Broad Makes His Mind Up: High Line’s Architect Comes to Downtown LA

Photograph by Bryan Chan | Courtesy of Los Angeles Times

Exciting news for anyone interested in contemporary architecture in LA today. Eli Broad has confirmed what was already widely assumed: his new art museum will be located in downtown LA, with New York firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro as architects (and Santa Monica’s office of the firm Gensler as Executive Architect). Some question the necessity of another art museum as well as the chosen location, and I would question why no talented Los Angeles architects were invited to compete for the project. But it is undeniable that the choice of DS+R is an interesting one (out of a field that included Rem Koolhaas and Christian de Portzamparc). In addition to designing a number of interesting buildings, they were part of the team that created the brilliant High Line Park in Manhattan (recently photographed below by Nicholas Mercure). Note: the landscape architect on the High Line team was the equally gifted Field Operations, now also working in our region, as newly appointed designer of the Civic Park in Santa Monica.

For more on Diller Scofidio and Eli Broad, check out this DnA.