Planar Pavilion for the Denver Federal Center

Andrea Zittel designed this sculpture environment to foster social interaction among employees of the various government agencies at the Denver Federal Center, as well as campus visitors.  The sculpture comprises eight identical "platform pavilions."  Each pavilion consists of both vertical and horizontal panels, forming an area that evokes an open room, plus a wooden surface that suggests a wrap-around deck.  A single wall on each pavilion is painted black on one side and bright rust on the other, creating various color-block patterns for viewers as they move among the pavilions.

Zittel is well known for her pioneering artistic practice that addresses the categories, hierarchies and values of the day-to-day built environment.  For example, Planar Pavilion for the Denver Federal Center functions both as abstract sculpture and as a flexible, modular environment that can be used in any number of utilitarian ways: as a place to eat lunch, host work sessions, visit with friends, conduct exercise and yoga sessions, or simply to sit and contemplate the surrounding landscape.  The structures provide opportunities for both privacy and social engagement, and make subtle references to architecture, as they are made of everyday building materials: concrete, wood and painted steel.  Although these materials are unremarkable and familiar, Zittel’s specific arrangement of the materials is unexpected.  This ambiguity invites users to devise their own creative uses for the pavilions.