The United States Olympic Museum by Diller Scofidio + Renfro

The United States Olympic Museum
The United States Olympic Museum
Image © Diller Scofidio + Renfro

The United States Olympic Museum, a new cultural facility recognized by the International Olympic Committee, celebrates American Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

The United States Olympic Museum
Image © Diller Scofidio + Renfro

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 United States Olympic Museum
Image © Diller Scofidio + Renfro

The design idealizes athletic motion by organizing its programs – galleries, auditorium, and administrative spaces – twisting and stretching centrifugally around an atrium space.

The United States Olympic Museum
Image © Diller Scofidio + Renfro

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 United States Olympic Museum
Image © Diller Scofidio + Renfro

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.

The United States Olympic Museum
Image © Diller Scofidio + Renfro

“It’s a rare opportunity to be part of a team that will bring the stories of U.S. Olympians, Paralympians, and the Olympic movement to the public in a building structure.

The United States Olympic Museum
Image © Diller Scofidio + Renfro

The challenge for the architecture will be to embody the elegance of form, dynamism, and strength so characteristic of the athlete, and the appearance of effortlessness and without an ounce of fat!” Source and images, Courtesy of Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

The United States Olympic Museum
Image © Diller Scofidio + Renfro
The United States Olympic Museum
Image © Diller Scofidio + Renfro

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