen Art Museum, designed by the Pritzker Prize\u2013winning architect Shigeru Ban. The 33,000-square-foot building is located in the heart of downtown Aspen, and among its chief virtues is a rooftop sculpture garden that affords stunning views of Ajax Mountain and other natural splendors of the region.\n\nIndeed, rather than turning its back on the landscape and focusing inward, Ban\u2019s scheme wholeheartedly embraces the spectacular setting. \u201CI wanted to open the building to the outside so visitors could appreciate the beauty of Aspen from inside the building. I made the entrance foyer on the rooftop. It is like the experience of skiing\u2014you go up to the top of the mountain, enjoy the view, and then slide down,\u201D Ban explains.\n\nPinterestFacebookThe rooftop sculpture garden affords views of nearby Ajax Mountain.\n\n Photo: Derek Skalko\n\nThe architect articulated his strategy through a variety of bold gestures, most notably the woven-wood screen that wraps the building and ushers in natural light. (The screen is actually made of Prodema, a composite material of paper and resin encased in wood veneer.) A grand staircase that connects the building\u2019s three levels is inserted between the exterior skin and the interior gallery structure, straddling indoors and out. In addition to circulation, the dramatic stair can be configured for the display of different types of art.\n\nThis latter feature is a typically unconventional move from an architect known for experimentation and risk-taking. \u201CShigeru was a standout among the architects we considered from the earliest stages of the process,\u201D says museum director Heidi Zuckerman Jacobson. \u201CThe first attraction was purely aesthetic\u2014everyone was intrigued by the quality and imagination of his buildings. When we actually met him and talked about his humanitarian projects, I think everyone was doubly intrigued.\u201D\n\nWhile many world-class architects pay lip service to socially and environmentally responsible design, Ban has made such work a centerpiece of his practice. His avant-garde buildings of paper tubing, for instance, have been deployed around the world as disaster-relief shelters, and his recyclable Japanese Pavilion for Expo 2000 in Hanover, Germany, was a triumph of green design.\n\n\u201CShigeru understood that the museum had to be an appropriate expression for our community. It has a true sense of place,\u201D adds Jacobson. \u201CUltimately, the building is like a work of art. The longer you look at it, the more you see.\u201D\n\nThe Aspen Art Museum officially opens to the public on August 9 with a slate of exhibitions that includes a dual presentation of works by Yves Klein and David Hammons, a survey of Ban\u2019s humanitarian projects, and individual shows dedicated to Tomma Abts, Rosemarie Trockel, Jim Hodges, and Cai Guo-Qiang. It\u2019s an impressive lineup of artists, one that will surely allow Ban\u2019s brilliant edifice to sing.\n\nAspen Art Museum, 590 North Mill Street, Aspen, Colorado; aspenartmuseum.org\n\nClick to see more photos of Shigeru Ban\u2019s new Aspen Art Museum.\n\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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