The new David Geffen Galleries at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art do not so much sit on Wilshire Boulevard as hover above it, a long, blobby concrete structure stretching across the street, held aloft by gargantuan, widely spaced cores. At ground level, the building feels almost improbably large, much of its underside shaded.More than 20 years in the making, the new David Geffen Galleries opened with a ribbon-cutting on Sunday, ahead of a two-week preview period for members. (It opens to the public on May 4.) Designed by Peter Zumthor, a Pritzker Prize–winning Swiss architect known for his deeply atmospheric buildings, the project replaces much of LACMA’s mid-century campus with a single, winding strucutre. It is the brainchild of longtime director Michael Govan, who joined LACMA in 2006 and immediately set out to create a museum without hierarchy—one that places objects and artworks from across geographies and time periods into direct dialogue with one another. (The museum’s education center, restaurant, and museum shop all sit beneath the main structure’s span.)
Source: History, Culture, and Place Ground LACMA’s Breathtaking New David Geffen Galleries | Vogue