Archinect - News

As visitor attendance at the Louvre skyrockets, museum staff express they've had enough

2019-05-31T13:55:00-04:00

The Louvre in Paris turned away thousands of tourists waiting in line to enter the museum yesterday after security staff staged a walkout. The employees are on strike to protest the museum’s handling of its exploding attendance, which exceeded 10 million people last year. This growth has resulted in “unprecedented deterioration in visiting conditions, and obviously working conditions,” according to the guards’ union.

The beloved Louvre in Paris is one of the most visited museums in the world. With its iconic pyramid expansion designed by the late I.M. Pei it has become a must-see site. Just last year, the museum attracted 10.2 million visitors, a record-breaking attendance in the museum's history. Other than its breathtaking architectural design and fantastic art collection, the Louvre's publicity has skyrocketed thanks to various celebs who have used the museum as a backdrop for personal use.

However, with the increase in visitor numbers, foreign tourists have outnumbered local Parisian visitors making the number of museum-goers almost too much to handle. Museum staff have found difficulty in managing the crowds and have demanded an increase in visitor services staff as well as the adoption of a new cap on the number of visitors allowed to enter the museum at one time. Recently, the museum has initiated new programs to address these issues. However, Louvre employees do not see these measures so...

"LA's Museum for Nobody": Kate Wagner's astute response to Zumthor's LACMA design

2019-05-31T12:44:00-04:00

The clunky, amoebalike building cannot seem to decide between the digitally derived expressionism of such architects as Frank Gehry or Zaha Hadid, and Zumthor’s own brand of minimalist modernism. We’re left with a museum that benefits nobody and satisfies none of the needs of the art in its collection, nor of the public that will view it. And yet in April, it was approved...

With the recent approval of LACMA's redesign back in April, Peter Zumthor's design for Los Angeles' iconic art museum has received an alarming reaction from the public, specifically those in the architecture community. In Archinect's most recent coverage of the museum, many of our readers shared their concerns and criticisms of the new design. Questioning Zumthor's overall decision many worry the design fails to highlight the most important aspect of the museum itself, the art, and its connectivity to the community.

Museums and museum curators are always searching for new and innovative ways to increase the number of visitors and increase overall interest and engagement. In her recent op-ed piece in The New Republic, architecture critic Kate Wagner shares her thoughts on the new LACMA redesign and highlights why Zumthor fails to create a building that satisfies the art it will house and the public viewing it.

Peter Zumthor. Image courtesy of cladglobal

Wagner notes on Zumthor's pas...

A $10-million gift to MOCA allows for free admission to the museum

2019-05-20T18:28:00-04:00

“We are not aiming at having more visitors or larger attendance, but we’re aiming at being more accessible, at having open doors,” he said in an interview. “As a civic institution, we should be like a library, where you can just walk in.”

With its recent celebration of turning 40, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles received a generous gift of $10-million from MOCA Board of Trustees President Carolyn Powers. The goal of the museum's future is to aid and assist in a "civic-minded" vision for the museum, according to MOCA Director, Klaus Biesenbach.

Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Image © MOCA

General adult admission to the museum ranged between $8 - $15, with free admission on Thursday evenings. However, after receiving this generous donation from Powers, this change is a significant step for the museum. According to board chairwoman Maria Seferian, "This is a game-changer, one of the greatest gifts our museum has had in a while," she said. "We've thought for a long time how we could go free and make the museum more inclusive, and now we have the opportunity to, so we're so excited."

Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles project drawings. Image © Arata Isozaki

Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles ...

Zumthor's LACMA has been approved - here's what will be lost

2019-04-09T18:39:00-04:00

The latest proposal for the LACMA campus, under the watch of famed Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, was unanimously approved by county supervisors earlier today.

However, it is this latest iteration that received the harshest criticism: LA Curbed's Alissa Walker shared a general sentiment when she commented that it "looks like a hermetically sealed freeway overpass that goes across the road," while the Los Angeles Times' Michael Kimmelman pointed out its fatal flaw: "it offers 10,000 less square footage than what it will replace!"

The latest iteration of the LACMA redesign by Peter Zumthor. Atelier Peter Zumthor & Partner/The Boundary

This might be a good time to take a closer look at what it threatens to replace: the original buildings on campus, built in 1965 and designed by modernist architect William Pereira, and a street front building erected in 1986, designed by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, by William Pereira. 1965.

Christopher Hawthorne r...

Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden to be redesigned by Hiroshi Sugimoto

2019-03-15T14:33:00-04:00

Seeking to raise its visibility and welcome more visitors, the Hirshhorn Museum plans to redesign its sunken sculpture garden to create an expanded entrance on the Mall and directly connect the artsy oasis to the museum’s main plaza.

"Following a successful renovation of the museum’s lobby by architect/artist Hiroshi Sugimoto, which has welcomed nearly a million visitors since its opening, the museum began working with Sugimoto to develop a concept design for the garden," reads the museum's announcement released earlier this week.

"Adjacent to the National Mall, the sunken garden is barely visible to both Mall and museum visitors. Sugimoto’s early concept calls for an enhanced entrance facing the National Mall, directly engaging the more than 35 million people who pass through each year. The new vision will create spaces for large-scale contemporary works and performances, as well as intimate spaces for the museum’s modern masterpieces. Initial concept designs also include reopening the underground passage, which has been closed for 30 years, but was an important element in architect Gordon Bunshaft’s original design, connecting the garden to the museum plaza."

New renderings of Peter Zumthor's $600-million LACMA redesign

2017-10-26T20:33:00-04:00

With the environmental review process now underway, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is moving forward with a $600-million plan by Pritzker Prize winner Peter Zumthor to makeover its Miracle Mile campus. The acclaimed Swiss architect's design would replace the current Bing Center, Hammer, Ahmanson, and Art of the Americas Buildings with a new 390,000 square-foot structure that spans across Wilshire Boulevard.

The design has gone through different evolutions since originally announced in 2014 and earlier this year, new, softer renderings were revealed after Zumthor expressed he was unhappy with the original ones. Construction of the new building is expected to begin in late 2018.

Atelier Peter Zumthor & Partner / The Boundary

Atelier Peter Zumthor & Partner