NINE dot ARTS Projects Receive Denver's 2022 Mayor's Design Awards

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock’s annual Design Awards recognize projects that demonstrate excellence in architecture, exterior design, and placemaking – noting their contribution to the city’s socially vibrant civic fabric.

“This year’s winning projects continue a wonderful tradition of demonstrating how design can advance key city goals like housing, sustainability, and economic development while celebrating our city’s identity, history, and culture.”?- Mayor Michael B. Hancock

We are proud to share that two NINE dot ARTS projects have been honored with the 2022 Mayor’s Design Awards, and we thank our partners at Quarterra, Unico Properties, and Denver Arts and Venues for helping us leverage the power of art and culture to create memorable destinations that benefit the public realm. Learn more about the award-winning projects below.

Citizen Apartments by Quarterra Group , Jesse Adkins , and Trio Design, Inc.

Citizen Apartments features distinct design, elevated amenities, and an expansive local art collection that reflects the duality of grit and sophistication within the surrounding neighborhood, a 45-block creative district known as the Golden Triangle. To honor the property’s proximity to cultural landmarks like Civic Center Park and some of the city’s most beloved museums, our team curated high energy artworks across all public spaces including the lobby, speakeasy, mailroom, club room, corridors, dog wash, elevator landings, parking garage, and rooftop. Featuring both iconic installations and subtle artworks that surprise and delight, the art collection at Citizen brings exploration and adventure right into people’s homes while distinguishing the property as unlike any other multifamily residence in the Mountain West.?

Learn more about the art collection at Citizen Apartments here.

Platte Street Plaza by Unico Properties LLC , Denver Arts & Venues , and Dig Studio, Inc.

Made possible through a public-private partnership between the City of Denver and Unico Properties, this project transformed an underutilized passageway into an active public plaza featuring a pedestrian and bicycle path and plenty of social gathering space. Equipped with new lighting, landscaping, functional seating, and upgraded architecture, the plaza now serves as a dynamic thoroughfare connecting the popular Highlands neighborhood and Denver’s Union Station.?

As the art consultants on the project, our team curated a large-scale public mural that engages viewers from miles away – on both the Platte Street side and from the I-25 corridor. Featuring bright colors and captivating shapes, the mural by local artists Jaime Molina and Pedro Barrios encourages passersby on foot, bike, and car to stop and socialize, relax, and enjoy the new pedestrian plaza.

“As a team, we had the opportunity to come full circle and install art in a neighborhood that we have many fond memories of. Even though the experience of seeing the drastic change is bittersweet…to become a part of the new history of this place is very fulfilling,”?said Molina and Barrios.?

“The mural’s shifting colors and patterns represent the history of this place. It is meant to illustrate the different people that have worked and lived here over time and the various memories they have made here and continue to make here. Much like an abstract tapestry that can tell the history of the place, each and every story and memory are important to the overall design when combined together.” Learn more about Platte Street Plaza here.

This article first appeared on the NINE dot ARTS blog at https://ninedotarts.com/nine-dot-arts-projects-receive-denvers-2022-mayors-design-awards/.