With Peter Zumthor's LACMA in the Home Stretch, Is Los Angeles Entering its Post-Rational Phase?

2019-09-04T09:00:00-04:00

Despite vocal critical and popular outcry, Atelier Peter Zumthor's controversial Los Angeles County Museum of Art replacement project is moving full-steam ahead and is due to begin construction imminently.

LACMA Director Michael Govan recently sat in conversation with University of Southern California School of Architecture Dean Milton Curry to discuss his plans for the new museum. The plan, derided for offering less exhibition space than the current museum in an uninspiring "blob" building that some have liked to a coffee table, has prompted much head-scratching from the design community, which has shown a surprisingly reverence for the existing William L. Pereira & Associates-designed museum complex.

In an Op-Ed, architect John Southern summarizes and reflects upon the discussion between Govan and Curry and ponders if the success of the museum project signals that "L.A. has stopped being the city that dares to dream and take architecture to the limits of rationality."

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Archinect - Features

With Peter Zumthor's LACMA in the Home Stretch, Is Los Angeles Entering its Post-Rational Phase?