The LACMA redesign was shared with the public this past weekend as the LA Times featured the plans for the new shape of things to come on the LACMA campus on Wilshire Blvd. “Shape” may be the key word here as the Peter Zumthor design brings a whole new fluid profile to our neighborhood’s art playground.
The full LA Times article is well-worth a read if you’re one who gets excited about architecture and/or the art world. Architectural writer Chistopher Hawthorne looks at the ambitious plans, still in the formulative stages, that tear down four existing LACMA buildings and create an entirely new space. In a novel way of introducing the idea, LACMA’s director Michael Govan is taking the proposal directly to the people through an exhibit, The Presence of the Past, beginning June 9th, that will allow museum goers to examine the current campus, its history in Hancock Park, and large-sized models of the proposed plans. A sure-fire way to get feedback and input directly from people who care about the direction LACMA may be going.
Some of the intriguing design components under consideration:
- No single entrance to the new building, but seven distinct staircases that serves as legs to the amorphic building above;
- The building will hug Wilshire Blvd and allow pedestrians to walk unimpeded under it across the LACMA campus;
- Â The structure will hover over some of the La Brea Tar Pits under excavation;
- The gallery space, set 30 feet above ground, will be ringed by a continuous walkway that will host art work visible to people walking or driving by outside;
- Architect Zumthor calls the building a “Black Flower” as seen by the undulating shape from above;
- The roof will be covered with solar panels, saving millions of dollars annually in energy costs.
LACMA: The Presence of the Past: Peter Zumthor Reconsiders LACMA
Larchmont Buzz: Portions of LACMA to be Torn Down and Reborn?
