diller scofidio + renfro: broad art foundation

‘the broad art foundation’ by diller scofidio + renfro in los angeles, california all images courtesy the broad art foundation

philanthropists eli and edyth broad and architect elizabeth diller of internationally renowned firm diller scofidio + renfro has unveiled the design of ‘the broad art foundation‘, a new contemporary art museum in downtown los angeles. located across the street from walt disney concert hall and the museum of contemporary art, the three-storey project features a honeycomb-like ‘veil’ that asymmetrically wraps the surface of the building, resulting in a filtered effect for the interior gallery space.

public lobby along grand avenue

the public entry off of grand avenue is led into the museum by a lift in the veil, exposing a fully glazed base set in contrast to the opaque mass of the foundation’s archive and storage. unlike traditional museum designs, the latter plays a dominant role in the visitor’s experience: hovering midway in the building, its carved underbelly shapes the form of the lobby while its top surface serves as the floor of the exhibition space.

column-free, sky-lit gallery

allowing filtered natural daylight into the top floor exhibition space, the three-dimensional veil is a cellular exoskeleton structure that envelops the museum on all sides. in addition to almost an acre of column-free gallery space, the museum hosts a lecture hall for up to 200 people, a ground floor multimedia gallery and a public lobby with display space and a museum shop.

gallery

rendering of the ‘veil’

exploded rendering of major design components