http://netdna.wordlesstech.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/broad-art-foundation-los-angeles.jpg

I'm starting a dedicated thread for The Broad. I think this project is perhaps the most architecturally significant currently under construction in Los Angeles, and deserves its own thread. We have been posting construction updates in several different threads, but consolidating future posts under one roof would be more meaningful IMO. In addition to the art musuem currently under construction, this thread can alo encompass the two proposed adjacent apartment / mixed used buildings. So, without further ado...

In 2010, Eli and Edythe Broad announced plans to open The Broad, a new, public museum of contemporary art on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles (anticipated opening: 2013). Designed by world-renowned architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the museum will be a 120,000 square foot, three-level facility, and will include approximately 50,000 square feet of gallery space on two floors, a lecture hall for up to 200 people, and a public lobby with display space and a museum shop. The project will include a state-of-the-art archive, study and art storage space that will be available to scholars and curators who want to research works in the collection and borrow artworks for their institutions through The Broad Art Foundation’s worldwide lending program. The museum will be adjacent to luminary cultural institutions such as the Music Center of Los Angeles and Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Colburn School of Music, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, forming a remarkable locus of culture in Southern California.

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, cellular exoskeleton structure that spans across the block-long gallery and provides filtered natural daylight.

The museum’s exhibition programming will focus on the contents of the renowned contemporary art collections of Eli and Edythe Broad, which feature in total 2000 artworks by more than 200 artists and unparalleled, in-depth groupings of works by select artists such as Jeff Koons, Roy Lichtenstein, Cindy Sherman, Jean-Michel Basquiat and many others.

FaSFazqJIes

Some pictures taken by me today (March 10, 2012):

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r94/tanzirian/misc2/DSCN4630.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r94/tanzirian/misc2/DSCN4629.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r94/tanzirian/misc2/DSCN4627.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r94/tanzirian/misc2/DSCN4627.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r94/tanzirian/misc2/DSCN4626.jpg

http://datastorage02.maggioli.it/data/docs/www.architetti.com/The_Broad_Diller_Scofidio_05.jpg
http://inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2011/01/Broad-Musuem-Renderings-8.jpg

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r94/tanzirian/misc2/02_InteriorLobby_zpsc9530e28.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r94/tanzirian/misc2/04_InteriorGallery_b_zps0adab3ba.jpg

Nice. The kind of thing that is going to grab tourists as well as locals. Should mean more business for boutique hotels all over DT.

Great job, thank you! ive noticed that the number of tourists in that area has really boomed over the last couple of years. Sundays used to be dead in that area (as well as all of downtown) but now you see them taking pics of Disney Hall, enjoying MOCA and walking about. this beautiful building can only help. im eagerly awaiting the actual construction of the building itself.

^^ When I was there yesterday there were two other guys also taking construction pics. It's a little harder now to get an unobstructed pic because they have put up this chain link fence which wasn't there before...but there are a few holes here and there to stick the camera through for a better view.

but now you see them taking pics. That's the funny thing. If you build it .... THEY WILL FUCKING COME!
Good pics, by the way Tanz! I love steel reinforced concrete!

I've been keeping track of the webcam http://broadartfoundation.org/construction_webcam.html almost daily and have noticed almost zero progress the last week or so comparably to what I usually see. Are they preparing for the next stage of construction of the musuem or is there work being done in the parking structure not visible in the cam?

LA Downtown News
(http://www.ladowntownnews.com/news/broad-museum-cleared-for-takeoff-construction-permits-issued-for-million/article_02e54098-72e4-11e1-b0ba-001871e3ce6c.html)
Broad Museum Cleared for Takeoff: Construction Permits Issued for $100 Million Art Complex

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES – So far, construction activity at the Grand Avenue site of philanthropist Eli Broad’s $100 million art museum has been limited to a three-level parking structure. Now, it’s time to build the museum.

The Dept. of Building and Safety issued building permits for the planned three-level structure designed by New York architect Diller, Scofidio + Renfro on March 16 and crews are already at work, building on top of the parking facility.

Broad Art Foundation spokeswoman Karen Denne said the project is on schedule, with completion expected in late 2013.

Those interested in watching the construction can see the site in real time via a live webcam feed streaming at broadartfoundation.org (http://broadartfoundation.org/construction_webcam.html)

^^ I think that answers the question by a9l8e7n in the preceding post.

That's the funny thing. If you build it .... THEY WILL FUCKING COME!
Good pics, by the way Tanz! I love steel reinforced concrete!


Already booked a ticket on VA hopefully by the time its finished I wont be selling it for the greyhound

well this project was looking so unreal and cosmic and they will finish it in 2013 :) can't wait to see this baby

Kubabh ... you are an enigma.

Great news about this building!! It looks great.

Heading to the broad today, i'll snap a few pictures.

Hi guys. Took some pictures a few days ago of the construction site. Looks like its coming along.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25099681@N07/7620627500/" title="IMG_7175 by citru22, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7108/7620627500_73bf839f77.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="IMG_7175"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25099681@N07/7620625484/" title="IMG_7179 by citru22, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7140/7620625484_c4cecd45ed.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="IMG_7179"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25099681@N07/7620623032/" title="IMG_7183 by citru22, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7273/7620623032_b0a00837dc.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="IMG_7183"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25099681@N07/7620618674/" title="IMG_7195 by citru22, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8291/7620618674_80e87b021f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="IMG_7195"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25099681@N07/7620614328/" title="IMG_7201 by citru22, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7123/7620614328_ac7f1288e7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="IMG_7201"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25099681@N07/7620608348/" title="IMG_7205 by citru22, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8147/7620608348_af51426a6c.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="IMG_7205"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25099681@N07/7620598834/" title="IMG_7214 by citru22, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8429/7620598834_a4f3b160fe.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="IMG_7214"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25099681@N07/7620601316/" title="IMG_7211 by citru22, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8424/7620601316_36703a0cbb.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="IMG_7211"></a>

Nice. Hard to tell much about the final look, but it's great to see construction around there.

Was just there a few weeks ago. That area is especially dead and sterile. I hope that Grand Park livens it up.

Been watching this for a while on the live feed
http://broadartfoundation.org/construction_webcam.html

They grow up so fast....

They grow up so fast....Very good! (They do.) http://broadartfoundation.org/construction_webcam.html

A couple of thoughts:

To get people onto Grand there has to be a reason to go there. Office buildings attract at rush-hours and lunch; the Music Center, before shows; the Broad will attract small numbers; the Civic Center Park will attract very few as is (cement and desert).

What is needed is more housing, more retail and cafes; more staged events (say, closing Grand on weekends) to get people there. Grand is too institutional to be heavily trafficked with museums and plays alone.

The retail will follow from the tourists, but I'm not sure there is enough to draw a lot of tourists yet. But there will certainly be some spots where you can have lunch or a drink with a great view of the Disney or Broad, and a few outdoor shows or outdoor markets or such could help.

Behind the Scenes of Building The Broad (http://www.ladowntownnews.com/news/behind-the-scenes-of-building-the-broad/article_d3f63976-ddbf-11e1-986d-0019bb2963f4.html?mode=story)

http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/ladowntownnews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/4/c4/4c423722-ddc0-11e1-958e-0019bb2963f4/501c5a7d2204e.image.jpg

http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/ladowntownnews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/89/889b58b6-ddc0-11e1-8d53-0019bb2963f4/501c5ac458568.image.jpg

Part of the article
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - For architect Kevin Rice, the simplest way to explain the central design concept of Eli Broad’s $100 million Grand Avenue art museum involves making a clenched fist with one hand and a claw with the other.

Rice, a senior associate at the New York architecture firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the designer of the under-construction project, would instruct you to clench your fist and place it palm-side down on a flat surface. Then, tilt your knuckles up at a slight angle. Spread the fingers on the other hand to form a claw and let it hover over the fist.

The claw represents what DS+R terms “the veil,” an undulating, honeycomb-like exterior that will shroud the three-level structure. The interior mass (that’s your fist), which is dubbed “the vault,” is a concrete anchor that, thanks to some tricky architecture and engineering, will appear to float above much of the ground floor while providing a platform for the third-floor main gallery.

While the design lends itself to the simple hand-over-fist demonstration, the project is in fact quite complex, Rice said.

“There are more structural engineers involved in this project than any project I’ve ever been involved with,” Rice said during a recent tour of the construction site.

After breaking ground atop a recently completed three-level parking facility in March, crews are now about two-thirds of the way finished with the main structure. Work on the veil is expected to start in November.

The main structure is complicated to build for several reasons, but chiefly because of its unique shape. Its base is a concrete form that rises from the center of the plot and stretches out toward Grand Avenue at an angle to create a cantilever, or overhanging ledge. A dramatic cantilever is also the featured “wow” element of DS+R’s acclaimed Institute of Contemporary Art building in Boston.

In the early stages of construction at The Broad, people walking by the structure just south of Walt Disney Concert Hall could glimpse angled wooden forms rising from the ground. Now, the extended ledge is supported chiefly by a temporary forest of metal poles. Eventually, those will be removed, resulting in the massive overhanging slab that appears to float above what will be the museum lobby. The top side of the slab will also function as the base for the second floor.

From an engineering standpoint, the slab, which was poured in May by 200 cement trucks that worked an 11-hour overnight shift, is challenging because it lacks permanent vertical support columns — hence the temporary metal poles.

Eventually, support will come from metal chords, known as post-tension cables, that run horizontally through the slab. They will stretch from the edge of the overhang, passing through pre-cut tubes in the slab to a steel anchor in the building’s center. There, they will be winched tight.

del

Nice progress. The photos taken on 31 Dec 2012:


http://imageshack.us/a/img833/8228/20130101010247.jpg


http://imageshack.us/a/img22/2095/20130101010150.jpg


http://imageshack.us/a/img407/9583/20130101005942.jpg

^^ A belated thanks for the update! Good to see meaningful progress... those diagonal beams criss-crossing the roof are interesting. Hoping to see this one finished before the end of this year... should be one of the highlights of 2013.

Yeah. I'd like to see the process of putting the skin on this one. Getting the outside to look good while getting the right amount of light inside could be a challenge.

IN CONSTRUCTION > THE BROAD Diller Scofidio + Renfro's contemporary art museum rises in Los Angeles. . http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee192/trolltoast/album%203/broad_construction_02.jpg NATHANIEL RILEY . SAM LUBELL .
The Broad, philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad’s contemporary art museum rising on Grand Avenue downtown, is the most significant new architectural project in Los Angeles. The three-story, 120,000-square-foot building, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro (Gensler is the Executive Architect), topped out on January 8, and by next year will be home to the Broads’ collection of more than two thousand contemporary artworks.

Project Manager Greg Wade, who works for the museum’s general contractor, MATT Construction, recently walked me through the site. . http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee192/trolltoast/album%203/broad_construction_15.jpg NATHANIEL RILEY . Perhaps the project’s most important element is a 65-foot-long, 1.5 foot-wide, 2-inch thick, V-shaped member of built-up structural steel plate that resembles the hull of a Viking ship. It’s called the “touchdown beam,” and, once installed, will bear the load of the entire “veil.” The veil encompasses the steel and GFRC (Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete) lattice that will front the museum.

At the time of this writing, the beam sat a few feet from the building, awaiting relocation to the Grand Avenue side. The 83,000-pound beam, shipped in one piece from Germany, will be set in place with a 500-ton hydrocrane.

When DS+R first conceived of the veil—originally designed to be precast concrete—it was meant to support the weight of the museum’s roof. That plan was scrapped, however, because the cost and complexity of supporting that much weight with no structural steel would have been too high, said Wade. The touchdown beam would also have had to be so large that it would block much of the sidewalk. Instead, the beam will now fit handily below grade so the veil will appear to emerge from the concrete . http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee192/trolltoast/album%203/broad_construction_07.jpg NATHANIEL RILEY . The Veil, which soon will be covered with hundreds of molded GFRC panels, has been the object of close coordination between the architects and the builders. The architects have been working in the 3-D design software CATIA, which has been translated into Revit and AutoCAD 3D for the builders. Sometimes the shape hasn’t matched what the architects wanted, so it’s been changed, said Wade. Other times the shape hasn’t matched what the builders needed, so it’s been changed again. This back and forth, the project manager claimed, has constituted the most interaction he’s ever had with an architect. . http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee192/trolltoast/album%203/broad_construction_10.jpg . http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee192/trolltoast/album%203/broad_construction_04.jpg MATT CONSTRUCTION . The Second Floor of the building cantilevers 60 feet from the building’s core toward Grand Avenue. In the center of this floor will be the vault, which will contain the artworks not on display in the galleries. To install this cantilever, the builders teamed with geotechnical and mining specialists DYWIDAG Systems International, creating a post-tensioned structure more akin to a bridge than a building. The slab was raised via a gigantic hydraulic jack, employing about 300,000 pounds of force. It measures six feet thick near the center of the building and just two feet thick at its end. . http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee192/trolltoast/album%203/Fullscreencapture362013110955PM.jpg NATHANIEL RILEY . http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee192/trolltoast/album%203/broad_construction_08.jpg NATHANIEL RILEY . http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee192/trolltoast/album%203/broad_construction_03-1.jpg NATHANIEL RILEY . The Top Floor will contain the bulk of the museum’s exhibition space. A diagrid steel matrix frames the roof. It will soon be given a curvy GFRG (Glass Fiber Reinforced Gypsum) cladding, resembling the veil, and will be inset with 399 glass skylights, all angled to face north, to create a glowing, rhythmic effect.

MATT Construction made mock-ups of many of the building’s systems before beginning construction. A dozen were required by contract, but the firm made almost 100 to determine various components’ constructability. “Until you start to build, you really don’t know what will work,” said Wade. . http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee192/trolltoast/album%203/broad_construction_09.jpg . http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee192/trolltoast/album%203/broad_construction_11.jpg . http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee192/trolltoast/album%203/broad_construction_12.jpg . http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee192/trolltoast/album%203/Fullscreencapture372013123124AM.jpg

^^ Thanks for the article, Milque! I know they have a webcam but for some reason I can't be bothered to check it. On the other hand, I love to see updates on this thread! I was hoping the museum would open this year, but from what's written I guess it will be 2014?

This will look stunning! Can't wait to visit LA again!

Is that the return of Occupy sitting out there on the lawn next to The Broad in the last pic?

Is that the return of Occupy sitting out there on the lawn next to The Broad in the last pic?

Even Occupy can't get tickets for Dudamel.

Disney Hall wouldn't tolerate that much body odor so close to their patrons.

Taken by me on 13 March 2013:

http://imageshack.us/a/img708/8546/20130312225502.jpg

taken by me on 18 March 2013

http://imageshack.us/a/img18/5858/20130318224107.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8389/8604751241_c1563c4d18_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/89987921@N08/8604751241/)
IMG_0082 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/89987921@N08/8604751241/) by Nightsky86 (http://www.flickr.com/people/89987921@N08/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8537/8604749255_4bbf035ebc_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/89987921@N08/8604749255/)
IMG_0083 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/89987921@N08/8604749255/) by Nightsky86 (http://www.flickr.com/people/89987921@N08/), on Flickr

Watched those wood forms in the last picture come down on Friday (via the webcam).

I sure hope this brings to life this section of Downtown.

Definitely will. Its already much busier than it used to just because of all the tourists walking over to grand park from their hotels and of course because of Disney Hall.... the area is only a couple residential towers away from being very nice and active

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8389/8669495783_87158e4c4f_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sterlingdavisphoto/8669495783/)
The Broad Museum Construction, April 2013 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sterlingdavisphoto/8669495783/) by STERLINGDAVISPHOTO (http://www.flickr.com/people/sterlingdavisphoto/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8543/8669496011_61ccda0ca5_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sterlingdavisphoto/8669496011/)
The Broad Museum Construction, April 2013 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sterlingdavisphoto/8669496011/) by STERLINGDAVISPHOTO (http://www.flickr.com/people/sterlingdavisphoto/), on Flickr

^^^^Nice to see a view of the other side (versus the webcam)!