LACMA Opens the Doors to Its New Building

New York Times

6 hours ago

Ever since the Los Angeles County Museum of Art engaged the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor 16 years ago, its $720 million new building has had a long journey from controversy to construction to curatorial challenge.
On Thursday evening, the curvilinear behemoth finally became a place where people could come inside.
Although the art will not be installed until next year, the museum opened its doors for its first public glimpse of the new David Geffen Galleries, featuring a commissioned performance by the saxophonist and composer Kamasi Washington — with 120 musicians disbursed throughout the building.
Visitors walking past the soaring windows, as the sounds of instruments and voices filled the undulating concrete passageway, were visibly excited — and even moved — by what many described as a welcome injection of positive energy to a city battered by protests and recovering from fires.
'It's really a special thing for us to be here to experience it almost raw,' said Frank Svengsouk, an art director and senior manager for the Disney Entertainment Division, who had come from Carlsbad, about two hours south, after having been displaced by the fires in Altadena. 'It makes us think about how much we love the city and how much the city means to us, how much the city brings back to us.
'Think about Paris with I.M. Pei — it's changing the landscape of this place,' he added, referring to the impact of the skylit Louvre Pyramid as he gazed at the vista with his wife. 'Over time, it's going to be something important for us in L.A.'
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