After nearly 15 years of redesigns, fits, and starts, Angelenos will finally be able to get a peek inside the newly-expanded Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) this summer.
The new David Geffen Galleries, which sweep over Wilshire Boulevard like a concrete amoeba, were designed by the Pritzker prize-winning Swiss architect Peter Zumthor—his first-ever U.S. project.
While LACMA won’t open officially to the public until April 2026, the museum will gradually begin to welcome visitors starting this June via a series of outdoor installations, events, and special previews, plus the opening of a new restaurant and shop.
'We’re excited that visitors from both near and far can begin to experience the impact of this amazing building this year, as we ramp up toward the 2026 grand opening celebration,' said museum director and CEO Michael Govan. 'Harnessing the power of art to console, we also hope to be a part of the spiritual healing of Los Angeles as it recovers from the recent unprecedented fires.'
Critics haven’t always been as generous in their assessment. Zumthor’s design became a lightning rod when its preliminary design, a black organic volume inspired by the adjacent La Brea tarpits, was unveiled in 2013. The critic Christopher Knight called it the 'incredible shrinking museum,' due to the design displacing several of the campus’s existing pavilions, including one by L.A modernist William Pereira. Architectural Record, meanwhile, called the scheme the 'Blob that Ate Wilshire Boulevard.'
Zumthor, who worked along SOM for the LACMA plan, made several revisions to the design, due to concerns it would interfere with paleontological research at the tarpits next door.
'There have been tough moments, when we had to reduce, reduce, reduce,' Zumthor acknowledged in the New York Times.
Despite the setbacks, the 'building and its surroundings will start to come to life' according to a museum press release. In the future, visitors can expect to encounter a special commission by Mexican artist Mariana Castillo Deball, in addition to works by Sarah Rosalena, Pedro Reyes, Liz Glynn, Shio Kusaka, and others. American saxophonist Kamasi Washington, meanwhile, will be staging a series of special performances between June 26 through 28th.
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