Letter: Art museum a perfect match for Aspen

With all the negativity surrounding the design and “character” of the new Aspen Art Museum, it would benefit to take a broader view of Aspen’s history and its architectural “character” — especially regarding modernism.

Walter Paepcke, who essentially brought Aspen back to life in the mid-1900s, did so with the help of the most modern, transformative minds that have ever graced this earth.

Most of the architectural landmarks that truly make Aspen important in the international conversation, like the Aspen Institute and Aspen Meadows, the Music Festival and School and the Physics Center, are deeply rooted in the Bauhaus movement, which basically was the engine behind modern design to this day.

So to have another building in Aspen that is rooted in modernism and the Bauhaus idea of a “total work of art,” instead of just another private structure with a fake brick or stone facade, actually makes perfect sense.

Yes, I get it, it’s tall. But at least we actually get to play in this one, for free.

Gavin Merlino

Aspen