The David Geffen Galleries will open its doors to the public on May 4, marking the completion of a $724 million transformation of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The project has taken two decades to materialize, arriving as both a landmark architectural achievement and a flashpoint for debate about what a major museum should look like.
The building itself is impossible to ignore. Spanning Wilshire Boulevard, the 110,000-square-foot structure curves in an amoeba-like shape, its imposing gray concrete punctuated by enormous windows. Swiss architect Peter Zumthor designed it to feel simultaneous with the past and future, and in Los Angeles, a city already crowded with architectural statements from the Getty Museum to the Disney Concert Hall, the arrival reads as seismic.
The journey to completion has been anything but smooth. When Zumthor's proposal was revealed in 2013, nearly a decade after the original revitalization effort began, controversy erupted. The LA Times architecture critic at the time attacked the "limitless concrete" as "monotonous" and questioned how art would hang on such unconventional walls. Non-profit groups like Save Lacma formed over concerns about funding sources, construction destroyed several older buildings, and tensions between Zumthor and museum director Michael Govan grew so strained that the architect once suggested he would never work in America again.
By Wednesday's unveiling event, that acrimony had largely evaporated. Zumthor stood before the press with genuine warmth, describing his unexpected love for Los Angeles after spending a few weeks in the city, referencing American heroism, jazz legends Miles Davis and Charlie Parker, and the art world's historical shift from Paris to the United States. "Damn it, I love this city," he said simply.
What sets the Geffen Galleries apart from traditional museums is its radical approach to displaying art. Rather than organizing works by era, movement, or artist prominence, the space flows as one twisting chamber with minimal hierarchy. A 19th-century American landscape hangs near a mid-20th-century travel advertisement and contemporary photography. Nearby, work by the Korean photographer Han Youngsoo sits around a corner from Hindu sculpture dating to 600 AD. The arrangement mirrors the interconnected, migratory character of modern Los Angeles itself.
Govan framed this curatorial philosophy during his remarks: "Nineteenth-century museums were about categorization and knowledge. But we live in modern Los Angeles, where we're all interconnected. Migration and interconnectedness are essential to our daily life."
The physical design reinforces this vision. Large windows throughout the galleries connect visitors to the city outside, treated with UV-filtering glass to protect sensitive works. Few corners or flat walls exist, making it genuinely easy to become disoriented among the art. Naima Keith, senior vice-president of education and public programs, called this intentional: "It's designed to disorient you in the best possible way."
The museum will feature constant rotation of works from Lacma's 155,000-piece collection. Some pieces remain outdoors, including a massive Jeff Koons topiary sculpture covered in 50,000 living plants and an Alexander Calder mobile perched in a fountain. The campus sits adjacent to the Academy Museum, the Natural History Museum, and the La Brea Tar Pits, whose prehistoric pools inspired early design iterations.
Leadership emphasized accessibility as a core mission. Free daily programs for families will run without requiring a ticket. A new cafe featuring a collaboration with the trendy Erewhon grocery chain signals the museum's commitment to embedding itself in LA's contemporary culture.
A recent Los Angeles Times review called the building "radically alive," and recent coverage has shifted decidedly positive. The criticism that the new galleries sacrifice roughly 10,000 square feet compared to the demolished buildings they replaced has largely faded from discussion as attention turns to the actual experience of moving through the space.
Members can enter beginning Sunday, with public opening on May 4.
Author James Rodriguez: "After two decades of drama, the skeptics might actually have a point, but this building feels alive in ways conventional museums never do."
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