A significant next step has been taken in the construction process that will eventually culminate in Peter Zumthor’s brand new David Geffen Galleries building for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) as it inches closer to its anticipated 2024 completion date.

According to Urbanize Los Angeles, two new tower cranes are now in operation at the site, in addition to the three that were brought online back in October. The project is now approximately at its midway point after a delayed start in 2020.

LACMA says it has recently completed concrete pours on the western portion of the mat foundation for the estimated $750–$900 million project, which replaces William Pereira’s 1965 “floating campus” trio of buildings (and their 1986 Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer-designed extension) in favor of the controversially smaller, new two-story building that bestrides Wilshire Boulevard next to the La Brea Tar Pits.

The reopened institution is, as of last writing, still in search of some additional funds required to cover the cost overruns of the design, which was originally estimated to be $600 million. In November, the LA Times reported that the first two cranes had to be removed owing to “soil and tar conditions,” which caused the ground to settle dangerously beneath them. 

LACMA's director Michael Govan said at the time the cranes were a “non-issue” and that lighter cranes were subsequently brought in without a delay to the project's timeline. Additional foundation piles were also installed. Govan said the new 2024 date was the product of fossil discoveries at the site and that the sum of its myriad setbacks could not be calculated “until the project is done.”