The centerpiece of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s (LACMA) ongoing transformation—the David Geffen Galleries—have been profiled in Engineering News-Record (ENR) West, highlighting the structural ingenuity and collaborative coordination behind one of the most ambitious cultural projects in the city’s history.

Designed by Atelier Peter Zumthor, with SOM as collaborating architect and structural engineer, the building spans 900 feet across a complex urban site, extending over Wilshire Boulevard on a series of ten concrete cores. In a piece titled “Complexity Under a Veil of Simplicity,” ENR West details how the museum’s serene, single-level gallery belies the immense technical challenges below the surface, from seismic isolation and deep foundation work to custom glazing and concealed infrastructure.

To navigate seismic demands in one of the most active fault zones in the world, the team engineered 56 friction pendulum base isolators, some weighing up to 40,000 pounds, allowing the building to move up to five feet in any direction during an earthquake. Extensive post-tensioned concrete cantilevers, 360 miles of internal cabling, and 1,500 foundation piles were orchestrated to support the column-free spans required for curatorial flexibility.

“These are some of the biggest isolators we’ve ever done,” said SOM Partner Eric Long in the article. “It was like tuning a giant guitar. All these cables had to have the right profile and drape so that when we pulled all the tension, it provided the support to the floor.”

ENR West also highlights the intense coordination among the CMAR team—which also includes Clark Construction, Largo Concrete, and Pacific Steel Group—required throughout the construction process. This included daily planning meetings, a major resequencing of the building’s construction path, and extensive collaboration with the LA Metro Purple Line project team. The result is a structure that brings architectural clarity and curatorial openness to a project of unprecedented complexity. The museum is set to welcome its first visitors during a celebratory weekend, June 26–28, with performances led by musician Kamasi Washington to inaugurate the new space.