Doors Open Denver showcases the city's architecture in 2024 event

If you ever wanted to peek behind the doors of Denver's most iconic buildings, here's your chance.

State of play: The 20th annual Doors Open Denver event offers behind-the-scenes architectural tours of the Clyfford Still Museum, Carla Madison Recreation Center, Champagne Tiger and other prominent locations throughout the city, all packaged under this year's theme "Denver Through Time."

• This year's celebration — starting Sept. 26 — is the biggest yet, with a kickoff keynote speaker, free tours and screenings and an exclusive event at the loft of Carla Hartman, the granddaughter of furniture makers Ray and Charles Eames.

What she's saying: Denver Architecture Foundation CEO Meg Touborg reimagined the four-day event to "engage with our built environment" and showcase the city.

• "I'm really hoping people are going to … start a dialogue with each other about our city," she tells us.

If you go : Start the first day with the keynote lecture from Vishaan Chakrabarti, author of the upcoming book "The Architecture of Urbanity: Designing for Nature, Culture, and Joy," at the Denver Art Museum. Then continue the conversation at Hartman's downtown loft for the opening reception.

• Get tickets for the Sept. 27 architectural tours of Colfax Avenue, the Mayan Theater and Rockmount Ranch Wear. And visit an open architecture office to see their ongoing projects and get a glimpse of future Denver.
• Over that weekend, get a ticket for a reception and sneak peek of the Populus Hotel and finish with a party at the Posner Center.

The bottom line: Denver's architecture is much more than the bland, blocky housing that gets all the attention.