diller scofidio + renfro breaks ground on U.S. olympic museum in colorado

following the news that new york studio diller scofidio + renfro had started construction on the juilliard school’s first overseas campus, another DS+R project has broke ground a little closer to home. set against the backdrop of the rocky mountains, the U.S. olympic museum and hall of fame — or USOM for short — is a brand new institution hosting a comprehensive collection of technology, media, artifacts, and stories from some of america’s best-known athletes.

all images courtesy of diller scofidio + renfro

described as an ‘experiential museum’, the DS+R-designed scheme has just broken ground in colorado springs and is scheduled to open in the summer of 2019. measuring a total of 60,000 square feet, plans for the U.S. olympic museum include outdoor gathering spaces, meeting rooms, and a theater and exhibition space.

the museum’s lobby auditorium

‘the design idealizes athletic motion by organizing its programs — galleries, auditorium, and administrative spaces — twisting and stretching centrifugally around an atrium space,’ explains DS+R. ‘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.’

a theater is included as part of the plans

once complete, USOM will be the only museum in the united states dedicated to the documentation and celebration of american participation and achievement in the olympic and paralympic games. the institution intends to be the catalyst in colorado springs’s plan to revitalize its southwest downtown district, drawing an anticipated 350,000 visitors annually.

the institution’s plaza shown during colorado’s winter months