LACMA Announces April Opening for New Galleries

- The new building, named the David Geffen Galleries, is designed by Pritzker Prize-winning Swiss architect Peter Zumthor and is his first major project in the United States. - The total project cost is estimated at $720 million, largely funded by private donations, including a landmark $150 million pledge from David Geffen, and a significant $125 million contribution from the County of Los Angeles. - Spanning Wilshire Boulevard, the elevated, amoeba-shaped structure features 110,000 square feet of gallery space on a single level, designed to present art from different cultures and eras without a prescribed path. - The inaugural installation will break from traditional chronological or geographical displays, instead organizing artworks thematically around the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans and the Mediterranean Sea to highlight cultural exchange. - This opening marks the culmination of a campus transformation that has been in progress for over a decade, which included the addition of the Broad Contemporary Art Museum in 2008 and the Resnick Exhibition Pavilion in 2010. - The project has been a subject of public debate, with some critics questioning the reduction in overall square footage compared to the four buildings it replaced and the controversial, Brutalist-style concrete design. - General public access to the new galleries will begin on May 4, following two weeks of priority access for museum members and donors. - The opening of the David Geffen Galleries will add 3.5 acres of new outdoor park and open space for public art installations, educational programming, and events.