From Farmers' Stalls to Denver Design Week

A Denver architect. A kitchen designer. An industrial designer. 

What do all of these people have in common? 

All of them will be speaking on panels during the 3^rd annual Denver Design Week, October 12 -19, a conference celebrating the community’s best architecture, design, interior design, branding and UX/UI industries.

While keynotes are hosted at showrooms around the city, the main conference will be headquartered at the newly renovated industrial office space at Junction 23 at Denargo Market. 

The building sits on a unique piece of Denver history.

In 1939, the Growers’ Market Association, which represented hundreds of small fruit and vegetable farmers around the region, bought and built the market, which hosted more than 500 farmers’ stalls. It stayed operational as a central hub for Denver residents to buy produce until July 7, 1971 when the structure burned down in a fire. Now the site is being re-developed and transformed into 86,000 square feet of official event space and also the temporary home of Denver Design Week. 

From a panel discussion about how to leverage social media for designers to a keynote by a New York principal architect from the internationally renowned architectural firm Zaha Hadid, organizers have created 35 events which will be hosted around Denver. One of those events focusing on how products are designed will be held at Design Within Reach’s showroom in Cherry Creek on Wednesday, Oct. 17.

“Denver Design Week was founded to celebrate design and designers, which is at the core of everything we do,” says John Edelman, CEO at Design Within Reach. “We are passionate about celebrating the people who design the pieces in our collection, and we invite all of Denver to spend some time in our beautiful Cherry Creek Studio to learn more about the incredible group of talented and dedicated designers who make design within reach.” 

In addition to events centered around design, panelists will also be leading discussions on some of the tougher issues looming for a growing city, such as affordable housing.

Peter Blank, of Mile Hi Modern, who will be speaking on the panel, “Can Tiny Homes Help Solve Denver’s Affordable Housing Crisis?” believes, “Design, floor plans, function and use all play an important role in developing micro housing. I’m honored to be speaking on a panel which hopes to delve into some realistic solutions for providing micro housing options in Denver.” 

Included in the list of programs are tours of some of the newest development projects breaking ground in Denver, including a hard-hat tour of the new AEG RiNo Concert Hall.

“We are bringing a world-class, state-of-the-art music venue to Denver in the dynamic RiNo neighborhood and we believe it will turn into a landmark for the city,” says Jonathan Alpert of Westfield Co.  “It’s an incredible validation of the city’s vision and we can’t wait to show it off during our tour at Denver Design Week.”

Here's more information on the full schedule of tours, parties, keynotes and sessions during Denver Design Week, October 12-19. All readers are offered an exclusive code to receive 50 percent off any event. Simply select the event you want to attend, click on “purchase tickets” and enter the promotion code of COBIZFIFTY to receive 50 percent off.