Denver Hosting – Biennial of the Americas
Biennial of the Americas
As I write this, Denver is in some ways the center of the Western Hemisphere. The Mile-High City is currently hosting a celebrated international event known as the Biennial of the Americas. Occurring between July 16 and September 2, 2013, this event offers a platform for leaders in government, business, non-profits and nongovernmental agencies, artists and philanthropists the opportunity to engage each other and discuss ‘the human potential’ in the nations of North and South America. It is a celebration of culture, both varied and shared, across these nations. The event honors and explores the art and ideas that makes American (as a hemispherical term) culture so great. Specifically, the symposium will focus on how to use these great humanities to reinvent business, community and education. Many lectures and other events are open to the public.
What interests us most at CAP Management is the affair’s emphasis on the built environment. Across the city will be installations of architecture and other urban art. Part of the ‘Draft Urbanism’ symposium, artists from all over the Americas will offer to the public the opportunity to explore the human relationship with cities and the urban environment in general. Situated along arterial Speer Boulevard at Larimer Street, one very noticeable example of these installations is called Mine Pavilion. This tower of naked beetle-kill pine will surely catch the eye of any passing pedestrian or motorist. It is in fact a tower, given that it is so much taller than it is wide, but it is also so much more. Because it is made of crisscrossing beams of wood and can be passed through, it evokes the image of the interior of a mine. Because its central floor is elevated and it sits atop a transitional parcel of land, it is also a bridge. This idea of it being a bridge is actually more literal than figurative and is why its presence is so significant to the urban landscape.
Speer Boulevard acts as a barrier between Denver’s Central Business District, or the part of downtown occupying much of the diagonal grid, and the Auraria Campus, Denver’s multi-organizational epicenter of higher education. These two districts are very much distinct wards within the center of the city because of the separation caused by the Boulevard. Planners, urban enthusiasts and academics have for some time been exploring methods to connect the two because it could be in the best interest of the city to do so. A more cohesive city center would allow for a more urban feeling; the sense of a larger and more vibrant Denver. While Mine Pavilion is not a bridge in the sense that it expedites travel between the two districts for pedestrians, it is a visual bridge. Massive and demanding of attention like the buildings in either of these districts, it connects the two and brings together that much closer what is now torn urban fabric. Brilliant. Valuable points of consideration expressed through art are the fundamental principle of the Biennial of the Americas – particularly because a tight nit urban landscape is beneficial for any city in any of the 35 countries considered to be “American.”
Denver area homeowners associations have a lot to gain from the discussions at the symposiums as well. While it is unlikely that talks would mention by-laws or special assessments, there is a lot to be learned about cultural diversity, particularly as the metropolitan area continues to grow tremendously fast. In another example, land use topics discussed via the Draft Urbanism symposium have a direct impact on HOAs. These communities are often developed quintessentially as neighborhoods laid out over many acres and are just as often built rather densely within proximity to the downtown core. Their form and function, and relationship to that of other urban developments, is important when considering the greater role of the built environment.
Having downtown Denver as our headquarters provides our company with the opportunity to enjoy the liveliness and dynamism that comes with an urban environment. Each day is full of new experiences as the city moves around us and us through it. CAP Management is so pleased to see the Biennial of the Americas taking place in our beloved city and are excited to discover how its teachings may permit us to better serve your HOA. After all, we strive to assist as best we can in creating and maintaining an environment that makes living in your homeowners association something to brag about!