The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is preparing to open its new $720m David Geffen Galleries, a massive undulating concrete structure designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Peter Zumthor. Spanning Wilshire Boulevard, the new building adds 110,000 square feet of gallery space and 3.5 acres of public parkland, marking the completion of a two-decade capital project led by Director Michael Govan. The facility will house the museum’s permanent collection, which has been largely out of public view for seven years, and features innovative exhibition strategies such as hanging artworks directly onto concrete walls.
This project represents a significant shift in Los Angeles's cultural landscape, positioning the city as a global nexus for art through unprecedented levels of local and international philanthropy. By integrating the museum into the city's physical infrastructure and the surrounding natural history of the La Brea Tar Pits, the expansion seeks to reframe 6,000 years of art history. The successful fundraising and scale of the project have already influenced the local ecosystem, encouraging capital growth at neighboring institutions and setting a new standard for encyclopedic museums in the 21st century.