Perhaps there is no better symbol of the clout of Aspen’s art world habitués than the new Aspen Art Museum. Opening to the public August 9, following a weekend of preview parties, the museum’s latest home was designed by Pritzker prize winner Shigeru Ban, who has created a shimmering three-story building resembling a wooden crate in the center of town. Its striking latticework façade, with a woven wooden screen covering a glass curtain wall, not only lets the light in, but affords passersby a glimpse inside. Each of its many apertures is unique, “a great metaphor for art,” Heidi Zuckerman Jacobson, the museum’s director, noted as she led me on a hard hat tour the other day, pointing out the Japanese architect’s love of such materials as cardboard tubes, recycled paper and wood. “Shigeru dislikes monumental architecture, “ she said. “You won’t find any marble in here.” The museum is Ban’s first in the U.S. He is best known for his humanitarian projects designing shelters after natural disasters in such places as Japan, Rwanda and Haiti.
