The Broad

The Broad is a contemporary art museum currently under construction in Downtown, Los Angeles. The museum is named for philanthropist Eli Broad, who is financing the $140 million building which will house the Broad art collections.[1] The museum is set to open on September 20, 2015,[2][3] after being delayed from its planned opening in 2014[4] and will offer free general admission to its permanent collection galleries.[5]

Architecture

In an invited architectural competition for the project in 2010, six architects were asked to present preliminary designs. They included Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and his firm Office for Metropolitan Architecture; Swiss pair Herzog & de Meuron; Christian de Portzamparc from Paris; Japanese duo Ryue Nishizawa and Kazuyo Sejima of SANAA; and Diller Scofidio + Renfro from New York.[6] Diller Scofidio + Renfro were eventually chosen by Broad to design the approximately 120,000-square-foot museum, which will include exhibition space, offices and a parking garage.[7]

Broad Museum in downtown Los Angeles, under construction

The museum will be housed in a new building design by architecture firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro, with the final building costs estimated at $140 million.[8] With a location adjacent to Frank Gehry's iconic Walt Disney Concert Hall, the museum's design is intended to contrast with its bright metallic exterior while respecting its architectural presence by having a porous, "honeycomblike" exterior.[9] The building design is based on a concept entitled “the veil and the vault”. “The veil” is a porous envelope that wraps the whole building, filtering and transmitting daylight to the indoor space. This skin is made of 2,500 rhomboidal panels made in fiberglass reinforced concrete supported by a steel substructure. “The vault” is a concrete body which forms the core of the building, dedicated to artworks storage, laboratories, curatorial spaces and offices.[10]

Museum plaza

In early 2014, plans were published for a 24,000-square-foot public plaza adjacent to the Broad, to be overseen and maintained by the museum as part of its agreement with the city.[11] Designed by the museum's architects, Diller, Scofidio + Renfro, and landscape architect Walter Hood, the plaza, with other streetscape improvements, is estimated to cost $18 million, with about $10 million coming from redevelopment funds and $8 million from the museum.[12]

Construction

The museum's unorthodox facade, which the architects refer to as the "veil," has proved very tricky to fabricate, leading to delays in the construction schedule.[13] In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court in 2014, the museum sued German fabricator Seele, Zurich American Insurance Company, and the Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland[14] for $19.8 million in damages for allegedly failing to deliver the components of the "veil" facade on schedule.[15] The Broad and Seele subsequently agreed to continue work on the museum and to face off later over the dispute.[16]

Collection

The Broad will house a nearly 2,000 piece collection of contemporary art by approximately 200 artists,[17] including works by Cindy Sherman, Jeff Koons, Ed Ruscha, Andy Warhol, and Roy Liechtenstein. Notable installations include Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room – The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away (2013), Ragnar Kjartansson’s expansive nine-screen[18] video The Visitors (2012), Julie Mehretu’s 24-feet-wide canvas Beloved (Cairo) (2013), and Goshka Macuga’s photo-tapestry Death of Marxism, Women of All Lands Unite (2013).[19]

The building will also serve as headquarters for the Broad Art Foundation's lending library of contemporary works.[20]

Restaurant

The museum will include a restaurant on its plaza, Otium — it is Latin for “leisure time” — which Eli Broad developed with Bill Chait of République and Bestia restaurants. It features Timothy Hollingsworth, a former head chef of The French Laundry in Napa Valley, as executive chef.[21]

Management

Funding

As of 2014, The Broad’s endowment is at $200 million, thereby larger than any museum in Los Angeles except for the Getty Museum.[22] The museum will offer mostly free admission to the public, but will charge for temporary special exhibitions.[23]

Governance

Besides Eli and Edythe Broad, the Broad's Board of Governance also includes art dealer Irving Blum, restaurateur Michael Chow, businessman Bruce Karatz, and former ambassador Robert H. Tuttle, among others.[24]

The museum's director is art historian Joanne Heyler.[25]

References

  1. ↑ Boehm, Mike (September 17, 2013). "A look inside Eli Broad's museum, which will offer free admission". LA Times. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  2. ↑ Mike Boehm (February 4, 2015), Broad museum sets a Sept. 20 opening and a February sneak peek Los Angeles Times.
  3. ↑ Jori Finkel (February 5, 2015), The Broad Museum in Los Angeles to Open in September New York Times.
  4. ↑ Finkel, Jori (February 9, 2014). "Broad Museum in Los Angeles Delays Opening Until 2015". New York Times. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  5. ↑ Boehm, Mike (September 17, 2013). "A look inside Eli Broad's museum, which will offer free admission". LA Times. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  6. ↑ Christopher Hawthorne (May 25, 2010), Two architectural firms are finalists for Broad museum project Los Angeles Times.
  7. ↑ David Ng and Jori Finkel (August 23, 2010), It's official: Eli Broad will build his art museum downtown; Diller Scofidio + Renfro will design Los Angeles Times.
  8. ↑ Jori Finkel (June 4, 2014), Eli Broad says patience is not his strong point The Art Newspaper.
  9. ↑ Ouroussoff, Nicolai (January 11, 2011). "Not All Sweetness in a Honeycomb Museum". New York Times. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Los Angeles: A veil-and-vault dream of art is coming - The Broad". Inexhibit. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  11. ↑ Jori Finkel (February 9, 2014), Broad Museum in Los Angeles Delays Opening Until 2015 New York Times.
  12. ↑ Christopher Hawthorne (February 10, 2014), Broad museum plaza is welcome, but who will own it? Los Angeles Times.
  13. ↑ Christopher Hawthorne (February 10, 2014), Broad museum plaza is welcome, but who will own it? Los Angeles Times.
  14. ↑ Mike Boehm (June 3, 2014), Broad Collection sues engineering firm Seele Inc. over museum facade Los Angeles Times.
  15. ↑ Jori Finkel (June 4, 2014), Eli Broad says patience is not his strong point The Art Newspaper.
  16. ↑ David Ng (October 29, 2014), Broad museum sets sights on fall 2015 opening in downtown Los Angeles Los Angeles Times.
  17. ↑ David Ng (October 29, 2014), Broad museum sets sights on fall 2015 opening in downtown Los Angeles Los Angeles Times.
  18. ↑ Robin Pogrebin (April 12, 2015), At the Helm of a Philanthropist’s New Los Angeles Museum New York Times.
  19. ↑ Jori Finkel (June 4, 2014), Eli Broad says patience is not his strong point The Art Newspaper.
  20. ↑ David Ng (October 29, 2014), Broad museum sets sights on fall 2015 opening in downtown Los Angeles Los Angeles Times.
  21. ↑ Robin Pogrebin (April 12, 2015), At the Helm of a Philanthropist’s New Los Angeles Museum New York Times.
  22. ↑ Jori Finkel (June 4, 2014), Eli Broad says patience is not his strong point The Art Newspaper.
  23. ↑ David Ng (October 29, 2014), Broad museum sets sights on fall 2015 opening in downtown Los Angeles Los Angeles Times.
  24. ↑ The Broad Collection Board of Governors The Broad.
  25. ↑ Robin Pogrebin (April 12, 2015), At the Helm of a Philanthropist’s New Los Angeles Museum New York Times.

External links