Board of Directors
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History and Activities
The Denver Architectural Foundation (DAF) was established in 1990 with the mission: To assist the public in understanding the impact of architecture on the quality of life. Throughout the past 16 years, the Foundation has hosted several speakers, arranged unique Hard Hat Tours, networked to promote the community interest in architecture and sponsored its current flagship architecture-in-education program: the Cleworth Architectural Legacy (CAL) Project. The Foundation’s membership includes members of the Denver and Colorado Chapters of the American Institute of Architects, architects in general, students, preservationists, historians, elected officials and community members representing legal, arts and planning interests. It is a non-profit, 501(c)3 organization. The Foundation’s architecture in education program – the Cleworth Architectural Legacy (CAL) Project -- was honored with the Workforce Award by the Colorado Business Committee for the Arts in the spring of 2006.

Outreach. Lectures.
The Foundation’s first outreach programs were the 1993 and 1994 “Orchids and Onions” design awareness programs. Those programs featured awards for buildings of architectural and design excellence selected by members of the public. The Foundation’s efforts quickly included arranging and co-sponsoring public lectures by highly regarded individuals such as Ed Feiner, FAIA (chief architect for the General Services Administration), Blair Kammin (architectural critic for the Chicago Tribune), new urbanist and author Peter Calthrope, and in 2002 Paul Goldberger (Pulitzer Prize winning architecture critic of the New Yorker magazine). In the fall of 2004, the DAF in conjunction with the University of Colorado/Denver College of Architecture and Planning, sponsored a lecture by David Adjaye, winner of the competition to design the new Museum of Contemporary Art/Denver. In November 2005, the Denver Architectural Foundation co-sponsored the popular series of public discussions with design finalists for the Denver Justice Center detention facility and courthouse. That series is continuing in the fall of 2006.

Tours. Publication.
In addition, the DAF organized walking tours of Denver -- particularly in connection with the American Institute of Architects meeting in Denver 1992 when more than one hundred tours of different sites were offered. In 2001 the Foundation published the acclaimed Guide to Denver Architecture, and now annually conducts a series of public “Hard Hat” tours of prominent building under construction in the metropolitan area. The most recent tours have included the Quigg Newton Auditorium/Ellie Caulkins Opera House in various stages of construction, the Tivoli Student Union, Denver Convention Center, University of Denver Chambers Center, ArtHouse Condominiums and Hyatt Regency Hotel at the Convention Center. The Denver Architectural Foundation is one of the advisory sponsors of Doors Open Denver, a two-day program featuring public tours of many prominent and historic Denver buildings.

The Denver Architectural Foundation fills a unique learning opportunity in the greater Denver area as it sparks interest and encourages involvement in architecture in the community.