United States Olympic and Paralympic Museum

Opened In 2020 In The City That Houses The United States Olympic And Paralympic Committee. Designed By Diller Scofidio And Renfro And Widely Described As One Of The Most Accessible Museums In The World, With A Continuous Ramped Descent And Exhibits That Adapt To Each Visitor. · Colorado Springs, Colorado

Colorado Springs has been the headquarters of American Olympic sport since the 1970s, and in 2020 it finally built a museum to match. The building, by Diller Scofidio and Renfro, is a twisted aluminium spiral, and the way you move through it is the point: a lift takes you to the top and you walk down one continuous ramp to the bottom, with no stairs anywhere on the route. That was designed for Paralympians and it has made the museum one of the most accessible in the world - visitors register their preferences on arrival and the exhibits adjust themselves, raising or lowering screens, captioning, and tailoring what each person sees. Inside are the medals, the kit and the footage, along with simulators that let you sprint against a projected Olympian and lose convincingly. The Paralympic material is given equal weight throughout rather than filed in a side gallery, which is unusual enough to be the best reason to come here rather than read about the Games somewhere else.

200 South Sierra Madre Street, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80903, United States

Open most days year-round during daytime hours, typically closed one weekday and on major holidays. Tickets are timed and are cheaper and easier booked online, particularly at weekends and in school holidays. Allow the full route - the museum is designed as a single descending journey rather than a set of rooms to dip into. There is a paid car park on site. The nearby Olympic and Paralympic Training Center runs its own separate tours with their own booking.

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