The Denver Art museum is a series of several buildings. There is no way you'll be able to see all the exhibits in a single day.

A special exhibition called Biophilia is on and that is the centerpiece. The theme is to look at everyday objects used in the house and offices and reimagine them using nature's biological patterns and processes.

There's a set of lights which look like clustering insects. A chair that folds on itself. Stools that look as if they were formed with volcanic ash.

Resins and tabletops that have flowing lines and intricate patterns. Spoons, forks and table knives with nature's designs engraved into the surface.

Glowlamps on the celing that gently billow outwards and then return to their normal state.,

Taking photographs is encouraged and you can actually lie below the lamps and capture them as they open out and collapse gently. But while it looks amazing at the exhibition, I wonder of they would look good in a living room with the constant movement.

There are dresses worn by mannequins that look like leaves artfully arranged. Or flowing gowns in nature's unbelievably intricate and unending palettes.

There are buildings that look like they were fashioned on termite hills but white in colour. And when we stepped outside, we saw that it was an actual building in downtown.

I wonder what living in one of those will be like.

Then, we move to some of the other pavilions within the museum in another building.

After entry, there's a sticker to be stuck on our clothes, so that we can go anywhere during the day that we've paid for.

Children up to the age of 16 are allowed free entry. That's a great way to encourage families to keep coming to the museums and to ensure a continuing audience for he artifacts later on.

One of the things I notice is how good every installation looks in a photo. The lights, though muted pick up all the details and outlines with amazing clarity.

Before we walk into the Design History of everyday things, we stop over at a set of installations from African countries. Here again, the beauty and the workmanship of the pillars is amazing.

Design history touches on how things like cups, beakers, flasks and filters evolved based on how mankind progressed. The earliest cups and the advances made were neatly placed ina progressive timeline.

And here's the thing. You could spend a whole day on just one pavilion, if that was what you were truly interested in.

There was the evolution of office chairs - and for me, seeing how the chairs looked in the 60s, 70s and 80s brought back a sense of how things changed.

The materials used, the wheels that got added on, as well as the chairs swivelling on a base and the ability to adjust heights were all step-by-step progression. And it's great seeing it all in one place.

There were also several films on how plywood became an integral part of furniture from the 1930s and the experiements being done with it even now.

There were weaves and ways of putting together new furniture that we'll begin to see in the next few years.

The stark contrast between museums back in India and how these are preserved hold lessons for us - because it is always the intermediate points of progress that are missed. The milestones are always celebrated.