renzo piano + zoltan pali: academy museum update

upon realizing the initial goal to collect $100 million USD, the academy of motion picture arts and sciences has announced its plans for the new, and first, ‘academy museum of motion pictures’ in beverly hills, designed by italian architect renzo piano and local architect zoltan pali. the 300,000 square-foot structure will be the result of a revitalization of the historic may company wilshire building in los angeles, restoring the facades which face wilshire and fairfax streets amidst the los angeles county museum of art campus.

originally constructed in 1938 and left vacant for the past 20 years, the addition of exhibitions, gallery spaces, screening rooms, an interactive education center and demonstration laboratories will weave the building back into LA’s urban and cultural fabric. the collection will feature over 140,000 films, 10 million photos, 42,000 original film posters, 10,000 production drawings, props, costumes, equipment and behind-the-scenes personal accounts from artist and technical innovators to illustrate the rich history of cinema and its constant development.

update: on april 13, 2014, we updated the original article published on october 19th, 2012 with additional images and drawings below to further illustrate the structure.

interior illustration of premier theater
image courtesy of the academy

‘the design for the museum will finally enable this wonderful building to be animated and contribute to the city after sitting empty for so long, I am very inspired by the academy’s name and mission, the idea of the arts and sciences working together to create films. our design will preserve the may company building’s historic public profile while simultaneously signaling that the building is taking on a new life that celebrates both the industry and art form that this city created and gave to the world.‘ — renzo piano

rooftop terrace
image courtesy of the academy