Architect Peter Zumthor鈥檚 plan to radically redesign the Los Angeles County Museum of Art has divided critics and architects in L.A. like no other proposal in recent memory.
After Los Angeles County Museum of Art Director Michael Govan gave a thoughtful defense of architect Peter Zumthor鈥檚 controversial plan to remake the museum鈥檚 50-year-old campus, local critics engaged in a lively exchange of views pro and con at the fourth session in the popular Third Los Angeles series.
More than 500 people gathered in Occidental鈥檚 Thorne Hall saw new models of the latest iteration of the Zumthor design and heard Govan defend the project as 鈥渁 risk. Most museums are taking no risks. I think this is a worthy risk, thoughtfully considered.鈥 Zumthor鈥檚 dramatic design 鈥 series organizer Christopher Hawthorne, architectural critic for the Los Angeles Times, called it a 鈥渉orizontal skyscraper鈥 -- would increase gallery space and access to the collection, rely on solar energy, open up more than two acres of park space, and 鈥渂e something distinguished, something unique,鈥 Govan said.
The museum鈥檚 50-year-old buildings, designed by William Pereira, should be preserved and creatively reused, countered architect and modern preservationist Alan Hess. Pereira has received 鈥漚 bad rap鈥 he is one of the most important shapers of Southern California,鈥 Hess said. 鈥淚 do not see in the current [Zumthor] design any deep understanding of L.A.鈥 But Pereira is 鈥渁 bit like the Bobby Darin of architecture, who recorded both 鈥淢ack the Knife鈥 and 鈥淪plish Splash鈥 鈥 LACMA is closer to 鈥淪plish Splash.鈥
One of the principal reasons why the new design is so controversial, said architect Sharon Johnston, is that 鈥渋t does remove the idea of the museum as object, a building that advertises itself as what it is. [People ask,] Why would you design something that is so difficult to read?鈥 Hess suggested a different reason: 鈥滱ngelenos haven鈥檛 really resolved what we think about our city.鈥