the broad contemporary art museum by DS+R opens in LA

occupying a prominent plot on grand avenue in downtown los angeles, the broad contemporary art museum has welcomed visitors for the first time. the museum hosts the collection of founders and philanthropists eli and edythe broad. designed by diller scofidio + renfro in collaboration with gensler, the cultural institution’s architecture is defined by a ‘vault-and-veil’ concept whereby the overall design merges storage and display programs. opening to the public on september 20, 2015, new images of the building have been taken by iwan baan.

the broad museum is located on grand avenue in downtown los angeles
photo by iwan baan (also main image) / all images courtesy of the broad and diller scofidio + renfro

the broad has also announced that the museum will be open six days a week, offering free general admission.

‘edye and I are delighted to welcome everyone to this museum, and we are excited to share the contemporary art in our collection with the public,’ commented eli broad. ‘we are pleased to offer free general admission so that affordability isn’t a criteria to see the art. we have been deeply moved by contemporary art and believe it inspires creativity and provokes and stimulates lively conversations. we hope visitors from los angeles and around the country and the world visit and are similarly enriched.’

the museum’s lobby features an escalator leading to the upper levels
photo by iwan baan

yayoi kusama’s ‘infinity mirrored room –the souls of millions of light years away’, a mirror-lined chamber housing a seemingly endless LED light display, is featured as part of the inaugural installation. this experiential artwork on the museum’s first floor has limited capacity, accommodating one visitor at a time for approximately 45 seconds each.

see designboom’s previous coverage of the broad museum here.

the broad museum’s lobby at ground level with interior veil
photo by iwan baan