The Broad Museum Reveals Facade
- January 05, 2015 22:15
Design changes are not winning over some critics of the new Broad Museum in Los Angeles. Scaffolding was removed last week to reveal a different "honeycomb" look than previously touted in design renderings. Engineering difficulties have plagued the project which is funded by billionaire Eli Broad to show his contemporary art collection in a dedicated museum.
Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, The Broad is scheduled to open to the public in fall 2015. The museum's official site states:
With its innovative “veil-and-vault” concept, the 120,000-square-foot, $140 million building will feature two floors of gallery space to showcase the Broad’s comprehensive collections and will be the headquarters of The Broad Art Foundation’s worldwide lending library. Dubbed “the veil and the vault,” the museum’s design merges the two key components of the building: public exhibition space and archive/storage. Rather than relegate the archive/storage to secondary status, the “vault,” plays a key role in shaping the museum experience from entry to exit. Its heavy opaque mass is always in view, hovering midway in the building. Its carved underside shapes the lobby below, while its top surface is the floor plate of the exhibition space. The vault is enveloped on all sides by the “veil,” an airy, honeycomb-like structure that spans across the block-long gallery and provides filtered natural daylight.