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[...] it’s worth considering one of the issues that drove so much of the criticism: the ideal—said to be lost in the soon-to-be-transformed institution—of the museum as an “encyclopaedia” of collections, one necessitating a particular form of architecture permanently exhibiting its collection in chronologically sequenced galleries organised by medium and culture. — The Art Newspaper
Michael Conforti, former director of the Clark Art Institute and previously a curator at the Minneapolis Institute of Art and also at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, writes in defense of LACMA's controversial plan of a considerably smaller 'expansion,' designed by Peter Zumthor, citing... View full entry
A local community advocacy group in Los Angeles has filed a lawsuit that has the potential to delay the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s $650m building project, which was approved by the county Board of Supervisors in April. Fix the City vs. the County of Los Angeles, dated 13 May and officially filed this week, challenges the Environmental Impact Report for the building scheme, claiming that it violates the California Environmental Quality Act [...] — The Art Newspaper
A new roadblock that could significantly delay the debated Zumthor LACMA makeover is taking shape, and the impact on the neighborhood's parking capacity is at the center of it. The Art Newspaper reports that "according to the lawsuit, the certified Environmental Impact Report 'fails to properly... View full entry
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... — New Republic
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... View full entry
Three weeks after we announced that Peter Zumthor's vision for LACMA has been approved, a suite of updated renderings have been released by the Swiss Studio that are significantly more detailed than those preceding them. Ground-level perspective, with Japanese Pavilion visible on the right... View full entry
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... View full entry
What was once a project designed to add nearly 50,000 square feet of critically needed gallery space committed to showcasing the museum’s impressive and still-growing permanent collection of paintings, sculptures and other global works of art has been turned on its head. Now, rather than enlarge the capacity, the scheme is to reduce the existing gallery square footage by more than 10,000 square feet. — Los Angeles Times
The criticism of Peter Zumthor's newest proposal for the LACMA campus offered by LA Times writer Christopher Knight is simple: it offers 10,000 less square footage than what it will replace! "I couldn’t name another art museum anywhere that has ever raised hundreds of millions of dollars to... View full entry
The project's latest iteration does not diverge significantly from its prior form, but does make adjustments to the Zumthor building's size and footprint. The most notable changes are a reduction in the square footage of the proposed building from approximately 390,000 to less than 350,000 square feet. Additionally, the removal of several planned galleries on the building's upper level will shorten its maximum height from 85 feet to 60 feet. — Urbanize Los Angeles
The recently published final environmental impact report for the ambitious $650m Los Angeles County Museum of Art redesign shows Peter Zumthor's swooping new building somewhat shorter and smaller than in previous planning iterations. Image: Atelier Peter Zumthor & Partner/The BoundaryImage... View full entry
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... View full entry
As City—Michael Heizer’s vast Land Art installation in the Nevada desert—nears completion, the fate of the federally protected land surrounding it could soon be decided. Ryan Zinke, the US Interior Secretary, visited the state on Sunday, 30 July, as part of a review of 27 national monuments ordered by President Donald Trump, which could result in some of these lands being reopened to development. — theartnewspaper.com
"A number of museums banded together to call for the site’s preservation," The Art Newspaper explains the background of City's current surroundings (previously also on Archinect), "and in 2015, Obama created the Basin and Range National Monument, which covers 704,000 acres in southern Nevada’s... View full entry
[...] Peter Zumthor spoke with LACMA CEO [...] Michael Govan about the concepts behind his plans for LACMA's future presentation of its collections. Peter last spoke at LACMA in 2013 in conjunction with the exhibition The Presence of the Past: Peter Zumthor Reconsiders LACMA, when we were in the very early stages of thinking about LACMA's new building. Since that time, Peter and Michael have been working on the concepts behind the building, and Peter and his team have been refining the plans. — Unframed
The building design has a come a long way since its earlier, deliberately dark "inkblot" style."As for the change in color from dark to light?," Unframed writes, "Peter's thinking has evolved along with the building, and he wanted it to be elemental, with a mineral tone, very substantial but not... View full entry
All across Los Angeles, buildings by the city's most important firms face preservation threats. Rejected and outmoded, can late modernism find love? — L.A. Weekly
What is the value of history in a city known for its ephemerality? (Hint: um, not much, unless everyone agrees it is pretty.) In this piece for the L.A. Weekly, Mimi Zeiger thoroughly investigates the state of late modernist structures in the City of Angels, and how likely it is that many of these... View full entry
“They were conventional renderings, which I personally don't like so much," Peter Zumthor states in an interview with CLADnews, referring to the widely-criticized renderings of his proposed building for LACMA that were released in August. Relating that the renderings were created strictly for... View full entry
Last week, the White House held its very own arts and culture festival in D.C., South by South Lawn (SXSL). Organizers arranged a list of panel discussions and programs that brought together a diverse troupe of creatives for a "festival of ideas, art, and action.” SXSL kicked off with a conversation between illustrious light artist James Turrell and award-winning architect David Adjaye, which was streamed live on The Creators Project’s Facebook Page. — thecreatorsproject.vice.com
"Over the course of their chat, which was moderated by LACMA director Michael Govan, the two artists unpacked their general philosophies on art, light, space, and culture, and discussed some of the influences that have driven their processes and works."Video via The Creators Project.Similar... View full entry
Last night, the Los Angeles County Museum held a public scoping meeting in advance of preparing an environmental impact report (EIR) for a planned Peter Zumthor-designed building. The Zumthor building would replace four existing structures and result in a net reduction of space amounting to... View full entry
LACMA isn’t trying to sell fancy condos, it’s trying to sell an art museum. This isn’t about safe deposit boxes in the sky for foreign oligarchs, this a building that will require contributions from art patrons and museum donors, and these renderings speak their language. [...]
More David Hockney than Zaha Hadid, they evoke a feel rather than architectural facts.
— peopleplacesspaces.com
The latest from LACMA on Archinect:Raw Rendering Ranters: Zumthor's 'undercooked' LACMA redesign on Archinect Sessions #76LACMA releases new renderings of proposed Peter Zumthor buildingFollowing major donations, Peter Zumthor's LACMA redesign moves forwardSunshine and noir: Peter Zumthor's new... View full entry
