Amsterdam’s Kossmanndejong (KDJ) has been announced by the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County as the lead exhibition designer for the La Brea Tar Pits overhaul following a competitive international search process.

In tandem with WEISS/MANFREDI and Los Angeles-based Gruen Associates, the studio will be tasked with handling the schematic design for the project, which will “reimagine” the 13-acre campus located nearby LACMA and the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures inside Hancock Park over a seven- to ten-year construction timeline.

“We have been building toward a reimagined La Brea Tar Pits for several years now, as we plan for a visitor experience equal to the promise of sharing discoveries from a research site unique in the world,” the Museums’ Director Dr. Lori Bettison-Varga said in a statement. “Our goal is to highlight the vital relevance of the Tar Pits to our own era of climate change, provide facilities that better support ongoing scientific work, preserve this beloved Los Angeles icon, and create a gracious community gathering place with an accessible outdoor green space.”

“As we develop a schematic design to achieve these goals, we are thrilled to have KDJ join us as collaborators,” Bettison-Varga continued. “We were impressed by their inviting, thought-provoking projects involving scientific, historical, and site-specific collections and were won over by the roles of community engagement and collaborative research in their design process.”

KDJ Partner and Creative Director Niels de Jong will lead the design alongside his colleague Robin Schijfs and four others from the now 25-year-old Dutch studio. Their designs will be worked in among the site's two-section, one-kilometer-long pedestrian pathway and make a profound impact on the existing George C. Page Museum, which will also be reconfigured. 

A press announcement mentioned their unanimous selection by the Museums through site visits, a charrette, and several back-and-forth sessions in Amsterdam and Los Angeles.

“The Tar Pits is such a fascinating place for so many reasons, including being the only urban spot in the world where Ice Age fossils have been found and are still excavated,” de Jong commented. “We are thrilled to be part of a project where architecture, landscape, design, and programming are woven together into an integrated visitor experience.”

“La Brea Tar Pits are like no other place in the world,” Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi added jointly. “We are thrilled to be at this pivotal moment in the master planning process, and with the addition of LA-based Gruen as Executive Architect and the exhibition designers at KDJ we are excited to give measure to this dream and deliver a world class destination.”

This is the last major team addition before the project gets underway. Los Angeles County is currently preparing an Environmental Impact Report for the proposed master plan and says it will be available for public comment by the end of the summer this year.