The United States Olympic Museum

Project Details

Project Description

FROM THE ARCHITECTS:

The United States Olympic Museum, a new cultural facility recognized by the International Olympic Committee, celebrates American Olympic and Paralympic athletes. Located at the base of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado Springs, home of the United States Olympic Training Center, the 65,750 square foot museum takes its athletes as inspiration; the design idealizes athletic motion by organizing its programs – galleries, auditorium, and administrative spaces – twisting and stretching centrifugally around an atrium space. Visitors arrive at the ground level of the atrium, and then ascend to the top of the building quickly and gradually spiral down through a sequence of loft galleries, moving back-and-forth from the introspective atrium to the building’s perimeter and views to the city and the mountains. The museum and the landscape are designed to form a new public plaza, nestling a distant view of Pikes Peak and an intersecting axis bridging downtown across the train tracks to the America the Beautiful Park to the west.

- It will be one of the most accessible museums ever, offering a continuous, universal pathway from top to bottom, creating a shared experience for all visitors

- This central plaza is an active place for visitors and locals alike, supporting a wide range of seasonal public programs (live streaming of Olympic and Paralympic events, beach volleyball, concerts, and ice skating)

- The main museum building has a pinwheel form, with a spiraling gallery sequence around a three story atrium. The atrium is ringed by perforated ‘sails’ that draw the eyes aspirationally up to daylight above

- The museum’s ramped pathway connects four exhibition wings—each wing nesting inside the nest-like petals, with the seams in between producing skylights and windows back to the city. These soft overhead daylight seams connect the atrium to the building exterior, providing clear and intuitive ‘trajectories’ for orientation and wayfinding

- The galleries reference the historical and contemporary nature of the Olympics and the Paralympics, such as athlete training; technology in the games; the role of the media

- At the heart of the story, a darkened tunnel leads dramatically into a multi-media gallery, Parade of Nations, capturing the athletes’ experience of the opening ceremony

- The Summer and Winter Games are each depicted through both physical artifacts and interactive virtual reality exhibitions

- Key to the programming are Athletic training, the medal ceremony, a Hall of Fame, and a fully accessible theater with the greatest Olympic and Paralympic moments

- An inviting gift shop and restaurant to the north look onto the plaza

- At the top, a soaring Board Room offers a view of the mountains. Overlooking the museum entrance, an Event Space with panoramic windows provides orientations to the mountains and the city

- The northern Museum Grounds are a garden landscape of native trees, planting, and rocks, with pathways through providing a contemplative setting

- The museum’s façade is satin anodized aluminum, which appears to be stretched taut like an elastic fabric over the building’s twisting frame. Comprised of diamond-shaped folded panels, its surfaces shimmer and move in the changing daylight

- A new Pedestrian Bridge links the Museum to America the Beautiful over the railyards to the west. The bridge will be integral to the city’s extensive pedestrian and bicycle path network, and its arching, graceful form is reminiscent of the athletes’ energy and vitality