LACMA / LA COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART

LACMA // LA COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART DIVERGENCE/CONVERGENCE

Project by Karim Khayati & David Lee Ramiro Diaz Granados 2GBX Studio (DS 1202) SCI-Arc, Spring 2020 Location - Wilsher Blvd CA, USA Duration - 4 months Softwares - Rhino 3D, Grasshopper, Blender, Atlas, Photoshop, Maya, Unreal Engine Height - 215 feet (65 meters) Floor Area - 650,000 Sqft ( 60,400 sqm) 5 Floors & 1 Underground

TOP VIEW

The project brief addresses the design of the Los Angeles County Museum of

Art. After Peter Zumthor’s critics regarding his new vision and design of LACMA, we were asked to redesign the museum. What we propose is a new LACMA,

a levitated mass hovering above Wilsher Boulevard, Los Angeles, California.

The new museum is suspended and not touching the ground, as there is no obligation for something remarkably artificial to directly be connected to the site. It needs to float, to float above the plane of reality.

The illusion of levitation of the rock relies on a steel frame, as it three

dimensionalize the default grid that is projected onto a mass of landscape

and topography (it is similar to the concept of magnitude and longitude). The three-dimensional grid is a way to discipline the map and rationalize it. As a result, the steel gridded frame imposes order onto the chaos. The grid suggests

an overarching and intrusive system that determines where rooms will be placed and where circulation goes, controlling the chaos inside the exhibition

spaces. The partition systems are contained and stacked vertically within four even square sections of the building. This is why the gridded structure is the only thing touching the ground beyond the megacores. It is a suggestion of

something being sourced by nature but still being completely artificial. It does not belong, but nothing is completely new.

MUSEUM SPACE

Geological Terrains + Museum Partitions?

What we propose is 4 museums in 1, with 4 distinct partition systems. These partitions are then contaminated with 7 distinct terrains. The project works with terrain and partition fields to bring a different take on the known possible arrangements of a museum gallery space. Our final intention is to emphasize the separation of the building’s internal arrangement from the site. The specific moments within each room are not really closely examined or designed before insertion. The same applies to the terrains - they are sliced out of the Sierra Nevada, terrains in Arizona, and combined in a terrain sandwich at every level.

Within the exhibition spaces, the contamination of terrain, slab, wall, and steel

frame is maintained. The convergence of terrain, slab, walls and steel fame contaminate each other indefinitely to create a wellbalanced hybrid of museum typologies. Some exhibition walls extend all the way to the ceiling while others

don’t, it is a way to suggest that the terrain is not an even or stable surface,

therefore elements resting on it should not be stable either. As an architectural response regarding the security of artwork, the stepping terrain and floor slabs create an architectural barrier between the artwork and the viewer, making the presence of ropes or any additional security elements unnecessary. The sign of security is architectural.The terrain textures of the building are meant to glow during evening and night-time, making all additional or extra conventional lighting devices useless. The architecture speaks for itself. It is

a way to suggest an imaginary museum. Why use conventional methods of installations when we can invent something completely unique and new?

These terrains and partition fields are composed together vertically,

overlapping, cutting and hollowing out each other. Whether or not certain spaces are occupiable is not really a question - every space that is a result of the combining is made occupiable. Underneath the site connected to the megacores is the underground storage. The entire area of the basement is reserved for storage use. Works of art being transported vertically through the megacores. On the other hand, the levitated mass is purely reserved for gallery space - suggesting four different museum typologies for varying exhibits with

cross circulation between them.

SECTION BECOMES ELEVATION

On the roof of the museum, experiential sculpture gardens are open for visitors to roam freely under the artificiality of the gridded frame, as well as enjoying a levitated view of the mountains along with a perfect Instagram picture with the Hollywood sign. This installation is a revolutionary way of conceiving land art, where artificially generated landscapes become the basis of site-specific sculptures. This Museum is a universe, a world with its own fantasies, to an extend where the imaginary museum can become an art-to-display by itself. A levitated mass much bigger than Michael Heizer’s, honesting a museum that exploits all experiential possibilities, whether within it, underneath it, or on top of it. This is Le Musée Imaginaire.

‘A museum is a place where one should lose one’s head...’

Renzo Piano