The Broad // Los Angeles

The Broad on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles; photo by Benny Chan, courtesy of The Broad and Diller Scofidio + Renfro

The Broad is a new contemporary art museum built by philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles. The museum, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with Gensler, opened to the public on Sept. 20, 2015. The museum will be home to the 2,000 works of art in the Broad collection, which is among the most prominent holdings of postwar and contemporary art worldwide. With its innovative “veil-and-vault” concept, the 120,000-square-foot, $140-million building features two floors of gallery space to showcase The Broad’s comprehensive collection and will be the headquarters of The Broad Art Foundation’s worldwide lending library. Eli and Edythe Broad also built a 24,000-square-foot public plaza, added streetscape improvements and enhanced pedestrian access on and around The Broad along Grand Avenue.

Rather than relegate the storage to secondary status, “the vault” plays a key role in shaping the museum experience from entry to exit. Its heavy opaque mass is always in view, hovering midway in the building. Its carved underside shapes the lobby below and public circulation routes. Its top surface is the floor of the third-floor galleries.
second and third floors

The vault is enveloped by the “veil,” a porous, honeycomb-like exterior structure that spans across the block-long third-floor gallery and provides filtered natural daylight. The museum’s “veil” lifts at the corners, welcoming visitors into an active lobby and shop. The public is then drawn upwards via escalator, tunneling through the vault, arriving onto nearly an acre of column- free gallery space bathed in filtered light. The gallery has 23-foot-high ceilings, and the roof is supported by 7-foot-deep steel girders. Visitors exit the third floor via a winding central stair through the vault that offers glimpses into the vast holdings of the collection.

//The Broad è il nuovo museo di arte contemporanea voluto dai filantropi Eli ed Edythe Broad sulla Grand Avenue in centro a Los Angeles. Il museo, progettato da Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaborazione con Gensler, aperto al pubblico dallo scorso 20 Settembre, 2015. Il museo ospiterà 2000 opere d’arte della Broad collection, che rappresenta una delle più illustri collezioni private di arte contemporanea e del dopoguerra a livello mondiale. Con il suo innovativo concept di “velo e volta”, l’edificio di 11.000 mq costato 140 milioni di dollari è caratterizzato da due piani di spazio dedicato all’esposizione dell’intera collezione dei Broad e ospiterà la sede della biblioteca della The Broad Art Foundation. Eli e Edythe Broad hanno anche fatto costruire una piazza pubblica di 2.200mq, migliorato le vie e incrementato gli accessi pedonali al museo e alle zone circostanti sulla Grand Avenue.

Piuttosto che relegare il magazzino ad uno spazio secondario, “la volta” gioca un ruolo fondamentale nel dar forma all’esperienza museale dall’entrata all’uscita. La sua massa, pesante e opaca, è sempre in vista, sospesa al centro nell’edificio. L’intradosso, scolpito, dà forma alla lobby sottostante e ai percorsi di distribuzione pubblici. L’estradosso è, invece, il piano di calpestio dello spazio espositivo.

La volta è rivestita su tutti i lati dal “velo”, un arioso esoscheletro che si estende lungo tutto il blocco della galleria fornendo luce naturale filtrata. Il “velo” del museo si solleva in corrispondenza degli angoli, accogliendo i visitatori in una lobby con un bookshop e un bar. Il pubblico viene, quindi, condotto verso l’alto tramite scale mobili che attraversano il tunnel dell’archivio e giungono allo spazio espositivo di quasi un ettaro, privo di pilastri, immerso in una luce diffusa. Questo spazio, alto più di 7 metri, e il soffitto è retto da travi profonde 2 metri. I visitatori escono dal terzo piano attraverso una scala centrale sinuosa che passa per la volta e offre scorci sulla vasta collezione.

The Broad’s lobby with escalator; photo by Hufton + Crow, courtesy of The Broad and Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

The Broad’s lobby with escalator; photo by Iwan Baan, courtesy of The Broad and Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

Installation of works by Barbara Kruger, Cindy Sherman, Richard Prince and Sherrie Levine in The Broad’s third-floor galleries; photo by Iwan Baan, courtesy of The Broad and Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

The Broad’s third-floor galleries with skylights and interior veil; photo by Iwan Baan, courtesy of The Broad and Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

The Broad’s 105-foot escalator leading from the lobby to the third-floor galleries; photo by Iwan Baan, courtesy of The Broad and Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

The Broad’s lobby with interior veil; photo by Iwan Baan, courtesy of The Broad and Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

The Broad’s “cool storage” room showing a work by Paul Pfeiffer; photo by Iwan Baan, courtesy of The Broad and Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

Aerial photo of The Broad in downtown Los Angeles; photo by Jeff Duran / Warren Air, courtesy of The Broad and Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

Installation of works by Christopher Wool and Jeff Koons in The Broad’s third-floor galleries; photo by Bruce Damonte, courtesy of The Broad and Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

Installation of three works by Roy Lichtenstein in The Broad’s third-floor galleries; photo by Bruce Damonte, courtesy of The Broad and Diller Scofidio + Renfro.