Authors – Denver Going Modern by Don D. Etter
Designed by Burnham Hoyt, 1941
Modernist architecture is now most commonly known for the residential and commercial buildings created during the 1950s and 1960s, thus the oft-used moniker “mid-century modern.” The fact is, historic modern architecture spans a much broader era.
Designed by Earl Chester Morris, 1941
Don D. Etter‘s 1977 book, Denver Going Modern: a photographic essay on the imprint of the international style on Denver residential architecture, documents Denver’s early International-Style homes from the 1930s and 40s as well as Art-Deco, Moderne, Bungalows and even Prairie style Denver homes from earlier eras. The book highlights the important contributions of local architects; Eugene Groves, Glen Huntington, Burnham Hoyt, Charles Jaka, Earl Chester Morris, Edwin Francis, Thomas Moore and Raymond Harry Ervin.
Designed by Eugene Groves, 1938
The book is filled with Don Etter’s rich black and white photography. He also used illustrations and floor plans to compare and contrast local versions of the International-Style to those of well known European architects like Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe.
Don Etter donated his collection of photos from this book to the Denver Public Library (Modern Architecture In Denver, Colo. Photo Collection.) We borrowed a few to show how sympathetic his photos are to the architectural style depicted.
One of the key books to understanding Denver’s modern architectural history, it is well worth the effort to hunt down a copy of Denver Going Modern!
Denver Going Modern by Don D. Etter
1977 Pruett Press, Boulder, Colorado
Sources:
1. The Modern Architecture In Denver, Colo. Photo Collection by Don Etter at the Denver Public Library
Earl C Morris was my stepfather