Plans for The Berggruen Institute's new Scholars' Campus in Los Angeles are shaping up. Most recently, the Institute unveiled the project masterplan designed by Herzog & de Meuron, who is working in collaboration with Michel Desvigne Paysagiste and Inessa Hansch Architecte, and executive architect Gensler. 

Atop the Santa Monica Mountains, the linear masterplan aims to respond to the Institute's desire to respect and restore the landscape of its 447-acre site, as well as create a private educational forum for top scholars and thought leaders to interact. The plan also calls for preserving approximately 415 of the 447 acres for open space.

The main feature of the plan is a horizontal, rectangular building dubbed as the Frame, which, from afar, appears to float above the site. Hovering at 12 feet above the ground, the single-story Frame contains a large, central courtyard garden that shows off views of the surrounding landscape. Inside, the building will provide live-work lofts, meeting rooms, studying and media spaces, offices, artists' studios, dining, and reception areas. The building's main entrance will link to Sepulveda Boulevard and existing public hiking trails.

A 45-foot-tall sphere within the open courtyard will house a 250-seat lecture hall within its base. Sitting above the Frame is a smaller second sphere that will function as a water storage tank. North of the Frame, a Scholar Village will provide some 26,000 sq.ft. of residential space for scholars and guests, support services, and recreational facilities. A 26,000 sq.ft. compound called the “Chairman's Residence” will include a library, conference room, dining facilities, staff quarters, and more residential areas.

As for sustainability, the Institute's design incorporates passive strategies, preventive measures against wildfires, and a planting program to mitigate the impact of the project's construction to the landscape. “The current barren ridge where the campus will be sited is transformed into a self-sustainable oasis by means of a water system within the Institute's campus based on harvesting, collection, cleaning and re-use,” Jacques Herzog described in a statement. 

The Berggruen Institute recently submitted the site plan to the City of Los Angeles to begin the environmental review process.