The “New” LACMA Opens: Peter Zumthor’s Architecture Tested on a Global Scale

Following a brief preview, the new David Geffen Galleries designed by Peter Zumthor at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the largest art museum in the western United States, with a collection of over 155,000 works spanning six thousand years of artistic expression from across the globe, have opened to the public. True to Zumthor’s material minimalism, the new volume housing the permanent collection rises nine meters above the ground like a sinuous body of glass and concrete. Here, natural light acts as a true primary material: in the perimeter galleries, directly overlooking the terraces, the boundary between interior and exterior is blurred thanks to floor-to-ceiling windows. The space is thus shaped by changes in weather and the changing hours, constantly modifying the interaction between the environment and the exhibited works. Although the sinuous envelope appears distant from the Swiss architect’s rigorous vocabulary, the internal layout recaptures its deeper identity. The contrast is stark: the freedom of the external curve is counterpointed by the severity of the twenty-seven concrete rectangles that punctuate the route. These rigid volumes transform the fluidity of the plan into a sequence of pauses, defining an anti-hierarchical itinerary that encourages free circulation, though not always immediately legible.

In addition to the elevated galleries, the project includes seven pavilions for educational and public programs, a theater, shops, and restaurants, interconnected by public spaces that function as an extension of the museum, hosting works and outdoor installations. For the inaugural installation, forty-five curators adopted a broad geographical perspective—from the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans to the Mediterranean—to build connections between cultures far apart in time and space, conveying the image of a museum that aspires to a global dimension.