All flowing shapes and gleaming surfaces, the new Orange County Museum of Art by Morphosis is opening its doors this weekend. The cultural destination's fresh home, located on the campus of Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California, represents a new era for the institution as well as marking a key anniversary for it.
‘I can’t imagine a better way to celebrate our 60th anniversary than by inaugurating this magnificent new building with an around-the-clock open house for everyone, including the many new members we welcome into our OCMA family,' said Craig Wells, president of OCMA’s board of trustees.
The structure was designed by the iconic Culver City-based architecture studio, led by founder and design director Thom Mayne, who oversaw the project together with partner-in-charge Brandon Welling. Employing the practice's signature expressive lines and free-form shapes, the Orange County Museum of Art is certainly impressive. Its sweeping volumes are clad in a skin of high-performance white terracotta tiles and glazed sections, which bring plenty of natural light inside. Exposed concrete, metal panels and careful landscaping complete the building's textures.
Inside, flexible exhibition galleries meet workspace, dedicated space for educational programming, and public areas that are accessible to all. A café helps create an additional focal point for public activity. At the same time, the composition's external areas (such as the garden and an expansive roof terrace) and large openings (windows, glazed walls and dramatic skylights) ensure there's a strong relationship between indoor and outdoor space, as feels fitting in the warm California climate.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony took place on 7 October 2022, with the building opening to the public on 8 October, followed by a 24-hour party celebration, including a range of activities for visitors, such as performances, film screenings, art-making workshops, and more.
INFORMATION
-
Tuneshine is a new way of bringing back the lost art of the album coverThe compact Tuneshine screen uses LED tech to illuminate the artwork of whatever you’re currently streaming
-
Inside the new theatre at Jacob’s Pillow and its ‘magic box’, part of a pioneering complex designed for danceJacob’s Pillow welcomes the reborn Doris Duke Theatre by Mecanoo, a new space that has just opened in the beloved Berkshires cultural hub for the summer season
-
What to see at Rencontres d’Arles 2025, questioning power structures in the state and familySuppressed memories resurface in sharply considered photography at Rencontres d'Arles 2025. Here are some standout photographers to see
-
Inside the new theatre at Jacob’s Pillow and its ‘magic box’, part of a pioneering complex designed for dance
Jacob’s Pillow welcomes the reborn Doris Duke Theatre by Mecanoo, a new space that has just opened in the beloved Berkshires cultural hub for the summer season
-
A Rancho Mirage home is in tune with its location and its architect-owners’ passionsArchitect Steven Harris and his collaborator and husband, designer Lucien Rees Roberts, have built a home in Rancho Mirage, surrounded by some of America’s most iconic midcentury modern works; they invited us on a tour
-
Inside Frank Lloyd Wright’s Laurent House – a project built with accessibility at its heartThe dwelling, which you can visit in Illinois, is a classic example of Wright’s Usonian architecture, and was also built for a client with a disability long before accessibility was widely considered
-
Tour this fire-resilient minimalist weekend retreat in CaliforniaA minimalist weekend retreat was designed as a counterpoint to a San Francisco pied-à-terre; Edmonds + Lee Architects’ Amnesia House in Napa Valley is a place for making memories
-
A New Zealand house on a rugged beach exemplifies architect Tom Kundig's approach in rich, yet understated luxuryThis coastal home, featured in 'Tom Kundig: Complete Houses', a new book launch in the autumn by Monacelli Press, is a perfect example of its author's approach to understated luxury. We spoke to Tom Kundig, the architect behind it
-
Tour architect Paul Schweikher’s house, a Chicago midcentury masterpieceNow hidden in the Chicago suburbs, architect Paul Schweikher's former home and studio is an understated midcentury masterpiece; we explore it, revisiting a story from the Wallpaper* archives, first published in April 2009
-
The world of Bart Prince, where architecture is born from the inside outFor the Albuquerque architect Bart Prince, function trumps form, and all building starts from the inside out; we revisit a profile from the Wallpaper* archive, first published in April 2009
-
Is embracing nature the key to a more fire-resilient Los Angeles? These landscape architects think soFor some, an executive order issued by California governor Gavin Newsom does little to address the complexities of living within an urban-wildland interface
