We attended the RMICC Native Artists Networking Mixer. It was held in this wonderful building: the Nighthorse Campbell Native Health Building (housing the Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health) at the University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus is complete. This new facility is indeed a truly unique and very special place - special to the campus and Native American communities. The buffalo culture is expressed mostly in the rotunda and exterior plaza areas. The rotunda is the most dramatic space in the building and provides an interior gathering space for ceremonial activities for building users. A fragmented tipi form is used for the rotunda and reflects the influences of these local nations in the building design. Framing the rotunda and extending through all three floors are seven Douglas Fir logs. Reminiscent of the lodge poles that support the plains tipi, they symbolize the seven teachings of our Grandfathers – love, honor, respect, courage, honesty, reciprocity and family. The Medicine Wheel at the center of the rotunda floor represents the four sacred directions and nations of Man – the colors of which are red, white, black and yellow. Colorado fieldstone surrounds the Medicine Wheel. Inset around its perimeter are the blessing stones, etched with the names of key participants in the June 2000 Ground Building Ceremony that preceded construction. The rotunda skylight is also a nighttime feature emitting light while defining the building and its entry.
Posted on: Sat, 20 Sep 2014 19:02:37 +0000
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