diller scofidio + renfro: the broad in LA under construction

diller scofidio + renfro: the broad in LA under construction
skylight monitors waiting to be installed
photo by benny chan

set to open in late 2014, ‘the broad’ is a contemporary art museum built by philanthropists eli and edythe broad set to house nearly 2,000 works of the broad art foundation and the couple’s personal collections. diller scofidio + renfro has conceived the cultural institution’s architecture with a vault-and-veil concept whereby the overall design merges the two key programs of the ‘the broad’ in a seamless and engaging way.

at the core of the structure is the vault which plays a crucial role in shaping the experience of the broad’s visitors from entry to exit. typically the archive of a museum is hidden and considered a subsidiary space in relation to its galleries. diller scofidio + renfro have envisioned the storage chamber as an opaque mass at the heart of the design (hovering midway in the building), that is always in view. its underside is carved out to shape the lobby and public circulation routs below, while on the top surface an exhibition area can be found. this central volume is then enshrouded by a honeycomb-like exterior structure coined ‘the veil’. this porous skin allows natural daylight to filter through to the interior, and its lifted corners invite visitors from two street-level entrances into the active lobby and gallery shop, and where a gallery, multimedia space, and archive storage are also situated.

from the first floor, visitors can access the second and third floors by stairs, or travel directly to the upper most gallery level via a 105-foot escalator. the second floor is considered a transition area–a concrete slab that cantilevers 45-feet over the lobby–from which the archive storage is visible to patrons of through windows cut out along the stairway that leads between the first and third floor. the top storey is where a 35,000-square-foot, column-free exhibition space can be found, in which the roof of the lofty 23-foot ceilings are supported by 7-foot-deep steel girders. the departure from the exhibition space is a return trip through the vault through a winding stair that offers views of the broad’s expansive art collection.

 you can watch a time lapse video of the construction progress on ‘the broad’ here.

steel armature in the broad lobby
photo by benny chan

construction employee working on the skylight monitors
photo by ryan miller / capture imaging

construction worker inspecting pieces of the broad’s veil
photo by matt ostrow / diller scofidio + renfro

construction worker welding steel beams on the broad structure
photo by nathaniel riley

aerial view of the broad construction site next to disney hall
photo by warren air video & photography

see designboom’s article on ‘the broad’ by diller scofidio + renfro during its conception phase here. 

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project info:

leadership:  eli and edythe broad, founders; joanne heyler, founding director
design architect: diller scofidio + renfro, new york; elizabeth diller, principal-in-charge; ricardo scofidio and charles renfro, principal designers; kevin rice, project director; team: kumar atre, oskar arnorsson, ryan botts, john chow, gerardo ciprian, robert condon, zachary cooley, charles curran, robert donnelly, eliza higgins, christopher hillyard, michael hundsnurscher, matthew johnson, robert loken, nkiru mokwe, william ngo, matthew ostrow, haruka saito, daniel sakai, andrea schelly, anne-rachel schiffmann, zoe small, quang truong
executive architect: gensler, los angeles; rob jernigan, principal-in-charge; david pakshong, project director; wendi gilbert, project architect; team: brianna seabron, nora gordon, greg kromhout, yasushi ishida, arpy hatzikian, marty borko, philippe pare, robyn bisbee, melanie mcartor, patrice hironimus, valentin lieu, yupil chon, brenda wentworth, jae rodriguez, robert garlipp, jay hardin, alexis denis, ricardo moura, lauren gropper, steven hergert, pavlina williams, evangelique zhao
construction: MATT construction, santa fe springs, california
structural engineer: nabih youssef & associates, los angeles, california; leslie E. robertson associates, R.L.L.P., NY
civil engineer: KPFF consulting engineers, los angeles, california
mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire life-safety and gallery: ARUP, los angeles, california
lighting engineers (galleries): ARUP, london, UK
lighting design: tillotson design, new york, NY
vertical transportation: lerch bates, la crescenta, california
collection storage: solomon + bauer, watertown, massachussettes
museum total cost: 140 million USD
location: 221 S. grand avenue, los angeles
opening: late 2014