The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has released new photographs of its David Geffen Galleries, designed by architect Peter Zumthor with SOM as collaborating architect. The building, a long horizontal glass and concrete structure curving along Hancock Park and Wilshire Boulevard, opened temporarily for a three-day preview last week and is scheduled to open to the public in April 2026. The 347,500-square-foot wing includes 110,000 square feet of gallery space, along with street-level pavilions housing a theater, store, bar, and education center. To mark the preview, LACMA hosted three "sonic previews" featuring composer Kamasi Washington leading over 100 musicians in a performance of his work Harmony of Difference. Architectural critic Christopher Hawthorne described the wing as "bold and compromised in nearly equal measure," while Zumthor noted that curators initially critical of the spatial layout have begun to appreciate the space and the beauty of the handmade concrete structure.
This preview marks a significant milestone for LACMA's long-delayed and controversial expansion project, which has faced years of funding challenges, design debates, and construction delays. The David Geffen Galleries represent the museum's most ambitious architectural undertaking in decades, designed to provide a dedicated home for its permanent collection and to reshape the museum's relationship with Hancock Park and Wilshire Boulevard. The project's completion will have major implications for Los Angeles's cultural landscape, positioning LACMA as a renewed anchor institution on the city's Museum Row. The mixed critical reception—balancing praise for architectural ambition with concerns about compromises—underscores the high stakes and ongoing debate surrounding Zumthor's design.