Architecture that reflects a museum’s evolution

The David Geffen Galleries is LACMA’s new home for its permanent collection. Designed by architect Peter Zumthor in collaboration with SOM, the newest building in LACMA’s campus will showcase works from the museum’s vast collection, reflecting the breadth of the largest encyclopedic art institution in the western United States. To achieve Zumthor’s ambitious design—a sweeping concrete structure that extends across the existing campus and floats over Wilshire Boulevard—the museum engaged SOM to collaborate as architect of record and structural engineer.

Replacing four aging buildings, the design places all of the artwork on a single, open gallery level, inviting visitors to experience a continuous exhibition, elevated 30 feet in the air. The design of the galleries supports a new curatorial direction at LACMA by creating opportunities to make connections between artifacts from varied disciplines, time periods, and geographies. The gallery level is wrapped in an expansive glass facade that frames panoramic views of Los Angeles—putting the city on display as a backdrop to the museum experience. A series of concrete-enclosed galleries are carefully arranged to create havens for light-sensitive artwork. 

Architectural concrete is both the primary structure and the finished surface, giving the building a sculptural presence. Defined by its dynamic contours and dramatic cantilevers, the 900-foot-long building is constructed as a continuous concrete slab with no joints. Seven glass-enclosed pavilions at street level support the exhibition floor and house visitor services, retail, education spaces, and a theater. A new landscaped plaza and sculpture garden connect the new building to the public realm.

Engineering a dramatic design vision

Translating Zumthor’s vision into built form required many months of collaborative iteration. The clarity of his design vision required a rigorous integration of building systems and infrastructure and precise designing of the construction sequencing. The collaborative design and engineering team worked together to calibrate the building’s curves to create spaces for artworks of varied dimensions without requiring intrusive structural members. An innovative patterning of post-tensioned cables throughout the concrete slabs, ribs, and walls provide additional lift and support for the spans and cantilevers of up to 80 feet. To achieve consistency across the continuous concrete surfaces, more than 100 distinct material pours were sequenced to occur in place, leveraging the seismic systems to accommodate shrinkage as they cured. The result is a series of quietly refined gallery spaces that allow visitors to engage with the art in a serene, cool, and light-filled environment. 

Resilient, sustainable design

To meet the seismic resilience needs of Los Angeles, the structure sits atop 40 state-of-the-art seismic base isolators—each weighing up to 40,000 pounds and equipped with a sophisticated triple-friction pendulum design. This engineering solution allows the structure to shift up to five feet in any direction during an earthquake, protecting the building and the art inside. The facade system is also designed for resilience, with integrated dampers that control the vertical movement of the concrete and protect the glass during seismic events.

The design team took a holistic approach to reducing the carbon impact of the new building in both its construction and operations. Deep overhangs shade the glass gallery enclosures, while the building’s primary material, concrete, serves as a thermal mass that regulates the interior temperature. A variety of custom concrete mixes were used throughout the building, many replacing portland cement with alternative materials to reduce embodied carbon. With efficient cooling, heating, and building systems, the Geffen Galleries are designed to use 20 percent less energy than the ASHRAE baseline for museums. The landscape design features local plants, while trees that were displaced in construction have been repurposed in new millwork and cabinetry.

The museum becomes a living canvas

A restrained material palette foregrounds the art inside. The interiors feature custom stainless steel door assemblies and birch acoustic paneling and millwork. Specially commissioned stainless steel curtains by textile designer Reiko Sudō surround the exhibition level, creating a shimmering effect visible from the outside while protecting the art within.

Visual artist Mariana Castillo Deball’s hand-drawn patterns animate the outdoor plaza with texture, featuring an array of playful animal prints and raked linework. Open to the community, the shaded outdoor plaza accommodates public programming and informal gatherings. Framed between the vertical concrete structures that house museum support spaces, a series of translucent pavilions accommodate a non-ticketed gallery, museum shop, three restaurants, and an art education studio—extending the museum’s cultural presence into the public realm and linking the LACMA campus with adjacent Hancock Park.