MINING MUSEUM SPRING 2006
Coal Creek Mining Museum rests at the foothills of the Flatiron Mountain Range and is nested beneath the intersection of I-36 and McCaslin Boulevard, just South of Boulder, Colorado. The design presents a successful interrelationship between architecture and context. The primary concept behind the museum is to implement thematic design in order to create a fabricated reality of Coal Creek Mine. The architecture takes the patron on a step-by-step journey through a day in the life of a miner. The ambience delineates the apprehension and discomfort miners face everyday. A series of walls are articulated by the purpose for which they serve and characterize the space. The interior of the exhibition is dark and cold, only lit by the slits of skylight from above. The apertures drift further and further away as one descends through the ‘mine’. The forceful shifts around tight turns keep one guessing what’s around every corner. The exhibit takes the patron psychologically, physiologically, and physically into the life of a miner. There is a ceremonial finale as the exhibit concludes with a replica of Coal Creek Mine. Released from the darkness to find light - breathing again. The atrium is an exaggeration of light and air to resemble the relief of reaching the surface. PROJECT TYPE MUSEUM LOCATION SUPERIOR COLORADO DESIGN LINDSEY MILLER SIZE 10 000 SQUARE FEET