National Center for Atmospheric Research
Boulder, Colorado · 1967
Photo · Photo by Ezra Stoller/ESTO
A classic precedent of Brutalist architecture designed by I.M. Pei, showcasing how bush-hammered concrete towers can be sculpted to harmonize with a dramatic mountain landscape.
- What we like about this project
- The pinkish-brown aggregate concrete was specifically formulated to match the color of the local Flatirons sandstone.
Materials
- bush-hammered-concrete
- aggregate-concrete
- glass
Visual identifiers
- monolithic-concrete
- geometric-towers
- deep-recesses
- mountain-landscape
Style tags
- brutalist
- monumental
- modernist
Visual tags
- brutalist
- monolithic
- sculptural-massing
- civic-architecture
- contextual-integration
- Geometry
- A composition of vertical, monolithic towers with deep, geometric cutouts and cantilevered hoods. The masses are blocky, sculptural, and highly geometric, mimicking the verticality of the surrounding mountains.
- Facade system
- Monolithic cast-in-place concrete walls with deeply recessed punched openings.
- Structural guess
- Cast-in-place concrete shear walls and slabs
- Spatial scale
- Multi-story monumental complex, scaled to hold its own against the vast mountain backdrop.
- Lighting
- Bright, direct daylight casting sharp, geometric shadows into the deep window recesses and under cantilevers.
- Atmosphere
- A quiet, monumental presence where the heavy, earth-toned concrete structures feel like natural rock formations.
- Environmental context
- Set in a rugged, semi-arid landscape with native grasses, pine trees, and the Flatirons mountain range in the background.
- Spatial experience
- The building reads as a series of protective, fortress-like towers rising from the natural landscape, with deep recesses that suggest sheltered interior spaces.
- Composition rhythm
- Alternating vertical towers and deep vertical window slots create a strong, rhythmic play of light and shadow.
- Style reading
- Brutalist monumentalism
- Program
- Research laboratory and offices
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- bush-hammered-concrete, aggregate-concrete, glass
- Visual identifiers
- monolithic-concrete, geometric-towers, deep-recesses, mountain-landscape
- Style tags
- brutalist, monumental, modernist
- Visual tags
- brutalist, monolithic, sculptural-massing, civic-architecture, contextual-integration
- Geometry
- A composition of vertical, monolithic towers with deep, geometric cutouts and cantilevered hoods. The masses are blocky, sculptural, and highly geometric, mimicking the verticality of the surrounding mountains.
- Facade system
- Monolithic cast-in-place concrete walls with deeply recessed punched openings.
- Structural guess
- Cast-in-place concrete shear walls and slabs
- Spatial scale
- Multi-story monumental complex, scaled to hold its own against the vast mountain backdrop.
- Lighting
- Bright, direct daylight casting sharp, geometric shadows into the deep window recesses and under cantilevers.
- Atmosphere
- A quiet, monumental presence where the heavy, earth-toned concrete structures feel like natural rock formations.
- Environmental context
- Set in a rugged, semi-arid landscape with native grasses, pine trees, and the Flatirons mountain range in the background.
- Spatial experience
- The building reads as a series of protective, fortress-like towers rising from the natural landscape, with deep recesses that suggest sheltered interior spaces.
- Composition rhythm
- Alternating vertical towers and deep vertical window slots create a strong, rhythmic play of light and shadow.
- Style reading
- Brutalist monumentalism
- Program
- Research laboratory and offices
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture