#13 // Los Angeles County Museum of Art

// p180 // Arata Isozaki, Renzo Piano & Others // 1961 – Current

Refer to Peter Zumthor reconsider’s LACMA exhibition post. Numerous architects have tried to reconsider LACMA, including SCI-Arc’s urban design class – it’s suffering from a lack of axis or spine where you have to change levels and go through buildings just to get from one end to the other. However, they compensate by having a two entrances, and a large number of staff and guards to guide all lost patrons.

// 250 remain //

Exhibition // Zumthor Reconsiders LACMA

Visiting the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), next to La Brea Tar Pits, felt like walking in of a bit of a 1990s & 2000s architectural theme park on Thursday. I walked through Renzo Piano’s red columned axis and into an exhibit of Zumthor’s (previously beautiful timber box-y type architect) proposed giant black blob building for the site.

I didn’t realise until I was inside, that the exhibit was not only about Zumthor’s recent proposal (2013) but also displaying the whole history of the site from the 1890s to now, which was a lot more interesting then the giant black building proposal. Normally I’m an advocate for crazy buildings but this one really seems a bit much. I’ll probably love it and be writing about it when it’s finished!

Currently LACMA is made up of a mismatched set of nine or so buildings from the 1930s through to 2008. It was really interesting to see the recent master plans by European architects (who I’m familiar with from UQ studies) and each of their very different proposals for what would seem like a very foreign project in LA. Koolhaas (Dutch) had a go in 2001, Renzo Piano (based in London) from 2004-2010, and now Peter Zumthor (Swiss) in 2013.

The original architect and his three buildings (above).

Koolhaas’ proposal in 2001. He thought the campus really was too much of a mess, should all be knocked down and started again… Not quite in LACMA’s budget.

Renzo Piano’s master plan model (above) 2004-2010. This is my favourite scheme – it must be UQ training coming out… Piano carefully weaves a new building through the middle of the existing buildings creating a grand and unified axis without demolishing the other buildings – a very Feduchi -like adaptive re-use option.

Finally here are the photos of what is proposed to be built by Peter Zumthor. He calls it a black lily pad (Monet reference?). It just looks so massive. Half the existing buildings will be demolished and the ‘lily pad’ will extend across the existing park all the way to the tar pits so they will become part of the museum…

The biggest model I’ve ever seen!