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'Shop of horrors': Oliver Wainwright reviews Morphosis' newly-opened Orange County Museum of Art

2022-12-13T17:20:00-05:00

Nowhere is the gulf between digital promise and physical fact more spectacularly evident than at the new Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) in California [...] Almost a generation in the making, it feels like the final death rattle of a bygone age, the last gasp of an era preoccupied with novel form for form’s sake. Perhaps it is fitting that this flimsy, paper-thin architecture is held together with tape.

The Guardian critic paid a visit to the new museum building to offer a thoroughly dejecting assessment based on what he observed to be a disorienting entrance, confounding wayfinding system, atrium configuration, and defective cladding panels made necessary by a “performative shell” that has come to be an “expensive and elaborate” trope of its designers.

Morphosis partner-in-charge Brandon Welling claimed the firm was pushed into its October completion date and is still going through its punch list of small details that will complete the design, which Wainwright called a “$94 [million] hymn to the difference between render and reality.”

“I have no interest in completing projects,” says Thom Mayne - too bad for the Orange County Museum of Art https://t.co/RIvHSkUuZE pic.twitter.com/RdYTpOSVSo
— Olly Wainwright (@ollywainwright) December 13, 2022

Builders for the project pinned some of the issues on supply chain delays and said some of the hastily assembled stopgaps like tape and sof...

First photos of Morphosis' soon-to-open Orange County Museum of Art

2022-09-29T13:06:00-04:00

With a grand opening just a little over a week away, the Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) has revealed the latest photos of its Morphosis-designed new South Coast home in the beachfront community of Costa Mesa.

Located on the campus of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, the 53,000-square-foot museum will be inaugurated with five special exhibitions and 24-hour celebrations to honor the work that went into its design and three-year-long construction.

“The OCMA design represents a new model for museums based on public, urban, communal spaces with strong connections between interior and exterior,” Morphosis principals Thom Mayne and Brandon Welling shared.

Photo: Mike Kelley

“Engaging the urban realm with a public stair and ‘storefront’ galleries, the design invites visitors through sunlit atrium spaces, open galleries and an expansive sculpture terrace. The strong relationship in the building between indoor and outdoor space will encourage visitors to immerse themselves in the cele...

Morphosis releases new construction photos of the Orange County Museum of Art, one year ahead of its opening date

2021-10-08T13:45:00-04:00

Exactly a year before its opening, the new Morphosis-designed Orange County Museum of Art is sharing images and a construction update for the project that first broke ground in September of 2019.

Image © Aleksey Kondratyev/Clark Construction

The $93 million addition to Costa Mesa’s Segerstrom Center for the Arts topped out a year ago this week and looks forward to its debut next year that is set to coincide with the return of the California Biennale 2022 curated by Elizabeth Armstrong, Essence Harden, and Gilbert Vicario.

Image © Aleksey Kondratyev/Clark Construction

Featuring twice the amount of gallery space as its former Newport Beach location, the 53,000-square-foot museum is anchored by a public plaza and accentuated by a massive roof terrace that serves as an extension of the galleries.

Image courtesy Morphosis Architects

A glass wall window on one side of the building will display temporary exhibitions across a variety of mediums, while undulating glazed terracotta panels giv...

Morphosis-designed Orange County Museum of Art expected to open in 2022

2021-06-16T14:43:00-04:00

The Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) announced that its new $93 million building will open to the public on October 8, 2022 in time for the return of the California Biennial 2022 (CB22) exhibition.

The 53,000-square-foot facility was designed by Los Angeles-based, Pritzker Prize-winning architect Thom Mayne of Morphosis Architects. Breaking ground in September 2019, the new building will sit at the open public plaza at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa and will double the size of the museum’s former location. The California Biennial 2022 will be the inaugural exhibition at OCMA’s new home.

Previously on Archinect: Morphosis-designed Orange County Museum of Art tops out

“It is no coincidence that as we open a building defined by its innovative and forward-thinking design, we are also acknowledging OCMA’s important and pioneering foundation,” says new OCMA CEO and Director Heidi Zuckerman. “California has long been a wellspring of innovation and creativity, and CB22 ...

Morphosis-designed Orange County Museum of Art tops out

2020-10-05T16:04:00-04:00

One year after breaking ground in Costa Mesa, the Orange County Museum of Art's new home is scheduled to top out at an official ceremony at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. OCMA, which is currently housed out of a temporary space at South Coast Plaza in Santa Ana, is slated to move into its new in 2021.

View this post on Instagram DYK: That the Orange County Museum of Art is moving to our campus?? Their new building is slated to open in 2021. Who else is excited for a new year and new art?!? #OCMA @ocmuseumofart
A post shared by Segerstrom Center for the Arts (@segerstromarts) on Sep 27, 2020 at 10:00am PDT

OCMA's new Costa Mesa home, designed by Morphosis Architects, previously on Archinect:

The virtual topping out ceremony can be followed live via the museum's Instagram on Tuesday, October 6 at 11 AM Pacific Time.

Morphosis-designed Orange County Museum of Art: construction update

2020-03-02T16:10:00-05:00

Five months after holding a ceremonial groundbreaking, the first signs of vertical construction are now visible at the new home of OCMA at Costa Mesa's Segerstrom Center for the Arts. [...] The approximately $73-million project expands OCMA's square footage by approximately 50 percent when compared to the museum's former home.

Designed by Morphosis Architects, the Orange County Museum of Art's new home at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, Calif. appears to be making progress, according to a new construction photo published by Urbanized LA.

The new 52,000-square-foot building will nearly double OCMA's current exhibition space and provide expanded access to the institution's permanent collection of modern and contemporary art from Southern California and the Pacific Rim.

OCMA atrium. Image: Morphosis Architects.

"The overall design of the building addresses the need for museum space to be both flexible and functional as well as inviting and memorable," explains the project description from Morphosis Architects. "A spacious roof terrace, equivalent in size to 70 percent of the building’s footprint, serves as an extension of the galleries with open-air spaces that can be configured for installations, a sculpture garden, outdoor film screenings, or events."

The new OCMA destination is expected ...

Morphosis reveals design for new Orange County Museum of Art in California

2018-06-04T15:57:00-04:00

Morphosis recently unveiled their design for the new Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) in in Costa Mesa, CA. The design features a 52,000-square-foot building, nearly doubling the OCMA's current exhibition space and expanding access to museum's permanent collection of modern and contemporary art.

In the entrance lobby, light-filled atrium space is crossed by bridges to educational hall and mezzanine gallery spaces. Image: Morphosis Architects.

A grand outdoor public stair joins the building to Arts Plaza to the north, creating an inviting gathering space for pedestrians and visitors
to the museum and adjacent performing arts venues.

OCMA’s ground floor and mezzanine hold open, flexible galleries for permanent collection installations and temporary exhibitions. Image: Morphosis Architects.

The main floor of the new museum building will be dedicated to reconfigurable, open exhibition space supported by the mezzanine, black-box, and jewel-box galleries which will accommodate temporary a...