Scattered around the Denver area are these wonderful examples of ambituous octagonal hyperbolic curve engineering. All were originally Automart Grocery Stores from the 1950s.

Hyperbolic roof designs usually use 3 inch thick poured concrete held in place by the magic engineering of the double-curvature of catenaries and archs. This method allowed engineers to use 3 inch thick concrete over much larger roof expanses for the high-end hyperbolic paraboloid designs of the Zeckendorf Plaza in Denver and the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs.

This former Automart located on S. Broadway and Orchard in Littleton seems to be the one that is most intact. It has the most existing glass and least amount of repainting. You can see faint remnants of black and white checker patterns on the curved edges of the roof.

Other locations are Carneceria Guadalajara at 1st and Sheridan on the Denver/Lakewood border, another on South Federal and Ada Place in Denver, one on 38th and Yates in Wheatridge, and there is an empty one on W. Mississippi and Kendall out in Lakewood. (Update: I just remembered the one in Cherry Creek at 1st and Cook!)

If you know of another, I would love to hear where it is!

These were inviting roadside structures designed to draw in drivers with this welcoming rotunda style. The fact that there are at least five that are still standing shows how much this unique shape is appreciated.

There is a middle school in Lakewood with a hyperbolic paraboloid roof that is just about to come down in June once school is out. I will try to take pictures of this sad occasion.

The A-Frame Lounge on the 76 highway out in Commerce City.

Roadside architecture is designed to catch your attention while driving, so even if you have never stopped here, you have aready noticed this structure while driving, say, toward the Flea Market!

When this was built in the ’50s, this was located in the middle of nowhere, so this was your last chance to get gas, food, coffee (and apparently a martini) before heading east out of town.

I assume originally they rented motel rooms in the A-Frame itself, so that makes this a restaurant, bar, gas station, service station and motel, all-in-one. Quite a feat for such a small structure!

There does not seem to be too much activity going on in this building these days. I thought I’d better take some pictures before something drastic happens to this charming historical building.

Denver’s 1st Summer Jazz Festival in 1959. Some big names: Ahmad Jamal, Dakota Staton and the great Shelly Manne and his Men featuring Richie Kamuca and Joe Gordon.

George Shearing at the Band Box in ‘63. Today it is Annie’s Cafe.

Count Basie and his Orchestra playing Verne Byer’s Academy Ballroom in 1963. Tickets available at the Bowl-ero, among other places!

Dizzy Gillespie at the Rainbow Ballroom at 5th and Broadway, 1959.

Saxman and big band leader Georgie Auld at the Melody Lounge, the Denver jazz hot spot in ‘59.

One of Denver’s greatest contribution’s to jazz, the late, great Phil Urso at the Rainbow Ballroom in 1959. He is featured on some of the best Chet Baker lps!

Another Verne Byer’s place, the Robin’s Nest on Lookout Mountain. Verne co-ran this place with bassist Ray Iverson, where they had famous Sunday jam sessions. This ad is from 1964.

Some more ads for Effie The Blonde Tigress at Vic Hawkin’s Senate Lounge on Colfax, a cocktail jazz act backed by Paul Warburton and Vince Limberg in the late 1950s and early ’60s.

The Four Breezes, featuring local greats Beatty Hobbs, Shelly Rhym, Leon Ragsdale and Ed Wright from 1959. Sugie’s Lounge, I believe became the Satire Lounge?

Here is Shelly Rhym and his pals again, this time backing up Denver jazz great, Ron Washington in 1959! Roxy’s Lounge was out on S. Sante Fe in Englewood.

Rose Murphy at the Melody Lounge in ‘59. What is great about this ad is her backing band featuring Slam Stewart of the famous scat-vocalese jazz duo Slim and Slam.

Vic Hawkin’s took over the Band Box on Colfax and renamed it Hawk’s in 1964. This ad is for music comedienne Peggy Lord, backed by local jazzmen Neil Bridge, Chuck Roberts and Jo-Jo Williams.

The Mel-Dawn Duo at Sammy Sugarman’s place, The Gaslite in the Alameda Inn in 1964. I am sure this place was toast after the famous Platt River flood a year later.

Jazz out on West Colfax, Lakewood Gardens became the Lemon Tree and is now called Sharks.

At lastly, some ads for the Queen City Jazz Band, a Dixieland outfit who held court at Mon-Vue Village from 1957 to 1967 (at least). They released many locally pressed lps. The Mon-Vue is still there and is currently Paradise Cove.

An outstanding A-frame Usonian home designed 1954, by master architect
William Muchow.

Muchow Associates Architects designed over 800 buildings, mostly in the Denver area. From important large commercial commissions to beautiful Usonian homes such as this.

This home is in Cherry Creek, a similar Muchow A-frame exists in Southern Hills, and I have heard rumors the Muchow himself once lived in this picturesque house.

Notice the incredible skylights, the large expanses of glass and the roof that seems to just hang in mid-air. . .

A perfect example of a beautiful kept Denver Usonian home, the Touff House, designed 1958 by Victor Hornbein. The design was meant to keep a low profile to avoid blocking other homes views of the mountains, a consideration you do not often see these days.

Victor Hornbein designed many of Denver’s greatest examples of the Usonian architectural style pioneered by Frank Lloyd Wright. Two examples of his non-residential commissions are the Ross-Broadway Library and the Denver Botanical Gardens.

Speaking of gardens, not only is this house decorated with beautiful artwork, but is has outstanding landscaping.

Here are some other examples of Usonian architecture from the same Denver neighborhood.

Welcome to Modeling Mid-Century Modern. Originally intended for my illustrations, I later incuded photography and historical features.

Clicking on photos in this post will take you to one of the categories on your right. You can also click on the categories themselves, the pictures below the categories, or search the posts using the unnamed grey field at the top right!

In most pages on this site, clicking on photos will show you a larger version of the photo.

Check out my article on this site celebrating 150 years
of Denver history: BuckFifty (link is more specific now)

Elvis Presley shakes things up in Denver, on his
first visit in 1956. 16,000 tickets sold! Elvis made $4,000.

His first RCA Records release, Heartbreak Hotel had
only been out for 6 weeks and already sold a million copies.

Co-star Faron Young and his Country Deputies who had a great hit
with Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young. Still, it must have been rough on him
to be the opener.

Francis Melrose of the Rocky Mountain News gets the controversy flowing. I love how she put ‘Singer’ in quotes! I bet she wasn’t ready for the backlash of letters she received.

The rage begins:

There are so many great quotes in these letter columns: “Johnny Ray with St. Vitus Dance”, “He’d get up on stage a take a fit, and those crazy dames in the front row would take a fit right along with him”, “I think you’re jealous, or else you’re working for Faron Young“.

Aside from Faron Young, also on the bill were the upbeat country duo
Jimmy & Johnny and rockabilly queen Wanda Jackson!

The next year in 1957, Faron Young and his Country Deputies returned on a country bill that included Ferlin Husky and his Hush Puppies, Hank Thompson and His Brazos Valley Boys, Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two, Ray Price and at the bottom of the bill, none other than Patsy Cline. If you know your country music, you know this this was a monster show!

Alan Freed’s Mister Rock N Roll film at the Denham Theatre 1957

Another great traveling rock and roll show, this time from ‘58, this one starring
Jerry Lee Lewis, who no doubt demanded headliner status. Also R’n'B singers
The Silhouettes & Roy Hamilton, plus Bobby Helms, The Four Preps and
Bill ‘Raunchy’ Justis. The mixture of both black and white music acts as far back
as 1958, goes a long way to show how rock and roll broke down racial barriers.

An amazing rock and roll bill from 1957, Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly & The Crickets (Buddy is not even named on this bill!), Eddie Cochran, LaVern Baker, Frankie Lymon, Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters, The Everly Brothers, The Diamonds, Buddy Knox, and pop singer Paul Anka. They must have had each act play 2 or 3 songs to get through this show in one evening.

Elvis dated Tempest Storm, Denver’s favorite strip tease dancer?!?
Well, if she’s good enough for the king, then she is good enough for Denver!

The Denver Hilton, now the Denver Sheraton, downtown on the
16th Street Mall. This was built 1960 as part of the famously-lost
Zeckendorf Plaza designed by the firm of world famous architect,
I.M. Pei. The Sheraton is now all that is left of the plaza.
(The entranceway is a recent addition.)

I was fortunate enough to take the Doors Open Denver Pedestrian
Walking Tour by Denver architect and city hero Alan Gass. He worked
for I.M. Pei’s firm during the period of the construction of the Mile High Center
and the Zeckendorf Plaza.

It rained almost the entire time and I was thoroughly soaked by the end of the two hour tour, but listening to Mr. Gass’ recollections of Denver architectural history was worth every minute.

As everyone from the Front Range knows, it can snow and rain on Friday and Saturday, but come Sunday when I took these photos, it was about 70 degrees.

The Zeckendorf Plaza included a skating rink and the famous hyperbolic paraboloid by Pei. The Hilton overlooked the rink. This would have been your view while skating.

Even without the plaza, the surviving Sheraton is still a great example of mid-century modern architecture.

I.M Pei’s two other surviving buildings in Colorado are the Mile High Center and the outstanding N.C.A.R. in Boulder, which Gass referred to as “the best building in the state”.

Warren St. Thomas’ night club, The Tropics on W. Mississippi.

I drew this in Google SketchUp, just for fun.

I’ll rework this and spend more time on it, when I find more source material!

SketchUp, CorelDraw